The effects of flue-wall design modifications on combustion and flow characteristics of an aluminum anode baking furnace-CFD modeling

Anode baking homogeneity is an important consideration in the design of the anode baking furnace, which requires appropriate flow distribution in the flue-wall cavity. Hence, the developed numerical framework was employed to investigate the effects of flue-wall design modifications on combustion and heat transfer characteristics of anode baking furnace energy consumption. It was observed that the modified design results in a higher thermal efficiency (lower energy consumption), and more homogenous temperature and flow fields which result in the baking of anodes more uniformly which consequently result in the evolution of more homogenous material properties. Consequently, the energy consumption in the aluminum reduction cell will also be significantly reduced. The present study also investigated the effect of flue-wall flow blockage due to packing coke infiltration on baking energy consumption for the aged anode baking furnaces and introduced three modified flue-wall designs.