Layout of An Aluminium Smelter
An aluminium smelter consists of a large number of pots, steel containers lined with carbon, in which the electrolysis takes place; smelting is run as a batch process, with the aluminium metal deposited at the bottom of the pots and periodically siphoned off. Power must be constantly available, since the pots have to be repaired at significant cost if the liquid metal solidifies.
The anodes are made of carbon, generally derived from Anthracite and pitch.
A typical smelter contains anywhere from 300 to 720 pots, each of which produces about a ton of aluminium a day, though the largest proposed smelters are up to five times that capacity.
Read more about this topic: Aluminium Smelting