A simulation framework for electrochemical processes with electrolyte flow

Software tools for simulating electrochemical processes (e.g. COMSOL Multi-physics, ELSYCA) are mostly of commercial type. Besides, three-dimensional simulations in complex cell geometries are known to become resource-expensive, as typically thin concentration boundary layers need to be resolved. The present work presents a simulation framework for electrochemical processes based on the open source platform OpenFOAM. The finite volume method used and combined with domain decomposition is able to efficiently benefit from multicore computer architectures. Our framework takes into account electrolyte flow, which is well known to affect mass transfer, and allows to consider multi-species electrolytes and forcing of the electrolyte. The stability and fast convergence of the method presented is found to rely on the linearization of the Butler-Volmer condi-
tion in the iterative solver. The framework is validated against an analytical solution valid for simplified conditions and an electrodeposition process at a conically shaped electrode in an external magnetic field. The latter exhibits transient departure of the concentration boundary layer from the cathode, and excellent agreement with COMSOL simulation results is found.