Numerical Modeling and Analysis of the Performance of an Aluminum-Air Battery with Alkaline Electrolyte

Jiadong Xie,Ruijie Zhao,Pan He,Jianhong Yang

doi:10.3390/pr8060658

Abstract

A numerical model is created to simulate the discharge performance of aluminum-air batteries (AABs) with alkaline electrolyte. The discharge voltage and power density, as a function of the discharge current density, are predicted for the modeled AAB and compared with experimental measurements. A good agreement between model and experiment is found. The effect of various model parameters on the battery performance is studied by adjusting the parameters within a suitable range. The results show that electrolyte thickness is a key factor that can strongly increase the power density and the corresponding current density as the electrolyte thickness decreases. The peak of power density is increased by a factor of two if the electrolyte thickness is reduced from 7 mm to 3 mm. The alkaline concentration is also an important factor, since both the voltage and power density curves are significantly raised as the NaOH concentration is increased from 1 to 4 mol/L. The partial oxygen pressure plays a secondary role in performance improvement. The peak of power density is increased by 35% using pure oxygen in the air electrode. In addition, the active specific surface area of the catalyst layer also affects the discharge capability of the AAB system.

Highlights

Due to increasing environmental problems, which are caused largely by the continuous consumption of fossil fuel, it is important to develop new types of clean and sustainable energy systems
The vehicle industry that uses fossil resources as the main fuel has accelerated its transition from fossil energy to electricity [1]
The development and application of power batteries mainly focus on lithium-ion batteries and hydrogen fuel cells

Summary

Introduction

Due to increasing environmental problems, which are caused largely by the continuous consumption of fossil fuel, it is important to develop new types of clean and sustainable energy systems. The development and application of power batteries mainly focus on lithium-ion batteries and hydrogen fuel cells. Both face great challenges in terms of cost, resources, infrastructure, recycling technology, and safety [2,3,4]. The strong demand for power batteries with high specific power density and cost-effectiveness, encourages a faster development of other types of batteries. The family of metal-air batteries, in particular, has received increasing attention in recent years because of its high theoretical specific power-density. Aluminum-air battery is viewed as the most potential solution thanks to its relative abundance on Earth, safety, and recyclability [5]

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