Electro-vortex flow of liquid metal in a cylindrical cell with localized current supply and variable aspect ratio

S. Mandrykin¹ - V. Ozernykh¹ - I. Kolesnichenko¹

¹ North-Caucasus Federal University, 1 Pushkin str. 355009, Stavropol, Russia
² Admiral Makarov National University of Shipbuilding, 9 Heroes of Ukraine str., 54000, Nova Odesa, Mykolaivs'ka oblast, Ukraine

Abstract
Electro-vortex flow (EVF) of liquid metal (gallium alloy) is studied numerically in configurations which are close to those of liquid metal batteries. Here, the liquid metal is contained in a cylindrical cell. The electric current is supplied to a single electrode located at the bottom end face of the cell and it is collected at the cell top end face. Both the magnitude of the electric current and the aspect ratio of the cell are varied. Numerical simulations show that even at the lowest magnitude of the electric current considered (10 A) the EVF arises in the cell as a large-scale toroidal vortex. At moderate electric currents (more than 500 A), the flow is non-stationary. The maximum observed flow velocity was 0.10 m/s (at 1000 A). The cell aspect ratio affects the intensity and pattern of the flow. The smaller its value, the more pronounced the process. With increasing aspect ratio, the main large-scale vortex splits into several smaller vortices. Figs 8, Refs 21.