CFD-PBM Simulation of Nickel-Manganese-Cobalt Hydroxide Co-precipitation in CSTR

The co-precipitation of Ni 0.8 Mn 0.1 Co 0.1 (OH) 2 in a pilot-scale CSTR is simulated by adopting the CFD-PBM approach combined with the operator-splitting method. It is shown that the excessive total computational time can affect the applicability of the approach, hence necessity of using massive parallel calculations. However, the effectiveness of the parallel calculation is limited unless an algorithm is implemented to balance the load of the source integration across computing processors

CFD-PBE modelling of continuous Ni-Mn-Co hydroxide co-precipitation for Li-ion batteries

A modelling framework is proposed to simulate the co-precipitation of Ni-Mn-Co hydroxide as precursor of cathode material for lithium-ion batteries. It integrates a population balance equation with computational fluid dynamics to describe the evolution of the particle size in (particularly continuous) co-precipitation processes. The population balance equation is solved by employing the quadrature method of moments. In addition, a multi-environment micromixing model is employed to consider the potential effect of molecular mixing on the fast co-precipitation reaction. The modelling framework is used to investigate the co-precipitation of Ni0.8Mn0.1Co0.1(OH)2 in a multi-inlet vortex micromixer, as a suitable candidate for the study of fast co-precipitation processes in continuous mode. Finally, the simulation results are discussed, and the role of the different phenomena involved in the formation and evolution of particles is identified by inspecting the predicted trends

A modelling and experimental study on the co-precipitation of Ni0.8Mn0.1Co0.1(OH)2 as precursor for battery cathodes

A multi-inlet vortex mixer is used to investigate the co-precipitation of Ni0.8Mn0.1Co0.1(OH)2 particles, largely employed to produce Li-ion battery cathodes. The co-precipitation process is simulated with a population balance model, adopted to describe the experimental findings and gain deeper understanding of the process. Experiments and simulations are carried out under different operating conditions to quantify the effect of mixing conditions, turbulence and feed reactant concentrations on the final characteristics of the obtained particles, such as the size distribution, structure, morphology and density. These characteristics are measured by conducting static light-scattering, FESEM and XRD analyses and are expected to have, in turn, a tremendous effect on the final electrochemical performance of the cathode. Based on the experimental and modelling observations, we discuss the role of nucleation, molecular growth and aggregation in the co–precipitation process. Eventually a possible mechanism explaining the formation of Ni0.8Mn0.1Co0.1(OH)2 particles is proposed