Comparison of structure and physical fields in 400 kA aluminum reduction cells

Abstract

To investigate the differences and the development trends of the 400 kA aluminum reduction cell, four representative cells were deeply analyzed. By using numerical simulation methods in ANSYS software, the structure parameters were firstly compared, and then three-dimensional models of electric-magnetic-flow field were built and solved with finite element method (FEM). The comparison of the structures reveals that the cell bodies are similar while the current flow path and distribution ratio of bus bars are different. It appears that most of the current (70%–80%) in side A are used as the magnetic field compensation current and flow through two ends. The numerical simulation results indicate that the distributions of magnetic fields are different but all satisfy with the magnetohydrodynamics (MHD) stabilization, and the flow patterns are all two or multi vortexes with appropriate velocities. The comparison shows that all studied cells can satisfy with the physical field requirement, and the commercial applications also verify that the 400 kA cells have become the product of the mature and world’s leading technology.

Keywords

aluminum electrolysis / numerical simulation / bus structure / physical field

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