Simulation and Analysis for a Heat Recycle System on the Sidewall of Aluminum Reduction Cells

Aim at developing power generation technology using the waste heat of the cell sidewall, a heat recycle installation was designed and used for recycling heat of the sidewall of a 400kA aluminum reduction cell. A 3D slice finite element model of aluminum reduction cell was established by using ANSYS finite element analysis software, and the coupled thermo-electric simulation for a 400kA cell was analyzed under installing the exchanger or not. The simulation results show the average temperature of main heat dissipation area of the cell is significantly decreased after installing the exchanger, and the thickness of freeze would also increase 1.7cm, which benefits in decreasing the heat dissipation and protecting the lining of the cell.