1’000’000 amperes deram cell

The aluminum industry is constantly looking at reducing the production cost. During the last three decades it has mainly been achieved by the economy of scale consisting in increasing the cell dimensions allowing for higher current and therefore increasing the plant production and productivity. This paper presents under which conditions a step change can be achieved without increasing the shell dimensions. The design of a cell of the future is discussed in term of voltage distribution, heat loss, energy saving, productivity and environmental consequences.