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
Highlights
Redox-flow batteries (RFB) are a promising large scale energy storage technology [1]
The simulation results for four observed system parameters, which are the pressure drop, the volume of the flow field channels, the uniformity index and the limiting current density, are illustrated for different land and channel width as well as channel height
As no single flow field design was optimal for all system parameters, the total costs of the Vanadium redox-flow batteries (VFB) system in dependence of the flow field characteristics were introduced
Summary
Redox-flow batteries (RFB) are a promising large scale energy storage technology [1]. The VFB performance is affected by numerous influences These include the used materials, the applied designs and the operational parameters of the VFB [6]. For large cell sizes it was shown that in particular IFF designs lead to a reduced pump power and a high uniformity in comparison to serpentine design [8]. In comparison to an IFF with only primary branches, those structures can encourage a further reduction of the required pump power and an improvement of the voltage efficiency [10]. Another investigated possibility is the introduction of ramps within the IFF channels, which lead to lower pressure differences, too [11].
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