1 kW/1 kWh advanced vanadium redox flow battery utilizing mixed acid electrolytes

Kim, Soohwan; Thomsen, Edwin C.; Xia, Guanguang; Nie, Zimin; Bao, Jie; Recknagle, Kurtis P.; Wang, Wei; Viswanathan, Vilayanur V.; Luo, Qingtao; Wei, Xiaoliang; Crawford, Alasdair; Coffey, Greg W.; Maupin, Gary D.; Sprenkle, Vincent

doi:10.1016/j.jpowsour.2013.02.045

Cited by 164 publications

(104 citation statements)

References 14 publications

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“…The model also matches performance of a 20-cell mixed-acid V/V stack 25 at high operating current densities yielding 1-kW and 1-kWh performance ( Figure 4). These promising results suggest that the shunt current model is reasonably robust, particularly for a closed-form characterization.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 59%

A General, Analytical Model for Flow Battery Costing and Design

Rose

Setzler

Gong

et al. 2018

J. Electrochem. Soc.

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We expound a versatile analytical model to characterize redox flow batteries (RFBs) from the cell to stack scales. It is validated against measurements of our own RFB, zinc-ferricyanide, as well as against those from the literature of competitive RFBs. We also put forth a heuristic framework for optimization of capital cost and design parameters, as well as consequent findings: that modeling enables even-handed comparison of even pre-commercial RFB concepts, with zinc/ferricyanide as the most cost-effective candidate so far; and that overpotential characteristics and engineering strategies are highly RFB dependent, but readily probed by a robust model. More of the electrical grid is being powered by renewables. In particular, wind and solar photovoltaics see the fastest projected growth in the next decade.1 To realize this pace of development, however, we need a means to manage their intermittent supply. Among candidate technologies for energy storage, redox flow batteries (RFBs) stand out in durability, safety, and, most notably, flexibility of design. 2The design space for RFBs is further widened by recent innovations in chemistries 3,4 and layouts. 5,6 In this expanse, concerted experimental efforts can no longer inform the most promising paths toward cost-effectiveness; a comprehensive, high-level model is needed. Some progress has been made to characterize the performance 2,7-13 and cost 10 of, in particular, vanadium-containing RFBs. These models, however, have sought spatial resolution at the expense of computational efficiency, or used system-specific fitting factors for nominal accuracy, thereby limiting prediction scope. This work aims instead to explicate and validate a generalized analytical model for characterization with global optimization by a memetic algorithm. Put together, our model enables the even-handed assessment of new RFB designs. This model thereby integrates well with continued experimental work to bring RFBs to market. ApproachWe seek ultimately to optimize redox flow battery (RFB) stacks for the grid; to do so on a reasonable timescale calls for an analytical formulation. We hereon make several simplifications:in which the subscript j refers to species j and the superscript k refers to compartment k (with 0 ≤ k ≤ 5), as illustrated in Figure 1. Cell dimensions are defined as L, H , and W in the x, y, and z directions, respectively. These cells may be arranged in bipolar assemblies, or modules, and then interconnected to form stacks (Figure 2). For each stack, the * Electrochemical Society Member.z E-mail: yanys@udel.edu number of cells per module is defined as N , whereas the number of modules per stack is defined as M.To elucidate the resulting system of equations, we consider noteworthy RFBs described in the literature: Zn/Fe(CN) 6 , 14 V/V 10 , Zn/Fe 3 , and S/Br 2 , 15 the first of which is measured in-house (modifications detailed in Supporting Information).Characterization.-Cell.-During discharge, an RFB cell is a source of a certain voltage, E (Equation 1). Were there no ineff...

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 59%

A General, Analytical Model for Flow Battery Costing and Design

Rose

Setzler

Gong

et al. 2018

J. Electrochem. Soc.

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“…Regardless of the mechanism, it should be noted that the self-discharge current is extremely low, resulting in unusually high coulombic efficiency at low current density. For example, 99% coulombic efficiency is achieved for the present H 2 -Ce system with boiled NR212 membrane (Figure 7b), whereas 65%, 86%, 90%, and 95-98% are achieved for the H 2 -Br 2 , H 2 -Fe, Zn-Ce, and all-vanadium systems, respectively, at a similar current density [10,20,22,36,37].…”

