Sloshing instability and electrolyte layer rupture in liquid metal batteries

Weber, Norbert; Beckstein, Pascal; Herreman, Wietze; Horstmann, Gerrit Maik; Nore, Caroline; Stefani, Frank; Weier, Tom

doi:10.1063/1.4982900

Cited by 63 publications

(99 citation statements)

References 71 publications

(98 reference statements)

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“…It should be mentioned that criteria predicting instability onset for any non-vanishing Lorentz force neglect dissipative effects caused by magnetic induction and viscosity as well as the influence of surface tension [164].…”

Section: Interface Instabilitiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Fluid Mechanics of Liquid Metal Batteries

Kelley

Weier

2018

Applied Mechanics Reviews

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100

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The design and performance of liquid metal batteries, a new technology for grid-scale energy storage, depend on fluid mechanics because the battery electrodes and electrolytes are entirely liquid. Here we review prior and current research on the fluid mechanics of liquid metal batteries, pointing out opportunities for future studies. Because the technology in its present form is just a few years old, only a small number of publications have so far considered liquid metal batteries specifically. We hope to encourage collaboration and conversation by referencing as many of those publications as possible here. Much can also be learned by linking to extensive prior literature considering phenomena observed or expected in liquid metal batteries, including thermal convection, magnetoconvection, Marangoni flow, interface instabilities, the Tayler instability, and electro-vortex flow. We focus on phenomena, materials, length scales, and current densities relevant to the liquid metal battery designs currently being commercialized. We try to point out breakthroughs that could lead to design improvements or make new mechanisms important.The story of fluid mechanics research in liquid metal batteries (LMBs) begins with one very important application: grid-scale storage. Electrical grids have almost no energy storage capacity, and adding storage will make them more robust and more resilient even as they incorporate increasing amounts of intermittent and unpredictable wind and solar generation. Liquid metal batteries have unique advantages as a grid-scale storage technology, but their uniqueness also means that designers must consider chemical and physical mechanisms -including fluid mechanisms -that are relevant to few other battery technologies, and in many cases not yet well-understood. We will review the fluid mechanics of liquid metal batteries, focusing on studies undertaken with that technology in mind, and also drawing extensively from prior work considering similar mechanisms in other contexts. In the interest of promoting dialogue across this new field, we have endeavored to include the work of many different researchers, though inevitably some will have eluded our search, and we ask for the reader's sympathy for regrettable omissions. Our story will be guided by technological application, focusing on mechanisms most relevant to liquid metal batteries as built for grid-scale storage. We will consider electrochemistry and theoretical fluid mechanics only briefly because excellent reviews of both topics are already available in the literature. In §1 below we provide an overview and brief introduction to liquid metal batteries, motivated by the present state of worldwide electrical grids, including the various types of liquid metal batteries that have been developed. We consider the history of liquid metal batteries in more detail in §2, connecting to the thermally regenerative electrochemical cells developed in the middle of the twentieth century. Continuing, we consider the fluid mechanisms that are most relevant to ...

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Section: Interface Instabilitiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Fluid Mechanics of Liquid Metal Batteries

Kelley

Weier

2018

Applied Mechanics Reviews

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100

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“…The incompressible Navier-Stokes equation (NSE) for a Newtonian fluid is reformulated in order to take into account the multiphase nature of the system [63] as ∂(ρu) ∂t + ∇ · (ρuu) = −∇p d + gz∇ρ + ∇ · (ρν(∇u + (∇u) )) + f st (11) with ρ denoting density, u velocity, t time, g gravity acceleration, z the axial coordinate, ν kinematic viscosity and f st the source of momentum due to the surface tension. For the derivation of the modified pressure p d , see [24,63]. The interface capturing is done with the volume of fluid method (VOF), which uses a (volumetric) phase fraction α i for each fluid i.…”

Section: Thermo-fluid Dynamic Multiphase Solver and Discretizationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Several studies have shown that fluid motion can be triggered by magnetohydrodynamic effects, i.e., the interaction of a magnetic field (either a background field or the field caused by the battery current) with the cell current. This includes the Tayler instability [11][12][13][14][15][16], electro-vortex flows [17][18][19][20][21] as well as interface instabilities [22][23][24][25][26][27]. While the Tayler instability will get substantial only for large system (in the order of meters) [14], electro-vortex flow will appear already in small cells [19].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Thermally driven convection in Li||Bi liquid metal batteries

Personnettaz

Beckstein

Landgraf

et al. 2018

Journal of Power Sources

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Liquid Metal Batteries (LMBs) are a promising concept for cheap electrical energy storage at grid level. These are built as a stable density stratification of three liquid layers, with two liquid metals separated by a molten salt. In order to ensure a safe and efficient operation, the understanding of transport phenomena in LMBs is essential. With this motivation we study thermal convection induced by internal heat generation. We consider the electrochemical nature of the cell in order to define the heat balance and the operating parameters. Moreover we develop a simple 1D heat conduction model as well as a fully 3D thermo-fluid dynamics model. The latter is implemented in the CFD library OpenFOAM, extending the volume of fluid solver, and validated against a pseudo-spectral code. Both models are used to study a rectangular 10×10 cm Li||Bi LMB cell at three different states of charge.

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“…The governing equations for the magnetic field and the flow dynamics will be presented in detail in the next section. Parts of our implementation in foam-extend were developed in close relation with [16], specially regarding the flexible and efficient application of Biot-Savart's law (c.f. chapter 3) and a multi-mesh concept to address problems with several coupled physical effects, which are each valid on different (possibly overlapping) domains.…”

Section: Modelingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Modeling electromagnetically driven free-surface flows motivated by the Ribbon Growth on Substrate (RGS) process

Beckstein

Galindo

Schönecker

et al. 2017

IOP Conf. Ser.: Mater. Sci. Eng.

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Abstract. The Ribbon Growth on Substrate (RGS) technology is a crystallization technique that allows direct casting of silicon wafers and sheets of advanced metal-silicide compounds. With the potential of reaching high crystallization rates, it promises a very efficient approach for future photo-voltaic silicon wafer production compared to well-established processes in industry. However, a number of remaining problems, like process stability and controllability, need to be addressed for the RGS technology to eventually become a competitor in the near future. In this regard, it is very desirable to gain detailed insights into the characteristic process dynamics. To comply with this demand, we have developed a new numerical tool based on OpenFOAM (foam-extend), capable of simulating the free-surface dynamics of the melt flow under the influence of an applied alternating magnetic field. Our corresponding model thereby resolves the interaction of hydrodynamic and magnetodynamic effects in three-dimensional space. Although we currently focus on the RGS process, the modeling itself has been formulated in a more general form, which may be used for the investigation of similar problems, too. Here we provide a brief overview of these developments.

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Sloshing instability and electrolyte layer rupture in liquid metal batteries

Cited by 63 publications

References 71 publications

Fluid Mechanics of Liquid Metal Batteries

Fluid Mechanics of Liquid Metal Batteries

Thermally driven convection in Li||Bi liquid metal batteries

Modeling electromagnetically driven free-surface flows motivated by the Ribbon Growth on Substrate (RGS) process

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