Aluminium production through the Hall-Héroult process relies on an extensive use of carbon anodes, which are originally made of coal tar pitch and fine and coarse carbon particles. During the forming process of green anodes, the mixture of the fine particles and the coal-tar pitch (i.e., the binder matrix) moves between the coarse particles and produces a uniform agglomerated paste. The efficiency of the forming process directly affects the final quality of the baked anode and consequently the efficiency of the Hall-Héroult process. The rheological properties of the binder matrix play a crucial role in the forming process. In this study, rotation and oscillation tests are used to study the effects of the fine particle concentration and temperature on the viscoelastic properties of the binder matrix. The rotation tests demonstrate that the binder matrix is a shear-thinning material and that the viscosity is reduced by increasing the shear rate and temperature while it is increased by increasing the concentration of the fine particles. Moreover, the proposed model can predict the viscosity of the binder matrix precisely. The oscillation tests confirm that the elastic and viscous properties are reinforced by increasing the concentration of the fine particles and they are reduced by increasing the angular frequency and temperature. The three-element Maxwell model is shown to predict the elastic and viscous moduli of the binder matrix. Finally, in a case study and based on the rheological results, the permeation velocity of the binder matrix between the coarse particles is calculated.

中文翻译：

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细焦炭颗粒对铝生产过程中碳阳极粘结剂基体流变性能的影响

通过 Hall-Héroult 工艺生产铝依赖于碳阳极的广泛使用，碳阳极最初由煤焦油沥青和细、粗碳颗粒制成。在生阳极的形成过程中，细颗粒和煤沥青的混合物（即粘合剂基体）在粗颗粒之间移动并产生均匀的团聚浆料。成型工艺的效率直接影响烘烤阳极的最终质量，进而影响 Hall-Héroult 工艺的效率。粘合剂基体的流变特性在成型过程中起着至关重要的作用。在这项研究中，旋转和振动试验用于研究细颗粒浓度和温度对粘合剂基体粘弹性性能的影响。旋转试验表明，粘合剂基质是一种剪切稀化材料，通过增加剪切速率和温度可以降低粘度，同时通过增加细颗粒的浓度来增加粘度。此外，所提出的模型可以精确地预测粘合剂基质的粘度。振荡测试证实，弹性和粘性特性通过增加细颗粒的浓度得到加强，并且通过增加角频率和温度而降低。三元麦克斯韦模型显示可预测粘合剂基体的弹性和粘性模量。最后，在一个案例研究中，基于流变学结果，计算了粗颗粒之间的粘合剂基质的渗透速度。