Flow field designs developed by comprehensive CFD model decrease system costs of vanadium redox-flow batteries

Abstract

Different flow field designs are known for vanadium redox-flow batteries (VFB). The best possible design to fulfil a variety of target parameters depends on the boundary conditions. Starting from an exemplary interdigitated flow field design, its channel and land dimensions are varied to investigate the impact on pressure drop, channel volume, flow uniformity and limiting current density. To find a desirable compromise between these several partly contrary requirements, the total costs of the VFB system are evaluated in dependence of the flow field’s dimensions. The total costs are composed of the electrolyte, production and component costs. For those, the production technique (injection moulding or milling), the pump and nominal power density as well as depth of discharge are determined. Finally, flow field designs are achieved, which lead to significantly reduced costs. The presented method is applicable for the design process of other flow fields and types of flow batteries. Graphical abstract

An Overview of the Design and Optimized Operation of Vanadium Redox Flow Batteries for Durations in the Range of 4–24 Hours

“…A comprehensive review of the effectiveness of various flow fields was performed [86,87]. A detailed analysis of interdigitated flow field channel dimensions and rib width that minimized system costs was performed for a fixed SOC operating range for a system with various durations [88], with a focus on the positive half-cell whose kinetics are faster, and hence, mass transport becomes dominant.…”

A Three-Dimensional Hydraulic Stack Model for Redox Flow Batteries Considering Porosity Variations in Porous Felt Electrodes and Bypass Flow in Side Gaps

“…Flow field optimisation is one of the crucial aspects of VRFB, which can improve flow uniformity, battery metrics and efficiencies [28][29][30], with many comparative studies performed between different flow field designs. Xu et al compared the performance of flow-by electrodes with serpentine and parallel flow channels to flow-through electrodes numerically [31] and experimentally [32], demonstrating slightly higher round-trip and energy efficiencies for the serpentine flow field.…”

Effect of Serpentine Flow Field Channel Dimensions and Electrode Intrusion on Flow Hydrodynamics in an All-Iron Redox Flow Battery

“…The literatures quantify the simulation results of interdigitated and serpentine flow fields with details of channel passage and the dependence of pressure loss on cell size and flow field design, giving an understanding of the slow flow regions of mass transport behavior and the electrode parameters, which influence pressure drops. The most cost-effective way to build a redox flow battery is by optimizing flow field design, which leads to reduced stack area and increased power density [37][38][39][40].…”