An OpenFOAM-Integrated Numerical Solver for Electroconvective Flow

Tóm tắt

In this work, we developed a numerical solver, integrated it into the OpenFOAM platform, for modeling electroconvective flow. The solver deals with the system of Poisson-Nernst-Planck-Navier-Stokes equations. The finite volume schemes functioned in OpenFOAM were used for discretisation of the Poisson-NernstPlanck equations. The Newton method was employed to solve the nonlinear Poisson-Nernst-Planck equations in a coupled manner. The validation shows the high accuracy of our solver. It is used to investigate ion conduction in the electrodialysis cell. The simulation results have allowed examining the flow’s profile, ion distribution in different regimes of the system. Especially, the mechanisms behind the vortex formation in the channel can be explained by these results. This solver developed on OpenFoam open-source code provides the research community with a valuable tool for the study of electrochemical problems.