Computation of aluminum reduction cell energy balance using ANSYS finite element models

Abstract

Over the last ten years, the industry standard for modeling aluminum reduction cell energy balance went gradually from 2D `in-house' codes to 3D commercial codes, like the ANSYS finite element code. In this transition, many different modeling tools have been developed: 3D cathode slice, half anode, full cell slice, cathode corner/quarter and full cell corner/quarter models. In this paper, advantages and disadvantages of each of those 3D models as well as basic assumptions are reviewed and the 2D model is revisited to introduce a new improved approach.