Thermal convection in a liquid metal battery
Fluid Dynamics
2017-01-25 v1
Abstract
Generation of thermal convection flow in the liquid metal battery, a device recently proposed as a promising solution for the problem of the short-term energy storage, is analyzed using a numerical model. It is found that convection caused by Joule heating of electrolyte during charging or discharging is virtually unavoidable. It exists in laboratory prototypes larger than a few cm in size and should become much stronger in larger-scale batteries. The phenomenon needs further investigation in view of its positive (enhanced mixing of reactants) and negative (loss of efficiency and possible disruption of operation due to the flow-induced deformation of the electrolyte layer) effects.
Keywords
Cite
@article{arxiv.1507.08315,
title = {Thermal convection in a liquid metal battery},
author = {Yuxin Shen and Oleg Zikanov},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1507.08315},
year = {2017}
}