INCREASING THE POWER MODULATION WINDOW OF ALUMINIUM SMELTER POTS WITH SHELL HEAT EXCHANGER TECHNOLOGY

摘要

With power prices constantly rising, and varying aluminiumprices requiring operating flexibility, the financial incentive forsmelters to adopt a power modulation strategy is becoming larger.However, the power modulation window, in which a smelter cansafely operate its reduction cells, is limited. The Light MetalsResearch Centre has developed the Shell Heat Exchanger (SHE)technology for controlling the heat dissipation from aluminiumsmelting pot shells. By varying the air flow through the SHE, theheat removal from the shell can be increased or decreased asdesired, doubling the previous power modulation window orallowing power modulation with minimal disturbance to the potthermal balance.This paper presents experimental results from LMRC’s testfacility, which show the shell temperature response when the SHEis operated in cooling or insulating mode. Steady state thermoelectricmodel results for these operating scenarios are alsopresented, outlining the impact on ledge thickness and other potoperating conditions.