The Tayler Instability
Whenever an electric current flows through a liquid conductor, the Tayler instability may appear. If the electric current exceeds a value in the order of kiloampère (depending on the material), it will drive a fluid flow. The Tayler instability was observed experimentally for the first time at HZDR (Seilmayer et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 108 (2012), 244501). A current of up to 8 kA was applied to a column filled with the liquid metal GaInSn (fig. 1). For currents larger than 2.5 kA a flow as illustrated in fig. 2 can be observed.
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Fig. 1: Experimental setup of the Tayler instability. |
Fig. 2: Simulated flow field of the Tayler instability in the experiment. |
The Tayler instability is known to limit the scalability of liquid metal batteries. It will appear first in the upper metal layer; if the flow becomes too strong, it may wipe away the thin electrolyte layer, and short-circuit the cell (fig. 3). At HZDR we are developing different countermeasures for avoiding the Tayler instability and the short-circuit (fig. 4). In order to perform these studies, we developed a fully three-dimensional numerical code using an integro-differential equation approach, and implemented it into the open source CFD software OpenFOAM.
Fig. 3: The Tayler instability may short-circuit a liquid metal battery, if the cell current is very large.
Fig. 4: The Tayler instability in liquid metal batteries can be avoided by many different means.
Besides of liquid metal batteries, the TI is heavily discussed in astrophysics, e.g. for the chemical mixing in stars, the appearance of helical structures in cosmic jets or in context with the Tayler-Spruit dynamo. Recently observed helicity oscillations and their possible synchronisation with planetary forces may potentially help to explain the 11-year sunspot cycle.
Publications
- Duczek, C.; Horstmann, G. M.; Ding, W.; Einarsrud, K. E.; Gelfgat, A. Y.; Godinez-Brizuela, O. E.; Kjos, O. S.; Landgraf, S.; Lappan, T.; Monrrabal, G.; Nash, W.; Personnettaz, P.; Sarma, M.; Sommerseth, C.; Trtik, P.; Weber, N.; Weier, T.
Fluid mechanics of Na-Zn liquid metal batteries
Applied Physics Reviews 11(2024), 041326 - Stefani, F.; Giesecke, A.; Weber, N.; Weier, T.
On the synchronizability of Tayler-Spruit and Babcock-Leighton type dynamos
Solar Physics 293(2018), 12 - Kelley, D.; Weier, T.
Fluid mechanics of liquid metal batteries
Applied Mechanics Reviews 70(2018) 020801 - Stefani, F.; Galindo, V.; Giesecke, A.; Weber, N.; Weier, T.
The Tayler instability at low magnetic Prandtl numbers: Chiral symmetry breaking and synchronizable helicity oscillations
Magnetohydrodynamics 53(2017)1, 169-178 - Weier, T.; Bund, A.; El-Mofid, W.; Horstmann, G.M.; Lalau, C.-C.; Landgraf, S.; Nimtz, M.; Starace, M.; Stefani, F.; Weber, N.
Liquid metal batteries - materials selection and fluid dynamics
IOP Conference Series: Materials Science and Engineering 228(2017), 012013 - Stefani, F.; Giesecke, A.; Weber, N.; Weier, T.
Synchronized helicity oscillations: A link between planetary tides and the solar cycle?
Solar Physics 291(2016)8, 2197-2212 - Stefani, F.; Galindo, V.; Kasprzyk, C.; Landgraf, S.; Seilmayer, M.; Starace, M.; Weber, N.; Weier, T.
Magnetohydrodynamic effects in liquid metal batteries
IOP Conference Series: Materials Science and Engineering 143(2016), 012024 - Weber, N.; Galindo, V.; Stefani, F.; Weier, T.
The Tayler instability at low magnetic Prandtl numbers: between chiral symmetry breaking and helicity oscillations
New Journal of Physics 17(2015), 113013 - Starace, M.; Weber, N.; Seilmayer, M.; Kasprzyk, C.; Weier, T.; Stefani, F.; Eckert, S.
Ultrasound Doppler flow measurements in a liquid metal column under the influence of a strong axial electric current
Magnetohydrodynamics 51(2015)2, 249-256 - Weber, N.; Galindo, V.; Priede, J.; Stefani, F.; Weier, T.
The influence of current collectors on Tayler instability and electro-vortex flows in liquid metal batteries
Physics of Fluids 27(2015), 014103 - Weber, N.; Galindo, V.; Stefani, F.; Weier, T.
Current-driven flow instabilities in large-scale liquid metal batteries, and how to tame them
Journal of Power Sources 265(2014), 166-173 - Weber, N.; Galindo, V.; Stefani, F.; Weier, T.; Wondrak, T.
Numerical simulation of the Tayler instability in liquid metals
New Journal of Physics 15(2013), 043034 - Seilmayer, M.; Stefani, F.; Gundrum, T.; Weier, T.; Gerbeth, G.; Gellert, M.; Rüdiger, G.
Experimental evidence for a transient Tayler instability in a cylindrical liquid-metal column
Physical Review Letters 108(2012)24, 244501 - Stefani, F.; Weier, T.; Gundrum, T.; Gerbeth, G.
How to circumvent the size limitation of liquid metal batteries due to the Tayler instability
Energy Conversion and Management 52(2011), 2982-2986