Publications Repository - Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf

Liquid metal batteries (LMBs) were recently proposed as cheap large scale energy storage. Such devices are urgently required for balancing highly fluctuating renewable energies. During discharge, LMBs tend to form intermetallic phases. These do not only limit the up-scalability, but also the efficiency of the cells. Generating a mild fluid flow in the fully liquid cell will smoothen concentration gradients and minimise the formation of intermetallics. In this context we study electro-vortex flow numerically. We simulate a recent LMB related experiment and discuss how the feeding lines to the cell can be optimised to enhance mass
transfer. The Lorentz forces have to overcome the stable thermal stratification in the cathode of the cell; we show that thermal effects may reduce electro-vortex flow velocities considerable. Finally, we study the influence of the Earth magnetic field on the flow.