Aluminium electrolysis cell cathode shunt design

The invention relates to non-ferrous metallurgy, in particular, electrowinning of aluminium from cryolite-alumina melts, and can be used in the shunt design of a cathode assembly. In an aluminium electrolysis cell, cathode vertical metal shunts, which conduct electrical current from the aluminium melt to the cathode busbar, are designed such that their top part is melted aluminium, and the bottom part is solid aluminium. Shunts are located in conduits made in a hearth slab lining which has a widening in the middle part which is wider than both parts of the shunts. The widening in the shunt conduit can be filled with a composite material, i.e. titanium diboride-carbon. The shunts can be designed as a tube, and the widening in the conduit and the space inside the tube can be filled with the composite material titanium diboride-carbon.; The application of the proposed technical solution makes it possible to significantly increase the electrical efficiency due to the absence of contact assemblies which contain dissimilar materials in the cathode shunt, due to reduced current loss, and due to achieving a guaranteed effective current distribution and an effective current shunting.