Simulation of Magnetohydrodynamic Multiphase Flow Phenomena and Interface Fluctuation in Aluminum Electrolytic Cell with Innovative Cathode

Wang, Qiang; Li, Baokuan; He, Zhu; Niu, Feng

doi:10.1007/s11663-013-0001-z

Cited by 26 publications

(18 citation statements)

References 22 publications

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“…The pressure drop in each section for the two-phase flow keeps unchanged with Equation (14) in which the friction factor of the condenser f i is calculated from Kuo correlation 38 as follows:…”

Section: Orc System Modelingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Technological and economic analyses on power generation from the waste heat in a modified aluminum smeltingpot

et al. 2019

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Summary Current pot ventilation system is designed in a conservative manner to prevent hazardous gases from escaping aluminum smelting pots. Reduction of pot draft is an initiative of both efficiently using waste heat in the exhaust gas and significantly reducing fan power of the ventilation system. This work presents a systematic analysis on the reduction of pot draft and the consequent problem, ie, fugitive emissions from the smelting pot. Numerical models with different length scales are developed to simulate the fluid flow and heat transfer in pots and potroom. The superstructure of a typical aluminum smelting pot is successfully modified to maintain the pot tightness in the reducing pot draft. The results show that the current pot draft could be reduced by 50% at least using the developed technology. The techno‐economic analysis of power generation from the waste heat in aluminum smelting pot is made based on organic Rankine cycle (ORC), and the potential benefits of using the pot exhaust gas of both normal and 50% reduced flow rates are estimated. It is found that the levelized energy cost of the optimized ORC system using 50% reduced exhaust gas is 0.048 $/kWh with a system's lifespan of 10 years and 0.038 $/kWh with a lifespan of 15 years while the payback time of investment is 5.2 years.

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Section: Orc System Modelingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Technological and economic analyses on power generation from the waste heat in a modified aluminum smeltingpot

et al. 2019

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“…Therefore, the cell efficiency of many electrochemical industrial processes is affected by bubble existence, such as chlorate process, where hydrogen bubbles are produced at the cathode [1]. In Hall-Héroult process for the production of aluminum [2], carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide are produced at the bottom of the anode. Hence, bath/metal interface is affected by gas bubbles.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Modeling of electrochemically generated bubbly flow under buoyancy-driven and forced convection

Schillings

Doche

Deseure

2015

International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer

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a b s t r a c tThis work is devoted to the modeling of two phase flows arising in typical electrolysis devices. A numerical mixture model is used in order to resolve the two dimensional bubble plumes evolving along the electrodes. Plumes thickness sensitivity is studied for various parameters, such as bubble diameter, electrolyte viscosity, electrochemical cell geometry and current density. Using thermal buoyancy driven flow analogy, a dimensionless Rayleigh-like number Ra f ;e is defined to predict the behavior of the wallbounded gas convection between two vertical facing electrodes. Different bubbles dispersion mechanisms are observed depending on two-phase flow dynamics and physical properties of the mixture. The effect of forced convection in the channel is also investigated. A scaling law for plume thickness evolution for a large range of Prandtl-equivalent number values is proposed. These results show that the bubble plume can be efficiently controlled by an imposed electrolyte velocity.

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“…The metal pad model described in section 3.1 predicts the shape of the metal-bath interface under the influence of the electro-magnetic field. Wang et al [34], for a full cell, and Einarsrud [9], for a single anode water model, have used three phase CFD simulations to show that bubble flow under the anode can influence the metal pad shape. In [34] the electric and magnetic fields were calculated assuming rectangular anodes with a horizontal base combined with a fixed horizontal interface between the metal and bath layers.…”

Section: Geometry and Boundary Conditionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In their work the implied assumption is that changes in the metal-bath interface have no effect on the electric and magnetic fields. As shown by [34] the metal pad shape is complex and due to consumption of the carbon anodes by the electro-chemical reaction the shape of the anodes is also complex matching that of the metal-bath interface [39] so as to maintain a near constant voltage drop across the ACD. A consequence of the metal pad heave is that anode bases are 18 not horizontal and by buoyance forces the bubble flow along the anode base this greatly affected.…”

Section: Geometry and Boundary Conditionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Towards a coupled multi-scale, multi-physics simulation framework for aluminium electrolysis

Einarsrud

Eick

Bai

et al. 2017

Applied Mathematical Modelling

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Aluminium metal production through electrolytic reduction of alumina in a cryolite bath is a complex, multi-physics, multi-scale process, including magneto-hydrodynamics (MHD), bubble flow, thermal convection, melting and solidification phenomena based on a set of chemical reactions.Through interactions of the different forces applied to the liquid bath combined with the different time and length scales, self-organised fluctuations occur. Moreover, the MHD behaviour causes a complex metal pad profile and a series of surface waves due to the meta-stable condition of the metal / cryolite interface.The large aspect ratio of an industrial cell, with a footprint of 20 by 4 m and at the same time having dimensions approaching just 30 mm of height for the reaction zone, prevents an integrated approach where all relevant physics are included in a single mathematical model of this large degree of freedom system. In order to overcome these challenges, different modelling approaches have been established in ANSYS FLUENT; Three models are used to predict details of specific physics: one to predict the electro-magnetic forces and hence the metal pad profile, a second that resolves details of the local bubble dynamics around a single anode and a third for the full cell bath flow. Results from these models are coupled to allow integration of the different phenomena into a full cell alumina distribution model. The current paper outlines each of the approaches and presents how the coupling between them can be realized in a complete framework, aiming to provide new insight into the process. 2 Highlights• Scales of the process in length and time are identified for aluminium electrolysis.• Four modelling approaches describing essential features are presented.• Coupling between modelling approaches is discussed and demonstrated.

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Simulation of Magnetohydrodynamic Multiphase Flow Phenomena and Interface Fluctuation in Aluminum Electrolytic Cell with Innovative Cathode

Cited by 26 publications

References 22 publications

Technological and economic analyses on power generation from the waste heat in a modified aluminum smeltingpot

Technological and economic analyses on power generation from the waste heat in a modified aluminum smeltingpot

Modeling of electrochemically generated bubbly flow under buoyancy-driven and forced convection

Towards a coupled multi-scale, multi-physics simulation framework for aluminium electrolysis

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