ANSYS Fluent Battery Module Manual

ANSYS, Inc. Release 15.0

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Table of Contents
Using This Manual ........................................................................................................................................ v
1. The Contents of This Manual ................................................................................................................ v
2. The Contents of the Fluent Manuals ..................................................................................................... v
3.Typographical Conventions ................................................................................................................. vi
4. Mathematical Conventions ................................................................................................................ vii
5. Technical Support ............................................................................................................................. viii
1. Introduction ............................................................................................................................................ 1
1.1. Overview .......................................................................................................................................... 1
1.2. General Procedure ............................................................................................................................ 2
1.3. Installing the Battery Module ............................................................................................................ 2
2. Single-Potential Empirical Battery Model .............................................................................................. 3
2.1. Single-Potential Empirical Battery Model Theory ................................................................................ 3
2.1.1. Introduction ............................................................................................................................ 3
2.1.2. Computation of the Electric Potential and Current Density ........................................................ 3
2.1.3. Thermal and Electrical Coupling ............................................................................................... 5
2.2. Using the Single-Potential Empirical Battery Model ........................................................................... 5
2.2.1. Geometry Definition for the Single-Potential Empirical Battery Model ....................................... 5
2.2.2. Loading the Single-Potential Empirical Battery Module ............................................................. 6
2.2.3. Getting Started With the Single-Potential Empirical Battery Model ............................................ 6
2.2.3.1. Specifying Single-Potential Empirical Battery Model Parameters ....................................... 8
2.2.3.2. Specifying Separator Parameters .................................................................................... 10
2.2.3.3. Specifying Electric Field Parameters ............................................................................... 10
2.2.4. Solution Controls for the Single-Potential Empirical Battery Model .......................................... 11
2.2.5. Postprocessing the Single-Potential Empirical Battery Model ................................................... 12
2.2.6. User-Accessible Functions ...................................................................................................... 13
2.2.6.1. Compiling the Customized Battery Source Code ............................................................. 14
2.2.6.1.1. Compiling the Customized Source Code Under Linux ............................................ 14
2.2.6.1.2. Compiling the Customized Source Code Under Windows ....................................... 15
2.2.7. Using the Single-Potential Empirical Battery Model Text User Interface .................................... 15
3. Dual-Potential MSMD Battery Model ................................................................................................... 17
3.1. Dual-Potential MSMD Battery Model Theory .................................................................................... 17
3.1.1. MSMD approach .................................................................................................................... 17
3.1.2. NTGK Model ........................................................................................................................... 18
3.1.3. ECM Model ............................................................................................................................ 19
3.1.4. Newman P2D Model .............................................................................................................. 20
3.1.5. Coupling Between CFD and Submodels .................................................................................. 23
3.1.6. Battery Pack Simulation .......................................................................................................... 24
3.2. Using the Dual-Potential MSMD Battery Model ................................................................................ 25
3.2.1. Limitations ............................................................................................................................. 25
3.2.2. Geometry Definition for the Dual-Potential MSMD Battery Model ............................................ 25
3.2.3. Loading the Dual-Potential MSMD Battery Module .................................................................. 26
3.2.4. Setting up the Dual-Potential MSMD Battery Model ................................................................ 26
3.2.4.1. Specifying Battery Model Options .................................................................................. 28
3.2.4.2. Specifying Battery Model Parameters ............................................................................. 31
3.2.4.2.1. Inputs for the NTGK Empirical Model ..................................................................... 32
3.2.4.2.2. Inputs for the Electric Circuit Model ....................................................................... 33
3.2.4.2.3. Inputs for the Newman P2D Model ........................................................................ 34
3.2.4.2.4. Input for the User-Defined E-Model ....................................................................... 37
3.2.4.3. Specifying Conductive Zones ......................................................................................... 38
3.2.4.4. Specifying Electric Contacts ........................................................................................... 39

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Battery Module Manual

3.2.5. Initializing the Battery Model .................................................................................................. 40

3.2.6. Modifying Material Properties ................................................................................................ 40
3.2.7. Solution Controls for the Dual-Potential MSMD Battery Model ................................................. 40
3.2.8. Postprocessing the Dual-Potential MSMD Battery Model ......................................................... 41
3.2.9. User-Accessible Functions ...................................................................................................... 42
3.2.9.1. Compiling the Customized Battery Source Code ............................................................. 43
3.2.9.1.1. Compiling the Customized Source Code Under Linux ............................................ 44
3.2.9.1.2. Compiling the Customized Source Code Under Windows ....................................... 45
3.2.10. Using the Dual-Potential MSMD Battery Model Text User Interface ......................................... 45
Bibliography ............................................................................................................................................... 47
Index .......................................................................................................................................................... 49

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Using This Manual

 This preface is divided into the following sections:
1.The Contents of This Manual
2.The Contents of the Fluent Manuals
3.Typographical Conventions
4. Mathematical Conventions
5.Technical Support

1.The Contents of This Manual

 The ANSYS Fluent Battery Module Manual provides information about using the battery models available
in ANSYS Fluent. In this manual, you will find a theoretical discussion of the models used in ANSYS
Fluent, and a description of using the models with your CFD simulations.

