An OpenFOAM-integrated Numerical Solver for Electroconvective Flow ☆

In this work, we developed a numerical solver, integrated in OpenFOAM platform, for modeling electroconvective. The solver deals with the system of Poisson-Nernst-Planck-Navier-Stokes equations. The finite volume schemes functioned in OpenFOAM was used for discretisation of the Poisson-Nernst-Planck equations. The Newton method was employed to solve the nonlinear Poisson-Nernst-Planck equations in a coupled manner. The validation shows that the high accuracy of our solver. It is used to investigate ion conduction in the electrodialysis cell. The simulation results have allowed to examine the flow’s profile, ion distribution in different regimes of the system. Especially, the mechanisms behind the voxtex 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 the electrochemical problems.