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Models for magnetohydrodynamics of aluminium electrolysis cells

Models for magnetohydrodynamics of aluminium electrolysis cells

Bojarevics, V. ORCID: 0000-0002-7326-7748 (2009) Models for magnetohydrodynamics of aluminium electrolysis cells. In: 6th International Conference on Electromagnetic Processing of Materials - EPM2009, 19-23 Oct 2009, Dresden, Germany. (Unpublished)

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Abstract

The electric current and the associated magnetic field in aluminium electrolysis cells create effects limiting the cell productivity and possibly cause instabilities: surface waving, ‘anode effects’, erosion of pot lining, feed material sedimentation, etc. The instructive analysis is presented via a step by step inclusion of different physical coupling factors affecting the magnetic field, electric current, velocity and wave development in the electrolysis cells. The full time dependent model couples the nonlinear turbulent fluid dynamics and the extended electromagnetic field in the cell, and the whole bus bar circuit with the ferromagnetic effects. Animated examples for the high amperage cells are presented. The theory and numerical model of the electrolysis cell is extended to the cases of variable cell bottom of aluminium layer and the variable thickness of the electrolyte due to the anode non-uniform burn-out process and the presence of the anode channels. The problem of the channel importance is well known Moreau-Evans model) for the stationary interface and the velocity field, and was validated against measurements in commercial cells, particularly with the recently published ‘benchmark’ test for the MHD models of aluminium cells [1]. The presence of electrolyte channels requires also to reconsider the previous magnetohydrodynamic instability theories and the dynamic wave development models. The results indicate the importance of a ‘sloshing’ parametrically excited MHD wave development in the aluminium production cells.

Item Type: Conference or Conference Paper (Paper)
Additional Information: [1] This paper was presented on 22 October 2009 within the 6th International Conference on Electromagnetic Processing of Materials (EPM2009), held from 19-23 October 2009, in Dresden, Germany. EPM2009 was jointly coordinated by the Institute of Safety Research of the Forschungszentrum Dresden-Rossendorf (FZD), Germany and SIMaP/EPM Grenoble, France.
Uncontrolled Keywords: magnetohydrodynamics, aluminium electrolysis cells
Subjects: T Technology > TN Mining engineering. Metallurgy
Q Science > QA Mathematics
Pre-2014 Departments: School of Computing & Mathematical Sciences
School of Computing & Mathematical Sciences > Centre for Numerical Modelling & Process Analysis > Computational Science & Engineering Group
Related URLs:
Last Modified: 27 Apr 2020 22:56
URI: http://gala.gre.ac.uk/id/eprint/1492

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