21世纪伊始，法国500kA特大型预焙阳极电解槽，以及中国320 kA大型电解槽的出现，标志着铝电解工业的重要新进展。文章从理论上分析了大型电解槽的优越性，论述了减少电解槽的热损失系数，即减少按单位电量核算的热损失量，便是大型槽能够节省电能的理论基础；应用低温铝电解和惰性电极是铝电解工业今后的发展方向。

New prebaked anode cells of 500 kA and 320 kA capacity appeared in France and China separately at the beginning of the 21st century. These are important advances in aluminium electrolytic industry. This paper mentioned the various advantages of large prebaked anode cells, especially the lowering of electrical energy consumption due to a decreasing of heat loss coefficient. For the future development of prebaked anode cells, there may be three ways:Using low-temperature electrolysis technology (at 800〜9001℃ ); Using inert cathode and anodes in the construction of new type electrolysis cells;③ a combination of ① and ②.