Section: Membranementioning

confidence: 84%

Improvement and analysis of the hydrogen-cerium redox flow cell

Tucker

Weiß

Weber

2016

Journal of Power Sources

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The H 2 -Ce redox flow cell is optimized using commercially-available cell materials. Cell performance is found to be sensitive to the upper charge cutoff voltage, membrane boiling pretreatment, methanesulfonic-acid concentration, (+) electrode surface area and flow pattern, and operating temperature. Performance is relatively insensitive to membrane thickness, Cerium concentration, and all features of the (−) electrode including hydrogen flow. Cell performance appears to be limited by mass transport and kinetics in the cerium (+) electrode. Maximum discharge power of 895 mW cm -2 was observed at 60°C; an energy efficiency of 90% was achieved at 50°C. The H 2 -Ce cell is promising for energy storage assuming one can optimize Ce reaction kinetics and electrolyte.

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“…12 The stack design combined the anode and cathode flow frames, two porous graphite sheets for the electrodes, and a thin solid graphite plate (SGL expanded graphite, TF6) as the bipolar plate into a single component. In the majority of cases, the graphite felt electrodes were thermally heat treated in air at 400…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…A mixed sulfuric/chlorine acid system was developed which increased the active species concentration and temperature stability over the pure sulfuric acid based VRB. [10][11][12][13] This has led to an improved energy density and a broader temperature window of operation, respectively. The use of the high cost proton exchange membrane, i.e.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Stack Developments in a kW Class All Vanadium Mixed Acid Redox Flow Battery at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

Reed

Thomsen

et al. 2015

J. Electrochem. Soc.

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Over the past several years, efforts have been focused on improving the performance of kW class all vanadium mixed acid redox flow battery stacks with increasing current density. The influence of the Nafion membrane resistance, an interdigitated design to reduce the pressure drop in the electrolyte circuit, the temperature of the electrolyte, and the electrode structure will be discussed and correlated to the electrical performance. Improvements to the stack energy efficiency and how those improvements translate to the overall system efficiency will also be discussed. Integration of renewable energy technologies with the current grid on a large scale has gained significant momentum because it is seen as a viable method to cleanly sustain grid reliability and utilization.1 Redox flow batteries have gained significant interest as a large scale energy storage device due to their benefits over other storage technologies, which include a high degree of safety, the ability to decouple power and energy, a long lifetime, potentially low capital costs, and high energy efficiency.2-5 Large quantities of electricity (multi-MWs/MWhs) are capable of being stored in a simple design utilizing redox flow battery technology.A redox flow battery is an electrochemical system that is able to store electrical energy in the form of chemical energy and, on demand, to convert that energy into electricity. The redox flow battery comprises two electrolyte reservoirs consisting of different redox couples that are circulated through the stack via pumps. A stack consists of a number of individual cells that are connected in series or parallel depending on the targeted application. Each cell comprises an anode and a cathode that is separated by an ion exchange membrane. The ion exchange membrane prevents the mixing of the electrolyte solutions from the two redox couples but allows the diffusion of the preferred ion (i.e. protons) across the membrane. The cells are then formed into stacks using a bipolar plate to make electrical connection between cells. Figure 1 shows a schematic illustration of an all vanadium redox flow battery.The power and energy specifications in a redox flow battery can be decoupled and therefore scaled independently depending on the application. The power is proportional to the reactor or stack size while the energy is proportional to the tank volume and concentration of the active species in the electrolyte. In a large scale system, the ability to store the electroactive species external to the electrical circuit can dissipate unwanted heat generated during operation. This additional benefit of redox flow batteries leads to improved safety and limited thermal management designs needed on large scale systems.Several redox couple chemistries have been developed over the past decades with the first being developed at NASA based on the Fe 2+/3+ -Cr 2+/3+ system. 6 To combat the shortcomings of this system, additional chemistries based on the Fe/Cr chemistry (GEN 2 Fe/Cr) and the all vanadium (VRB) system have been develo...

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1 kW/1 kWh advanced vanadium redox flow battery utilizing mixed acid electrolytes

Cited by 164 publications

References 14 publications

A General, Analytical Model for Flow Battery Costing and Design

A General, Analytical Model for Flow Battery Costing and Design

Improvement and analysis of the hydrogen-cerium redox flow cell

Stack Developments in a kW Class All Vanadium Mixed Acid Redox Flow Battery at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

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