The influence of current collectors on Tayler instability and electro-vortex flows in liquid metal batteries

Abstract

The Tayler instability (TI) is a kink-type flow instability which occurs when the electrical current through a conducting fluid exceeds a certain critical value. Originally studied in the astrophysical context, the instability was recently discussed as a possible limiting factor for the upward scalability of liquid metal batteries. In this paper, we continue our efforts to simulate this instability for liquid metals within the framework of an integro-differential equation approach. The original solver is enhanced by multi-domain support with Dirichlet-Neumann partitioning for the static boundaries. Particular focus is laid on the detailed influence of the axial electrical boundary conditions on the characteristic features of the Tayler instability and, second, on the occurrence of electro-vortex flows and their relevance for liquid metal batteries. Electro-vortex flows might pose a larger risk to the integrity of the battery than the TI.