2.The Contents of the Fluent Manuals

 The manuals listed below form the Fluent product documentation set. They include descriptions of the
procedures, commands, and theoretical details needed to use Fluent products.

• Fluent Getting Started Guide  contains general information about getting started with using
Fluent and provides details about starting, running, and exiting the program.

• Fluent Migration Manual contains information about transitioning from the previous release of Fluent,
including details about new features, solution changes, and text command list changes.

• Fluent User's Guide  contains detailed information about running a simulation using the solution
mode of Fluent, including information about the user interface, reading and writing files, defining
boundary conditions, setting up physical models, calculating a solution, and analyzing your results.

• ANSYS Fluent Meshing User's Guide  contains detailed information about creating 3D meshes
using the meshing mode of Fluent.

• Fluent in Workbench User's Guide  contains information about getting started with and using Fluent
within the Workbench environment.

• Fluent Theory Guide contains reference information for how the physical models are implemented
in Fluent.

• Fluent UDF Manual  contains information about writing and using user-defined functions (UDFs).

• Fluent Tutorial Guide  contains a number of examples of various flow problems with detailed instruc-
tions, commentary, and postprocessing of results.

• ANSYS Fluent Meshing Tutorials contains a number of examples of general mesh-generation techniques

used in ANSYS Fluent Meshing.

 Tutorials for release 15.0 are available on the ANSYS Customer Portal. To access tutorials and
their input files on the ANSYS Customer Portal, go to http://support.ansys.com/training.

• Fluent Text Command List contains a brief description of each of the commands in Fluent’s solution
mode text interface.

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Using This Manual

• ANSYS Fluent Meshing Text Command List contains a brief description of each of the commands in
Fluent’s meshing mode text interface.

• Fluent Adjoint Solver Module Manual contains information about the background and usage of Fluent's
Adjoint Solver Module that allows you to obtain detailed sensitivity data for the performance of a
fluid system.

• Fluent Battery Module Manual contains information about the background and usage of Fluent's
Battery Module that allows you to analyze the behavior of electric batteries.

• Fluent Continuous Fiber Module Manual  contains information about the background and usage of 
Fluent's Continuous Fiber Module that allows you to analyze the behavior of fiber flow, fiber properties,
and coupling between fibers and the surrounding fluid due to the strong interaction that exists
between the fibers and the surrounding gas.

• Fluent Fuel Cell Modules Manual contains information about the background and the usage of two
separate add-on fuel cell models for Fluent that allow you to model polymer electrolyte membrane
fuel cells (PEMFC), solid oxide fuel cells (SOFC), and electrolysis with Fluent.

• Fluent Magnetohydrodynamics (MHD) Module Manual  contains information about the background
and usage of Fluent's Magnetohydrodynamics (MHD) Module that allows you to analyze the behavior
of electrically conducting fluid flow under the influence of constant (DC) or oscillating (AC) electro-
magnetic fields.

• Fluent Population Balance Module Manual  contains information about the background and usage of 
Fluent's Population Balance Module that allows you to analyze multiphase flows involving size distri-
butions where particle population (as well as momentum, mass, and energy) require a balance
equation.

• Fluent as a Server User's Guide contains information about the usage of Fluent as a Server which allows
you to connect to a Fluent session and issue commands from a remote client application.

• Running Fluent Under LSF contains information about using Fluent with Platform Computing’s LSF
software, a distributed computing resource management tool.

• Running Fluent Under PBS Professional contains information about using Fluent with Altair PBS Pro-
fessional, an open workload management tool for local and distributed environments.

• Running Fluent Under SGE  contains information about using Fluent with Sun Grid Engine (SGE) soft-
ware, a distributed computing resource management tool.

3.Typographical Conventions
Several typographical conventions are used in this manual’s text to facilitate your learning process.

• Different type styles are used to indicate graphical user interface menu items and text interface menu
items (for example, Iso-Surface dialog box, surface/iso-surface  command).

• The text interface type style is also used when illustrating exactly what appears on the screen to distinguish
it from the narrative text. In this context, user inputs are typically shown in boldface.

• A mini flow chart is used to guide you through the navigation pane, which leads you to a specific task 
page or dialog box. For example,

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 Technical Support

Support for University customers is provided only through the ANSYS Customer Portal.

SWEDEN
All ANSYS Products
Web: Go to the ANSYS Customer Portal (http://support.ansys.com) and select the appropriate option.
Telephone: +44 (0) 870 142 0300
Email:  [email protected]
Support for University customers is provided only through the ANSYS Customer Portal.

SPAIN and PORTUGAL

All ANSYS Products
Web: Go to the ANSYS Customer Portal (http://support.ansys.com) and select the appropriate option.
Telephone: +34 900 933 407 (Spain), +351 800 880 513 (Portugal)
Email:  [email protected], [email protected]
Support for University customers is provided only through the ANSYS Customer Portal.

