Computational Modeling of Current Density Distribution and Secondary Resistances for Aluminum Electrorefining in Ionic Liquids

A numerical model was developed to simulate the current density distribution and secondary resistances for the aluminum electrorefining process from the room temperature ionic liquid (RTIL) consisting of 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium chloride and aluminum chloride with the molar ratio of 2:1 (AlCl3: BMIC). The materials and geometry were created based on the experimental parameters. The current density distribution was calculated via simulation. The effects of applied voltage, temperature, composition of the electrolyte, and the surface roughness of cathode on the secondary resistances were investigated in this research. It was found that the summation of contact and charge transfer resistance decreases with increasing the potential and the temperature as well as decreasing the surface roughness.