Some experiences in Electro-winning of Aluminium from fused Chloride bath

Abstract

ALTHOUGH the electro-winning of aluminium from a fused chloride bath dates back to 1854, when Bunsen first isolated the metal, the interest in the process since then has been sporadic. Some of the earlier documenters like Mellor', Richards2, Borches3 and others had taken up the lead, but had been discouraged into branding the approach as impracticable. Patents filed by Aluminium Industrie A.G.4, I.G. Farben Industrie, A.G.5, Henriques and Thomsen6, Brode7, Treadwell8, Daudonnet9 and others during the period 1928 to 1931 indicated a resurgence of the chloride bath, although in the subsequent period the only mentionable patents were by Lovel and Phillips in 194510, Electronic Reduction Corporation in 1951,11 Grothe12 in 1953, and by Slatin13 in 1959 and 1963. Some of these were for the declared purpose of electroplating rather than electro-winning. The published investigations are also equally sporadic, and mention may be made of the work of Fink and Solanki14, Ramachandran15, and Newalkar and Altekar16.