Standby Thermal Management System for Large Scale Vanadium Redox Flow Batteries

Large-scale energy storage systems (ESS) are nowadays growing in popularity due to the increase in the energy production by renewable energy sources, which in general have a random intermittent nature. Currently, several redox flow batteries have been presented as an alternative of the classical ESS; the scalability, design flexibility and long life cycle of the vanadium redox flow battery (VRFB) have made it to stand out. In a VRFB cell, which consists of two electrodes and an ion exchange membrane, the electrolyte flows through the electrodes where the electrochemical reactions take place. Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) simulations are a very powerful tool to develop feasible numerical models to enhance the performance and lifetime of VRFBs. This review aims to present and discuss the numerical models developed in this field and, particularly, to analyze different types of flow fields and patterns that can be found in the literature. The numerical studies presented in this review are a helpful tool to evaluate several key parameters important to optimize the energy systems based on redox flow technologies.

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Laboratory XANES to study vanadium species in vanadium redox flow batteries

Powder Diffraction ◽

10.1017/s0885715620000226 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 35 (S1) ◽

pp. S24-S28 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Christian Lutz ◽

Ursula Elisabeth Adriane Fittschen

Keyword(s):

Large Scale ◽

Polymer Electrolyte Membranes ◽

Measurement Time ◽

Edge Structure ◽

Redox Flow Batteries ◽

Flow Batteries ◽

Electrolyte Membranes ◽

X Ray Absorption ◽

Vanadium Redox ◽

Vanadium Species

The speciation of vanadium in the electrolyte of vanadium redox flow batteries (VRFBs) is important to determine the state of charge of the battery. To obtain a better understanding of the transport of the different vanadium species through the separator polymer electrolyte membranes, it is necessary to be able to determine concentration and species of the vanadium ions inside the nanoscopic water body of the membranes. The speciation of V in the electrolyte of VRFBs has been performed by others at the synchrotron by X-ray absorption near-edge structure analysis (XANES). However, the concentrations are quite high and not necessarily justify the use of a large-scale facility. Here, we show that vanadium species in the electrolyte and inside the ionomeric membranes can be determined by laboratory XANES. We were able to determine V species in the 1.6 M electrolyte with a measurement time of 2.3 h and V species having a concentration of 9.8 g kg−1 inside the membranes (178 µm thick) with a measurement time of 5 h. Our results show that laboratory XANES is an appropriate tool to study these kind of samples.

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Ion exchange membranes for vanadium redox flow batteries

Pure and Applied Chemistry ◽

10.1515/pac-2014-0101 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 86 (5) ◽

pp. 633-649 ◽

Cited By ~ 23

Author(s):

Xiongwei Wu ◽

Junping Hu ◽

Jun Liu ◽

Qingming Zhou ◽

Wenxin Zhou ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Energy Storage ◽

Ion Exchange ◽

Large Scale ◽

Storage System ◽

Energy Storage System ◽

Ion Exchange Membranes ◽

Structure And Property ◽

Redox Flow Batteries ◽

Flow Batteries ◽

Vanadium Redox

Abstract In recent years, much attention has been paid to vanadium redox flow batteries (VRBs) because of their excellent performance as a new and efficient energy storage system, especially for large-scale energy storage. As one core component of a VRB, ion exchange membrane prevents cross-over of positive and negative electrolytes, while it enables the transportation of charge-balancing ions such as H+, $${\text{SO}}_4^{2 - },$$ and $${\text{HSO}}_4^ - $$ to complete the current circuit. To a large extent, its structure and property affect the performance of VRBs. This review focuses on the latest work on the ion exchange membranes for VRBs such as perfluorinated, partially fluorinated, and nonfluorinated membranes. The prospective for future development on membranes for VRBs is also proposed.

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Battery management system with testing protocols for kW-class vanadium redox flow batteries

2020 2nd IEEE International Conference on Industrial Electronics for Sustainable Energy Systems (IESES) ◽

10.1109/ieses45645.2020.9210697 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Andrea Trovo ◽

Massimo Guarnieri

Keyword(s):

Management System ◽

Battery Management System ◽

Battery Management ◽

Redox Flow Batteries ◽

Flow Batteries ◽

Vanadium Redox ◽

Testing Protocols

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Numerical Investigation of Thermal Management for Kilowatt Vanadium Redox Flow Batteries

Proceedings of the 15th International Heat Transfer Conference ◽

10.1615/ihtc15.tmg.008913 ◽

2014 ◽

Author(s):

Baowen Zhang ◽

Yuan G. Lei ◽

Bofeng Bai ◽

Tianshou S. Zhao

Keyword(s):

Numerical Investigation ◽

Thermal Management ◽

Redox Flow Batteries ◽

Flow Batteries ◽

Vanadium Redox

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Ex-Situ Evaluation of Commercial Polymer Membranes for Vanadium Redox Flow Batteries (VRFBs)

Polymers ◽

10.3390/polym13060926 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 13 (6) ◽

pp. 926

Author(s):

Nana Zhao ◽

Harry Riley ◽

Chaojie Song ◽

Zhengming Jiang ◽

Keh-Chyun Tsay ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Large Scale ◽

Polymer Membranes ◽

Ex Situ ◽

Anion Exchange Membranes ◽

In Situ Testing ◽

Ionic Charge ◽

Redox Flow Batteries ◽

Flow Batteries ◽

Vanadium Redox

Polymer membranes play a vital role in vanadium redox flow batteries (VRFBs), acting as a separator between the two compartments, an electronic insulator for maintaining electrical neutrality of the cell, and an ionic conductor for allowing the transport of ionic charge carriers. It is a major influencer of VRFB performance, but also identified as one of the major factors limiting the large-scale implementation of VRFB technology in energy storage applications due to its cost and durability. In this work, five (5) high-priority characteristics of membranes related to VRFB performance were selected as major considerable factors for membrane screening before in-situ testing. Eight (8) state-of-the-art of commercially available ion exchange membranes (IEMs) were specifically selected, evaluated and compared by a set of ex-situ assessment approaches to determine the possibility of the membranes applied for VRFB. The results recommend perfluorosulfonic acid (PFSA) membranes and hydrocarbon anion exchange membranes (AEMs) as the candidates for further in-situ testing, while one hydrocarbon cation exchange membrane (CEM) is not recommended for VRFB application due to its relatively high VO2+ ion crossover and low mechanical stability during/after the chemical stability test. This work could provide VRFB researchers and industry a valuable reference for selecting the polymer membrane materials before VRFB in-situ testing.

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