Analysis of the electric field in rare earth molten salt electrolytic cell based on Comsol

ByusingComsol Multiphysics software, amathematicalmodelofelectric fieldin3 kA neodymium molten salt electrolytic cellwasbuilt based on maxwell's theory, under the condition of constant current. Then, the effects of the electrode depth and electrode distance on the cell voltage and current density were studied. The results show that the simulation calculated values are in good agreement with the production data, showing that the model can wholly embody the neodymium molten salt electrolytic practice; with the increase of electrode depth and the decrease of electrode distance, the cell voltage and power consumption reduce, but the current density and production efficiency drop accordingly which is not good for improving current efficiency. Therefore, taking into account energy consumption and productivity, the electrode depth and electrode distance should be controlled to suitable values in order to reduce the unit energy consumption for neodymium molten salt electrolytic process.