Contact
Dr. Norbert Weber
norbert.weber
hzdr.de
Phone: +49 351 260 3112
Numerical simulation of liquid metal batteries
Experiments on liquid metal batteries are challenging: high temperature, an inert atmosphere and the reactive cell components make (velocity) measurement difficult. We therefore conduct numerical simulation to complement the experiments. The numerical models are developed at HZDR and are implemented in the open source CFD library OpenFOAM. All solvers are continously improved and kept under version control using git. New models are validated with experimental data, theoretical models or other numerical models. Currently, the following set of single phase solvers is available at HZDR:
- Solver for magnetohydrodynamic instabilities (Tayler instability)
- Solver for double-diffusive convection (solutal convection)
- Multi-region solver for magnetohydrodynamics (electro-vortex flow)
The multiphase solvers include:
- Solver for magnetohydrodynamic instabilities (metal pad roll instability)
- Solver for thermal convection (Oberbeck-Boussinesq approximation)
Meshes are typically generated using the OpenFOAM tool snappyHexMesh, using Autodesk Inventor and Salomé. In-house meshing tools include improved mesh generators for a better resolution of the boundary layers as well as a decomposition method for multi-region simulation. Moreover, in-house equation solvers, as e.g. a PCG solver with improved regularisation technique, are developed at HZDR.
Post processing software developed at HZDR include tools for a modal decomposition, for interface reconstruction, ultrasonic beam models as well as different averaging and fitting techniques.
Examined Instabilities
Thermal Effects in Liquid Metal Batteries
Thermal convection appears in liquid metal batteries mainly in the anode, but also in the electrolyte of the cell.
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Electro-Vortex Flow
Electro-vortex flow may appear when an electric current diverges or converges inside a liquid conductor.
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Interfacial instabilities
The metal pad roll instability limits the possible electrolyte layer thickness as well as the electric current for aluminium reduction cells as well as liquid metal batteries.
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The Tayler Instability
The Tayler instability limits the up-scalability of liquid metal batteries and plays a major role in astrophysics.
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Solutal convection
Solutal convection appears when charging a liquid metal battery, and improves mass transfer substantially.
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Mass transfer in liquid metal batteries
Mass transfer substantially determines the cell voltage of liquid metal batteries.
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Local short circuits in liquid metal batteries
Local, small scale short circuits appear in liquid metal batteries for different reasons and have already been observed experimentally.
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Publications
- Godinez-Brizuela, O. E.; Duczek, C., Weber, N.; Nash, W.; Sarma, M.; Einarsrud, K. E.
A continuous multiphase model for liquid metal batteries
Journal of Energy Storage 73(2023) 109147 - Duczek, C.; Weber, N.; Godinez-Brizuela, O.E.; Weier, T.
Simulation of potential and species distribution in a Li||Bi liquid metal battery using coupled meshes
Electrochimica Acta 437(2023) 141413 - Weber, N.; Weier, T.
Liquid metal batteries
In: Electrochemical Cell Calculations with OpenFOAM (ed. S. Beale, W. Lehnert), Springer International Publishing (2022) - Personnettaz, P.; Klopper, T. S.; Weber, N.; Weier, T.
Layer coupling between solutal and thermal convection in liquid metal batteries
International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer 188(2022) 122555 - Weber, N.; Duczek, C.; Horstmann, G.M.; Landgraf, S.; Nimtz, M.; Personnettaz, P.; Weier, T.; Sadoway, D.R.
Cell voltage model for Li-Bi liquid metal batteries
Applied Energy 209(2022) 118331 - Liu, K.; Stefani, F.; Weber, N.; Weier, T.; Li, B.W.
Transient behaviour of electrovortex flow in a cylindrical container
Magnetohydrodynamics 57(2021) 437-448 - Bénard, S.; Weber, N.; Horstmann, G.M.; Landgraf, S.; Weier, T.
Anode-metal drop formation and detachment mechanisms in liquid metal batteries
Journal of Power Sources 510(2021) 230339 - Nore, C.; Cappanera, L.; Guermond, J.-L.; Weier, T.; Herreman,
W..
Feasibility of metal pad roll instability experiments at room temperature
Physical Review Letters 126(2021) 184501 - Weier, T.; Grants, I.; Horstmann, G. M.; Landgraf, S.; Nimtz, M.; Personnettaz, P.; Stefani, F.; Weber, N.
