METHOD FOR BREAKING ELECTROLYTE CRUST BY PLASMA CUTTING

The invention relates to the field of aluminium production, more particularly to breaking electrolyte crust in electrolysers of any type. According to the proposed method, breaking the electrolyte crust in an aluminium electrolytic cell by cutting comprises breaking the crust material by thermal melting thereof using a high-speed, high-temperature concentrated thermal energy flow of a thermal plasma jet, which is accomplished by generating a directed thermal plasma jet and moving same along a pre-set trajectory above the electrolyte crust, continuously removing the resulting melted material from the zone impinged by the thermal plasma jet, and creating with the thermal plasma jet a split in the electrolyte crust sufficient to allow the subsequent cutting of the crust and breaking thereof. The technical result makes it possible to reduce the volume of broken electrolyte crust, to eliminate the formation of lumps of electrolyte crust during breaking of the crust, and consequently to reduce the energy required to heat the covering material consisting of a mixture of alumina and crushed electrolyte which is used to form an electrolyte crust.