Effect of flow field on the performance of an all-vanadium redox flow battery

Kumar, Sanjay; Jayanti, S.

doi:10.1016/j.jpowsour.2016.01.048

Cited by 161 publications

(90 citation statements)

References 22 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Nevertheless, this solution typically shows poor electrochemical behavior and smaller active surface areas [4]. An extensive literature deals with flow field design documenting the much work done in order to increase the uniformity of the electrolyte distribution along the cell area, making use of alternative design concepts [5,6,7]. Typically, the aforementioned analyses adopt the macrohomogeneous porous electrode approach.…”

Section: Mass Transport Losses In Vrfbmentioning

confidence: 99%

Particle based method and X-ray computed tomography for pore-scale flow characterization in VRFB electrodes

Maggiolo

Zanini

Picano

et al. 2019

Energy Storage Materials

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Porous electrodes are pivotal components of Vanadium Redox Flow Batteries, which influence the power density, pressure drop losses, activation overpotentials, limit current density, bulk and contact resistance, and ohmic losses. The quantification of the fluid-mechanic efficiency of porous electrodes is a useful measure, as it is related to the mass transport losses and it affects the overall battery performances. Although several studies, both numerical and experimental, have been devoted to the electrode enhancement, most analyses are carried out under the simplifying assumption of linear, macrohomogeneous and isotropic behavior of the fluid mechanics in the porous material. We present an original approach built on the Lattice-Boltzmann Method and Lagrange Particle Tracking that makes use of pore-scale accurate geometrical data provided by X-ray computed tomography with the aim of studying the dispersion and reaction rates of liquid electrolyte reactants in the flow battery porous electrode. Following this methodology, we compare the fluid-dynamic performances provided by a commonly used carbon felt and an unconventional material, that is, a carbon vitrified foam. Surprisingly, results unveil the possibility of achieving higher fluid-mechanic efficiencies with the foam electrode, whose intrinsic microstructure promotes higher reaction rate.

show abstract

Section: Mass Transport Losses In Vrfbmentioning

confidence: 99%

Particle based method and X-ray computed tomography for pore-scale flow characterization in VRFB electrodes

Maggiolo

Zanini

Picano

et al. 2019

Energy Storage Materials

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…More recently, interdigitated flow field (IDFF), and serpentine flow field (SFF) channels have been included in bipolar plates to decrease pressure losses while maintaining or improving the performance. Experimental studies, mostly on small cells (≤ 100 cm 2 ), comparing these two designs suffer from inconsistency with some favoring IDFF and others favoring SFF . Houser et al reported that differences in performance were sensitive to flow rate and electrode thickness .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Comparing velocities and pressures in redox flow batteries with interdigitated and serpentine channels

Macdonald¹,

Darling²

2019

AIChE Journal

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Serpentine channels adjacent to a thin, porous medium are a potentially attractive alternative to a conventional thick flow‐through electrode for redox flow batteries. The hydrodynamics of serpentine flow fields were investigated with computational fluid dynamics, a two‐dimensional model of the porous electrode based on Darcy's law, and a resistance network model at the scale of the active area. Predictions from the three models were used to map the available design space. The optimal electrode thickness, in terms of minimizing nonuniformity, was identified and compared to the result for an interdigitated flow field. Serpentine favors thicker electrodes and higher flows than interdigitated, in qualitative agreement with experimental findings. Furthermore, interdigitated designs deliver more uniform intraelectrode velocities and lower overall pressure drops than serpentine flow fields.

show abstract

“…Finally, it has been shown that interdigitated felt electrodes could reduce pressure losses in vanadium RFB stacks to ca. 30% in comparison to conventional flow‐by designs . It should be noted that most simulation results have not been validated by experimental data, creating a need for this type of study.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Pressure drop through platinized titanium porous electrodes for cerium‐based redox flow batteries

2017

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The pressure drop, ΔP, across a redox flow battery is linked to pumping costs and energy efficiency, making fluid properties of the electrolyte important in scale‐up operations. The ΔP at diverse platinized titanium electrodes in Ce‐based redox flow batteries is reported as a function of mean linear electrolyte velocity measured in a rectangular channel flow cell. Darcy's friction factor and permeability vs. Reynolds number are calculated. Average permeability values are: 7.10 × 10−4 cm2 for Pt/Ti mesh, 4.45 × 10−4 cm2 for Pt/Ti plate + turbulence promoters, 1.67 × 10−5 cm2 for Pt/Ti micromesh, and 1.31 × 10−6 cm2 for Pt/Ti felt. The electrochemical volumetric mass transport coefficient, kmAe, is provided as a function of ΔP. In the flow‐by configuration, Pt/Ti felt combines high kmAe values with a relatively high ΔP, followed by Pt/Ti micromesh. Pt/Ti mesh and Pt/Ti plate gave a lower ΔP but poorer electrochemical performance. Implications for cell design are discussed. © 2017 American Institute of Chemical Engineers AIChE J, 64: 1135–1146, 2018

show abstract

Effect of flow field on the performance of an all-vanadium redox flow battery

Cited by 161 publications

References 22 publications

Particle based method and X-ray computed tomography for pore-scale flow characterization in VRFB electrodes

Particle based method and X-ray computed tomography for pore-scale flow characterization in VRFB electrodes

Comparing velocities and pressures in redox flow batteries with interdigitated and serpentine channels

Pressure drop through platinized titanium porous electrodes for cerium‐based redox flow batteries

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About