Optimization and Analysis of High‐Power Hydrogen/Bromine‐Flow Batteries for Grid‐Scale Energy Storage

Cho, Kyu Taek; Albertus, Paul; Battaglia, Vincent; Kojić, Aleksandar; Srinivasan, Venkat; Weber, Adam Z.

doi:10.1002/ente.201300108

Cited by 92 publications

(115 citation statements)

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“…[3][4][5] Two promising technologies are the all-vanadium RFB (VRB) and the hydrogen/bromine RFB, where good performances have been demonstrated recently. [6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14] Protons in a cation-exchange membrane (CEM) typically carry charge between the two electrodes in these two RFBs. In both systems, movement of reactant or product species from one electrode to the other through the membrane results in inefficiency and reversible capacity loss.…”

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confidence: 99%

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The Influence of Electric Field on Crossover in Redox-Flow Batteries

Darling

Weber

Tucker

et al. 2015

J. Electrochem. Soc.

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152

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Transport of active species through the ion-exchange membrane separating the electrodes in a redox-flow battery is an important source of inefficiency. Migration and electro-osmosis have significant impacts on the crossover of reactive anions, cations, and neutral species. In this paper, these phenomena are theoretically and experimentally explored for commercial cation-exchange membranes. The theoretical analysis indicates that plotting the cumulative Coulombic mismatch between charge and discharge as a function of time can be used to assess crossover rates. The relative importance of migration and electro-osmosis over diffusion is quantified and shown to increase with increasing current density and membrane thickness because the contributions of migration and electro-osmosis to ionic flux are independent of membrane thickness and proportional to current density, while diffusion is inversely proportional to membrane thickness and independent of current density. Redox-flow batteries (RFBs) possess compelling attributes for stationary energy storage. In particular, the inherent decoupling of energy and power in RFBs enables the cost effective use of active materials with low energy density.1,2 Energy is stored in redox-active molecules and power is generated by oxidizing and reducing different redox couples at the positive and negative electrodes.3-5 Two promising technologies are the all-vanadium RFB (VRB) and the hydrogen/bromine RFB, where good performances have been demonstrated recently. [6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14] Protons in a cation-exchange membrane (CEM) typically carry charge between the two electrodes in these two RFBs. In both systems, movement of reactant or product species from one electrode to the other through the membrane results in inefficiency and reversible capacity loss. 8,15,16 For these reasons it is worthwhile to investigate the causes of crossover, and examination of the two chosen RFBs allows for the study of transport of active cations, anions, and neutral species.The reactions at the negative and positive electrodes in a VRB are:andrespectively. Protons are the primary ionic charge carriers. Because the active species at both electrodes are vanadium ions, transfer from one electrode to the other is less detrimental than it is in other RFBs that have dissimilar active materials at the two electrodes. Vanadium that traverses the separator reacts to form a discharged ion at the opposite electrode. 17 Although imbalances that occur after repeated cycling can be recovered by mixing the electrolytes, vanadium that crosses the membrane represents an inefficiency that is detrimental in applications like grid-scale energy storage where high efficiency is required for economic success.For the hydrogen/bromine RFB, the reactions at the negative and positive electrodes areBr 2 (aq) + 2e 18-21 Br species that enter the negative electrode can be separated from the negative electrolyte and returned to the positive electrolyte without causing permanent decay, in a similar fashion to vanadium in V...

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confidence: 99%

“…[6][7][8]21,28 Metallic flow fields were provided by Treadstone Technologies, Inc. The positive electrode material was Sigracet 10AA carbon paper (SGL Group) treated in concentrated sulfuric acid for 10 hours at 50…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

The Influence of Electric Field on Crossover in Redox-Flow Batteries

Darling

Weber

Tucker

et al. 2015

J. Electrochem. Soc.

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150

152

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“…A variant of this approach is used in redox flow batteries, wherein the active chemicals are stored in a tank and the charge and discharge reactions are conducted in an electrochemical cell into which the chemicals are flowed. In such a device, the overall cost is dominated by the cost of the cell, because of the use of expensive catalysts and membranes [39]. On the other hand, judicious choice of the chemicals allows for the tank, which contains all the energy, to be cost effective.…”

Section: Enabling These Innovations: Bmentioning

confidence: 99%

Chapter 5. Assessing the Need for High Impact Technology Research, Development & Deployment for Mitigating Climate Change

