Numerical Simulation and Test Analysis of Flow Field in an Aluminum Electrolytic Cell with Graphitized Cathode Carbon Block

For the 300-kA graphitized cathode carbon block aluminum electrolyzer of a plant, this study constructed a simplified model using SOLIDWORKS software and carried out flow field simulation with the help of COMSOL Multiphysics 3D simulation software. At the same time, the actual flow field test was carried out on the same type of aluminum electrolyzer. By comparing and analyzing the simulation results with the actual test results, it was found that the simulated maximum flow velocity was 16.75 cm/s and the average flow velocity was 7.97 cm/s; the actual maximum flow velocity was 16.40 cm/s and the average flow velocity was 8.13 cm/s. There is a certain degree of error between the two, but the value of the error is in the acceptable range, which indicates that the flow field test using the numerical simulation method is reliable.