Controlled cooling of aluminium smelting cell sidewalls using heat exchangers supplied with air

摘要

Aluminium potshells have increased in temperature and heat flowrnin recent years. Removal of heat from cell sidewalls for thernpurposes of temperature control and ledge maintenance inrnsmelters presently takes the form of compressed air impingementrndirectly on the shell, if the need for cooling is detected. These airrnlances cool in a non-uniform way, are extremely energyrninefficient, adversely impact on the workplace environment as arnresult of the associated noise and dust, and offer no opportunityrnfor energy recovery in the future.rnThe Light Metals Research Centre (LMRC) has developed arntechnology with the capability of providing controlled cooling tornsidewalls using heat exchangers installed online, which have arnmuch lower air consumption. LMRC has an in-house dedicatedrntesting facility for the development and demonstration of sidewallrncooling based on heat exchangers supplied with air. This paperrnreports the experimental results obtained in the testing facility andrnanalyses the practicality of this technology.