CFD MODELLING OF ALUMINA MIXING IN ALUMINIUM REDUCTION CELLS

摘要

Aluminium reduction cells have been continuously improved tornreduce energy consumption and increase metal production rates.rnOne method of reducing energy consumption is to operate the cellrnat low anode-cathode distances (ACDs). Line currents have beenrnincreased to increase production rates, which often requires largerrnanodes to maintain an acceptable current density. These changesrnmay have a significant impact on aspects of cell performance suchrnas bath flow and alumina mixing.rnIn previous work, a computational fluid dynamics (CFD) model ofrnbath hydrodynamics in an aluminium reduction cell has beenrndeveloped and validated using water model data. In the presentrnwork, the CFD model has been extended to study the effect ofrnACD and side channel width on bath flow and alumina mixing inrna typical full-scale industrial cell.