In recent years, the expansion of aluminum reduction cellAluminum reduction cells scales has led to the prominence of 500 kA-class cells. With the escalation in current intensity, busbar designBusbar design faces heightened challenges. An excellent busbar system stands as a prerequisite for ensuring secure, stable, ordered, and efficient production within aluminum reduction cellsAluminum reduction cells. Presently, two mainstream busbar configuration schemes are employed for 500 kA reduction cellsReduction cell: the self-compensating and external-compensating schemes. This study conducts simulationsSimulation and calculations of busbar systems for both schemes, from the perspectives of magnetic fieldsMagnetic field, electrical balance, flow velocity fields, and MHD stabilityMHD stability. Combined with the results of on-site testing, a comprehensive comparative analysis of these two busbar schemes is executed.