Conductivity influence on interfacial waves in liquid metal batteries and related two-layer systems
Magnetohydrodynamics 56(2020) 237-246 - Personnettaz, P.; Landgraf, S.; Nimtz, M.; Weber, N.; Weier, T.
Effects of current distribution on mass transport in the positive electrode of a liquid metal battery
Magnetohydrodynamics 56(2020) 247-254 - Herreman, W.; Bénard, S.; Nore, C.; Personnettaz, P.; Cappanera, L.; Guermond, J.-L.
Solutal buoyancy and electrovortex flow in liquid metal batteries
Physical Review Fluids 5(2020) 074501 - Liu, K.; Stefani, F.; Weber, N.; Weier, T.; Li, B.W.
Numerical and experimental investigation of electro-vortex flow in a cyclindrical container
Magnetohydrodynamics 56(2020) 27-41 - Weber, N.; Nimtz, M.; Personnettaz, P.; Weier, T.; Sadoway, D.
Numerical simulation of mass transfer enhancement in liquid metal batteries by means of electro-vortex flow
Journal of Power Sources Advances 1(2020) 100004 - Herreman, W.; Nore, C.; Ziebell Ramos, P.; Cappanera, L.; Guermond, J.-L.; Weber, N.
Numerical simulation of electrovortex flows in cylindrical fluid layers and liquid metal batteries
Physical Review Fluids 4(2019) 113702 - Herreman, W.; Nore, C.; Guermond, J.-L.; Cappanera, L.; Weber, N.; Horstmann, G.M.
Perturbation theory for metal pad roll instability in cylindrical reduction cells
Journal of Fluid Mechanics 878(2019) 598-646 - Personnettaz, P.; Landgraf, S.; Nimtz, M.; Weber, N.; Weier, T.
Mass transport induced asymmetry in charge/discharge behavior of liquid metal batteries
Electrochemistry Communications 105(2019) 106496 - Weber, N.; Landgraf, S.; Mushtaq, K.; Nimtz, M.; Personnettaz, P.; Weier, T.; Zhao, J.; Sadoway, D.
Modeling discontinuous potential distributions using the finite volume method, and application to liquid metal batteries
Electrochimica Acta 318(2019) 857-864 - Personnettaz, P.; Beckstein, P.; Landgraf, S.; Köllner, T.; Nimtz, M.; Weber, N.; Weier, T.
Thermally driven convection in Li||Bi liquid metal batteries
Journal of Power Sources 401(2018) 362-374 - Weber, N.; Nimtz, M.; Personnettaz, P.; Salas, A.; Weier, T.
Electromagnetically driven convection suitable for mass transfer enhancement in liquid metal batteries
Applied Thermal Engineering 143(2018) 293-301 - Horstmann, G.M.; Weber, N.; Weier, T.
Coupling and stability of interfacial waves in liquid metal batteries
Journal of Fluid Mechanics 845(2018) 1-35 - Ashour, R.; Kelley, D.; Salas, A.; Starace, M.; Weber, N.; Weier, T.
Competing forces in liquid metal electrodes and batteries
Journal of Power Sources 378(2018) 301-310 - Kelley, D.; Weier, T.
Fluid mechanics of liquid metal batteries
Applied Mechanics Reviews 70(2018) 020801 - Weber, N.; Beckstein, P.; Galindo, V.; Starace, M.; Weier, T.
Electro-vortex flow simulation using coupled meshes
Computers and Fluids 168(2018) 101-109 - Weber, N.; Beckstein, P.; Herreman, W.; Horstmann, G.M.; Nore, C.; Stefani, F.; Weier, T.
Sloshing instability and electrolyte layer rupture in liquid metal batteries
Physics of Fluids 29(2017), 044101 - Weber, N.; Beckstein, P.; Galindo, V.; Herreman, W.; Nore, C.; Stefani, F.; Weier, T.
Metal pad roll instability in liquid metal batteries
Magnetohydrodynamics 53(2017), 129-140 - 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.; Wondrak, T.
Numerical simulation of the Tayler instability in liquid metals
New Journal of Physics 15(2013), 043034
