Flow field design pathways from lab-scale toward large-scale flow batteries

Abstract

Current demonstration projects show that the power capacity of redox flow batteries can span a large range from kW- to MW-scale. The large-scale, especially MW-scale, flow battery system can usually benefit from cell's large active area, due to that a large cell can reduce the required number of cells and thus assembling difficulties. However, the lack of practical pathways for scaling-up lab-scale toward large-scale flow field designs has been one of the barriers to the commercialization of flow batteries. The present study investigates the interdigitated flow field design for a large-scale (900 cm2 active area) vanadium redox flow battery cell, based on a three-dimensional, multi-physical model. Four pathways for scaling up the flow field are investigated, including (i) geometric similarity, (ii) channel length extension, (iii) same pressure drop, and (v) split-interdigitated flow field. The relation between the width and length of the channel and the concentration overpotential is formulated. The results show that the split-interdigitated flow field outperforms the other scaling-up methods in terms of the overall energy efficiency, while at the cost of the increased pressure drop. To alleviate the high pressure drop, the design can be improved by widening the main channels or adding one extra flow inlet.