Liquid metal batteries - materials selection and fluid dynamics

Weier, Tom; Bund, Andreas; El-Mofid, W.; Horstmann, Gerrit Maik; Lalau, Cornel-Constantin; Landgraf, S.; Nimtz, Michael; Starace, Marco; Stefani, Frank; Weber, Norbert

doi:10.1088/1757-899x/228/1/012013

Cited by 36 publications

(29 citation statements)

References 40 publications

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“…The concentration cell consists of a Bi positive electrode (0.1 mol), a LiF-LiCl-LiI molten salt electrolyte and a Li negative electrode [64]. The lithium is contained in a nickel spiral, and the vessel is made of tantalum to avoid as far as possible any reaction with the active materials and the electrolyte.…”

Section: Application To a Li||bi Liquid Metal Batterymentioning

confidence: 99%

Modeling discontinuous potential distributions using the finite volume method, and application to liquid metal batteries

Weber

Landgraf

Mushtaq

et al. 2019

Electrochimica Acta

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The electrical potential in a battery jumps at each electrode-electrolyte interface. We present a model for computing three-dimensional current and potential distributions, which accounts for such internal voltage jumps. Within the framework of the finite volume method we discretize the Laplace and gradient operators such that they account for internal jump boundary conditions. After implementing a simple battery model in OpenFOAM we validate it using an analytical test case, and show its capabilities by simulating the current distribution and discharge curve of a Li||Bi liquid metal battery.

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Section: Application To a Li||bi Liquid Metal Batterymentioning

confidence: 99%

Modeling discontinuous potential distributions using the finite volume method, and application to liquid metal batteries

Weber

Landgraf

Mushtaq

et al. 2019

Electrochimica Acta

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“…1. Sketch of a liquid metal cell with discharge current and density profile for fully charged state and isothermal conditions (a) and schematic discharge process (b) from [12]. Fig.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Fluid Mechanics of Liquid Metal Batteries

Kelley

Weier

2018

Applied Mechanics Reviews

107

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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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“…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%

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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Liquid metal batteries - materials selection and fluid dynamics

Cited by 36 publications

References 40 publications

Modeling discontinuous potential distributions using the finite volume method, and application to liquid metal batteries

Modeling discontinuous potential distributions using the finite volume method, and application to liquid metal batteries

Fluid Mechanics of Liquid Metal Batteries

Thermally driven convection in Li||Bi liquid metal batteries

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