ABSTRACT
I. INTRODUCTION In 1942, Cady reported electrolytic production of elementary fluorine using a carbon or nickel anode in a molten KF • 2HF salt with a melting point of 71.7°C [1]. The development of industrial fluorine production began on this date. For nearly 50 years, various improvements have been attempted to establish a mod ern 5-or 6-kA cell [2]. In all industrial fluorine production cells, the electrolyte has the approximate composition of KF • 2HF (40.8 wt % HFO) and the elec trolyte temperature lies between 80 and 100°C [3-5]. The anode material is carbon and the cathode is iron. The many causes of failures in fluorine produc tion cells are related to the anode-being the high polarization, anode effect, and deterioration of the mechanical and electrical contact between the carbon anode and the metallic lead. Upon onset of the anode effect, the cell voltage^ suddenly increases to about 50 V, accompanied by arc discharge at anode and the carbon electrode is sometimes broken down. Many mechanisms on the anode effect have been proposed, as reviewed by Rudge [4] and Watanabe and Kanaya [6].
