3-D MATHEMATICAL MODEL FOR STUDYING CHANGES IN SELF-BAKING ANODE POWER REGIME

摘要

The self-baking anodes of aluminum reduction cells undergo continuous changes of their power regime in operation. These variations of dynamic conditions are basically driven by varying anode stud positions and changing anode operating properties. A 3-D mathematical model was used to establish optimum operating parameters because it allowed estimating the thermal and electrical fields for the whole cell. The uniqueness of the present software lays in a possibility to quickly run estimations for different sets of cell dimensional and process parameters. The advantages of the newly developed software allowed to perform estimations and to evaluate the results of changing anode parameters. An integrated post-processor supports visualization of dynamic changes of anode power regime, in particular it allows a comparison between different stud patterns and stud setting schedules. Dependencies were found based on the estimated results for changing cell thermal and electrical fields. Optimization methods were established.