Analysing and optimizing the electrolysis efficiency of a lithium cell based on the electrochemical and multiphase model

Abstract

Based on an electrochemical multiphysical simulation, a method for analysing electrolysis efficiency has been presented that considers the energy consumption required to produce a single kilogram of lithium and for the production of lithium, rather than the voltage in various parts. By adopting them as the criteria for analysing electrolysis efficiency in the lithium cell, several structural parameters have been optimized, such as the anode radius and anode–cathode distance. These parameters strongly affect the cell voltage and the velocity field distribution, which has a significant impact on the concentration distribution. By integrating the concentration distribution, the lithium production and energy consumption per kilogram, lithium is computed. By appointing the minimum of the chlorine and lithium concentration as the secondary reaction intensity, it is clear where the secondary reaction intensity is strong in the cell. The structure of a lithium electrolysis cell has been optimized by applying an orthogonal design approach, with the energy consumption notably decreasing from 35.0 to 28.3 kWh (kg Li) −1 and the lithium production successfully increasing by 0.17 mol.