Side ledge formation in aluminum electrolysis cells - influence of the operating conditions and the heat losses distribution of the transient thermal response

铝电解槽中的侧凸缘形成 - 操作条件和瞬态热响应的热损失分布的影响

• 批准号: 507453-2016
• 负责人: Désilets, Martin
• 金额: $ 5.03万
• 依托单位: Université de Sherbrooke
• 依托单位国家: 加拿大
• 项目类别: Collaborative Research and Development Grants
• 财政年份: 2020
• 资助国家: 加拿大
• 起止时间: 2020-01-01 至 2021-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/ase-oro/Details-Detailles_eng.asp?id=696815
• 关键词: Side; ledge; formation; aluminum; electrolysis

This research proposal aims at the development of new knowledge and engineering tools in order to understand the dynamics of the heat balance inside an aluminum electrolysis cell (AEC). The resulting technology transfer will help the engineers of this industry to design optimized electrochemical reactors, with increased lifespan, lower energy consumption and smaller environmental footprint. It will provide them with new sensors, new methodologies and algorithms that will open up new possibilities for a tighter control of the thermal dissipation of AEC. The proposed work is divided in 2 complementary parts to meet the following challenges: - Major overhaul of an existing numerical model to predict the thermal behaviour of an AEC inside its industrial environment and its calibration based on thermal measurements taken on industrial AEC. The model will take into account the most contributing phenomena present in the cell. It will focus on the formation / destruction of the side ledge that controls the thermal dissipation of the sidewall. - Development of a new sensor to be used on the side shell of an AEC to assess the quality of the thermal contact between the sidewall and the steel shell and to estimate the ledge thickness that builds up inside AEC. Thanks to the research activities described in this proposal, new cutting-edge knowledge related to cell heat balance, which is a critical aspect of the AEC technology, will be developed. Adapted measurement and calibration methods, specialized models and a new sensor to estimate the side ledge thickness will be delivered to the scientists from the aluminium production industry. These non-intrusive engineering tools are essential to estimate and analyze the online heat dissipation, to improve the energetic performance of new designs of AEC, and to open up new opportunities related to energy efficiency.

该研究计划旨在开发新知识和工程工具，以了解铝电解槽 (AEC) 内部热平衡的动态。由此产生的技术转让将帮助该行业的工程师设计优化的电化学反应器，以延长使用寿命、降低能耗和减少环境足迹。它将为他们提供新的传感器、新的方法和算法，为更严格地控​​制 AEC 的散热开辟新的可能性。 拟议的工作分为两个互补的部分，以应对以下挑战： - 对现有数值模型进行重大修改，以预测 AEC 在其工业环境内的热行为，并根据工业 AEC 的热测量进行校准。该模型将考虑细胞中存在的最有影响的现象。它将重点关注控制侧壁散热的侧凸缘的形成/破坏。 - 开发一种新传感器，用于 AEC 的侧壁，以评估侧壁和钢壳之间的热接触质量，并估计 AEC 内部形成的凸缘厚度。 由于本提案中描述的研究活动，将开发与电池热平衡相关的新前沿知识，这是 AEC 技术的一个关键方面。铝生产行业的科学家们将获得经过调整的测量和校准方法、专用模型和用于估计侧凸缘厚度的新传感器。这些非侵入式工程工具对于估计和分析在线散热、提高 AEC 新设计的能量性能以及开辟与能源效率相关的新机会至关重要。