Sun - Batteries - Sun


Sun - Batteries - Sun

Stefani, F.; Galindo, V.; Giesecke, A.; Weber, N.; Weier, T.

Liquid metal batteries (LMBs) are presently discussed as cheap means for the storage of wind and solar energy. Among other drivers of undesired fluid motion that could destroy the three-fluids stratification, the Tayler instability (TI) sets some upper limit for the upscalability of LMBs. We present the principles of the TI, its possible effects on LMBs, and some simple ways to suppress it. We focus on the peculiar saturation mechanism of the TI at low magnetic Prandtl numbers, which relies on the change of the hydrodynamic base state. We discuss the recently found helicity oscillations of the m=1 velocity field of the TI which, in turn, might have consequences for stellar dynamo models for which the TI had originally been discussed. We show that these helicity oscillations can be resonantly excited by certain m=2 perturbations which would result, e.g., from planetary tidal forces. It is this high sensitivity of the helicity oscillations that could empower those very weak tidal forces to synchronize the entire solar dynamo.

  • Lecture (Conference)
    International workshop on liquid metal battery fluid dynamics (LMBFD 2017), 16.-17.05.2017, Dresden, Germany

Permalink: https://www.hzdr.de/publications/Publ-25828
Publ.-Id: 25828