Holistic modeling of the electrolyte filling process to study the dosing and wetting behavior of lithium-ion batteries

The electrolyte filling process of lithium-ion batteries is characterized by extensive wetting times and significant costs for experimental process design, which is becoming increasingly relevant in the current landscape of fast-evolving cell designs to optimize energy density. In this study, an approach for applying computational fluid dynamics to simulate the flow of liquid electrolyte through the battery void volume and porous cell stack is shown. Results of the simulation on pore scale are used to calculate the permeability of the cell stack, which provides an input parameter for the simulation on cell scale. On a cell scale, the calculated parameters act as a resistance value of the cell stack, enabling the modeling of the interaction between dosing and wetting. The detailed model setup including simulation parameters is provided, so that cell manufacturers and researchers will be able to set up individual simulation models to predict the filling behavior during cell development.