ITALY
All ANSYS Products
Web: Go to the ANSYS Customer Portal (http://support.ansys.com) and select the appropriate option.
Telephone: +39 02 89013378
Email:  [email protected]
Support for University customers is provided only through the ANSYS Customer Portal.

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Chapter 1: Introduction
 The application of lithium ion batteries has been rapidly expanding from electric appliances and elec-
tronic devices to hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs) and electric vehicles (EVs), due to their high energy
density. The main concerns when designing a Li-ion battery are its performance, life, and safety. The
ANSYS Fluent battery models allow simulating a single battery cell or a battery pack using CFD technology
to study their thermal and electrochemical behavior. The ANSYS Fluent battery models are provided as
add-on modules with the standard ANSYS Fluent licensed software.

 This chapter contains the following information:

1.1. Overview
1.2. General Procedure
1.3. Installing the Battery Module

1.1. Overview
In a lithium-ion battery, the anode and cathode are made of active materials coated on the surface of 
metal foils. A polymer separator is placed between the foils of opposite polarity to prevent electrons
from passing between them. To predict the evolution of the chemical, thermal, and electrical processes
in a battery, ANSYS Fluent offers the following models:

• Single-Potential Empirical Battery Model (p. 3)

• Dual-Potential MSMD Battery Model (p. 17)

 The Single-Potential Empirical Battery Model is useful if the geometries of the current collector, electrodes,
and separator can be fully resolved. One potential equation is solved in the computational domain. This
model is best suited for electrode-scale predictions in a single battery cell.

 The model, however, has a limited ability to study the full range of electrochemical phenomena in
battery systems, especially systems having complex geometry. When constructing a battery cell, the
anode-separator-cathode sandwich layer is usually wound or stacked up into a 'jelly roll' or a prismatic
shape. It would be very expensive to resolve all the layers explicitly, even for a single battery cell. Fur-
thermore, many industrial applications use a battery pack consisting of a large number of cells connected
in series or in parallel.

 The ANSYS Fluent Dual Potential Multi-Scale Multi-Domain (MSMD) Battery model overcomes these
limitations by using a homogeneous model based on a multi-scale multi-domain approach. In this ap-
proach, the whole battery is treated as an orthotropic continuum; thus, the mesh is no longer constrained
by the micro-structure of the battery. Two potential equations are solved in the battery domain. To fit
various analysis needs, the model includes three electrochemical submodels, namely, the Newman,
 Tiedemann, Gu, and Kim (NTGK) empirical model, the Electric Circuit model (ECM), and the Newman
Pseudo-2D (P2D) model having different level of complexity. The model offers you the flexibility to
study the physical and electrochemical phenomena that extend over many length scales in battery
systems of various arrangements.

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Using the Single-Potential Empirical Battery Model

Figure 2.4: The Battery Model Dialog Box (Electric Field Tab)

In the Electric Field tab, specify the zones for the Conductive Regions  and the Contact Surfaces (as
well as the Contact Resistance) for any selected contact surface. In addition, you can specify the anode
and cathode tap surfaces for the External Connectors of the battery.

2.2.4. Solution Controls for the Single-Potential Empirical Battery Model

When you use the Battery model, the electric potential equation is solved in addition to other fluid
dynamic equations, depending on the type of simulation. The electric potential equation is listed as
one of the solved equations by ANSYS Fluent in the Equation dialog box, where it can be enabled/dis-
abled in the solution process.

Solution Controls  Equations...

Also, keep in mind the Advanced Solution Controls dialog box, where you can set the multigrid cycle
type for the electric potential equation, if required.

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Single-Potential Empirical Battery Model

Solution Controls  Advanced...

Note

When choosing a solution method for your simulation, the Least Squares Cell Based gradient
spatial discretization method is recommended because of its greater accuracy. The Green-
Gauss Cell Based gradient spatial discretization method is adequate if the mesh is evenly
spaced in the system current direction, and if there are not large differences in the electrical
conductivities in the materials used in the simulation.

Note

In transient simulations, it is recommended to start the calculation with a smaller time step
(1 ~ 2 seconds) initially. The time step can be increased to a large value (for example, 30
seconds), however, you will likely need to search for a suitable value to make sure reasonable
convergence is achieved within each time step.

2.2.5. Postprocessing the Single-Potential Empirical Battery Model

You can perform post-processing using standard ANSYS Fluent quantities and by using user-defined
scalars and user-defined memory allocations. When using the Battery model, the following additional
variables will be available for postprocessing:

• Under User-Defined Scalars...

– Electric Potential

– Diff Coef of Electric Potential  (the electrical conductivity of the conductive field)

• Under User-Defined Memory...

– Interface Current Density (the separator current density, that is J (A/m2))

– X Current Density

– Y Current Density

– Z Current Density

– Magnitude of Current Density

– Volumetric Ohmic Source (the energy source due to the electric Joule heating)

– Electrochemistry Source

– Activation Over-Potential (the net electrode potential change across the anode and cathode of the
system when there is a current flowing through the system, that is,   − −  (Volts)    

   

– Depth of Discharge

– U Function

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