Abstract:The principle of thermal flux being constant in heat-flow-tube and the principle of heat balance were applied to analyze and calculate the steady-state thermal field and the electrolyte-ledge heat transfer coefficient of aluminum reduction cell by finite element method. The calculated results show that the melt-ledge heat transfer coefficient in the 160kA prebaked anode aluminum reduction cell of Guizhou Aluminum Smelter is higher than that of other cells of the same current. It is also found that the electrolyte and metal flow much faster, which may be the results of poor bus bar arrangements. Meanwhile, the calculated results of melt-ledge heat transfer coefficient by heat-flow-tube method are almost in full agreement with the former works. This verifies the applicability of this method.

Key words: aluminum reduction cell; heat-current-tube; finite element method; heat transfer; heat balance