Modeling of three-phase flow and interface deformation of metal/bath in aluminum reduction cell with cathode protrusion

摘要

Stabilizing the interface wave of the molten aluminum(metal)-electrolyte(bath)is beneficial to shorten the anode-cathode distance(ACD)which is critical to the energy saving.A coupled mathematical model was developed to study the impact of the novel cathode protrusion on the molten fluid motion as well as the metal-bath interface deformation.The molten fluid motion in the aluminum reduction cells is under the combined effect of the electro-magnetic forces(EMFs)and the gas bubbles generated at the anode.A transient inhomogeneous three-phase model(metal-bath-gas bubble)was established in order to calculate more accurate.The results indicate that the metal-bath interface deformation can be reduced significantly by the novel cathode protrusion which is beneficial to the electric energy saving.Besides,The EMFs decreases as a result of the optimizing of the magnetic field due to the novel cathode convex which is an important driving force for the deformation of the interface.In addition,large vortex in the metal flow field is break up into the small vortex by the cathode protrusion and then dissipated due to the viscous force and the hindering effect of the cathode protrusion.The quantity of the vortex as well as the strength of the vortex reduces significantly in the reduction cell with novel cathode protrusion.