et al. 2016

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Technology is a centrally important component of all strategies to mitigate climate change. As such, it encompasses a multi-dimensional space that is far too large to be fully addressed in this brief chapter. Consequently, we have elected to focus on a subset of topics that we believe have the potential for substantial impact. As researchers, we have also narrowed our focus to address applied research, development and deployment issues and omit basic research topics that have a longer-term impact. This handful of topics also omits technologies that we deem to be relatively mature, such as solar photovoltaics and wind turbines, even though we acknowledge that additional research could further reduce costs and enhance performance. These and other mature technologies such as transportation are discussed in Chapter 6.This report and the related Summit Conference are an outgrowth of the University of California President's Carbon Neutrality Initiative, and consequently we are strongly motivated by the special demands of this ambitious goal, as we are also motivated by the corresponding goals for the State of California, the nation and the world. The unique feature of the UC Carbon Neutrality Initiative is the quest to achieve zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2025 at all ten 10 campuses. It should be emphasized that a zero emission target is enormously demanding and requires careful strategic planning to arrive at a mix of technologies, policies, and behavioral measures, as well as highly effective communication -all of which are far more challenging than reducing emissions by some 40% or even 80%. Each campus has a unique set of requirements based on its current energy and emissions. Factors such as a local climate, dependence on cogeneration, access to wholesale electricity markets, and whether a medical school is included shape the specific challenges of the campuses, each of which is a "living laboratory" setting a model for others to learn and adopt.An additional aspect of a zero GHG emission target is the need to pay close attention to system integration -i.e., how the various elements of a plan to achieve carbon neutrality fit together in the most cost effective and efficient way. This optimization imposes an additional constraint, but also provides an important opportunity to capture the synergies that can arise from those choices. For example, one of the themes that has been proposed is the complete electrification of energy supplies, residential & commercial building operation, and transportation. The deployment of storage technologies such as batteries and/or hydrogen for both transportation and for load balancing of grid and distributed generation may provide some synergistic opportunities for integrating these systems that will accelerate the deployment of each. A specific example is the use of on-board batteries in electric vehicles for load balancing the electric grid. On-site residential storage as is now being developed by Tesla Motors, has the potential to accelerate the deployment of residential sol...

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“…11, and protocols in Ref. 10. Crossover rate for bromine-species was determined by collecting the liquid exiting the H 2 exhaust.…”

Section: Synthesis Of Nitrogen-functionalized Platinum-iridium Catalymentioning

confidence: 99%

Advanced Hydrogen-Bromine Flow Batteries with Improved Efficiency, Durability and Cost

Lin

Chong

Yarlagadda

et al. 2015

J. Electrochem. Soc.

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The hydrogen/bromine flow battery is a promising candidate for large-scale energy storage due to fast kinetics, highly reversible reactions and low chemical costs. However, today's conventional hydrogen/bromine flow batteries use membrane materials (such as Nafion), platinum catalysts, and carbon-paper electrode materials that are expensive. In addition, platinum catalysts can be poisoned and corroded when exposed to HBr and Br 2, compromising system lifetime. To reduce the cost and increase the durability of H 2 /Br 2 flow batteries, new materials are developed. The new Nafion/ polyvinylidene fluoride electrospun composite membranes have high perm-selectivity at a fraction of the cost of Nafion membranes; the new nitrogen-functionalized platinum-iridium catalyst possesses excellent activity and durability in HBr/Br 2 environment; and the new carbon-nanotube-based Br 2 electrodes can achieve equal or better performance with less materials when compared to baseline electrode materials. Preliminary cost analysis shows that the new materials reduce H 2 /Br 2 flow-battery energy-storage system stack and system costs significantly. The resulting advanced H 2 /Br 2 flow batteries offer high power, high efficiency, substantially increased durability, and expected reduced cost. The active reactant material, hydrobromic acid (HBr) is also used as the supporting electrolyte. If the energy-storage system is commissioned in the discharged state, which is the most common case, HBr is the only chemical that is required. During charge, hydrobromic acid is electrolyzed to generate hydrogen and bromine, which are stored in separate tanks. Bromine has a moderate solubility in water which can be greatly enhanced by the presence of Br − via complexation to form Br 3 − or Br 5 − . 8,9 The gas phase H 2 electrode also simplifies the separation and recovery of crossover catholyte, which can be returned back to the catholyte tank.The H 2 /Br 2 flow battery technology has been under investigation since the 1960s. Brief literature reviews can be found in recent publications by Cho et al., 4 Kreutzer et al. 5 and Tolmachev. 6 H 2 /Br 2 flow batteries share the same cell architecture as proton-exchange-membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs). Therefore, H 2 /Br 2 flow batteries are also referred to as regenerative or reversible H 2 /Br 2 fuel cells. Similar to PEMFCs, * Electrochemical Society Active Member. * * Electrochemical Society Student Member. * * * Electrochemical Society Fellow.z E-mail: gygylin@gmail.com membrane-electrode assemblies (MEAs) are the most crucial components in the H 2 /Br 2 flow batteries. In today's state-of-the-art H 2 /Br 2 flow batteries, MEAs are commonly made of commercial perfluorosulfonic acid (PFSA) membranes such as Nafion, platinum catalysts, and plain carbon papers. The PFSA membrane in a H 2 /Br 2 flow battery is used to physically separate the positive and negative electrodes, and prevent mixing of hydrogen and bromine/bromides while allowing proton transport between the electrodes. The membrane resistance has ...

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Optimization and Analysis of High‐Power Hydrogen/Bromine‐Flow Batteries for Grid‐Scale Energy Storage

Cited by 92 publications

References 28 publications

The Influence of Electric Field on Crossover in Redox-Flow Batteries

The Influence of Electric Field on Crossover in Redox-Flow Batteries

Chapter 5. Assessing the Need for High Impact Technology Research, Development & Deployment for Mitigating Climate Change

Advanced Hydrogen-Bromine Flow Batteries with Improved Efficiency, Durability and Cost

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