Performance Modeling and Flow Rate Optimization of Vanadium Redox Flow Batteries

Masters Thesis from the year 2020 in the subject Engineering - Power Engineering, grade: 9.0, Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay, language: English, abstract: There is a drastic capacity increase in the ocean, solar, and wind power based energy generation in recent years. Moreover, a larger increase is predicted in future years. Hence, we need a reliable, efficient, and cost-effective energy storage system to match up with the intermittent nature of renewable energy sources. Vanadium redox flow batteries are a promising option and are fast approaching commercialization owing to their unique characteristics like including independent scaling of power and energy density. However, there are various losses associated with the membrane, electrodes, and also due to mass transfer which limit its performance and further decrease battery capacity and efficiency. The first part of this study focusses on membrane thickness, mass transfer coefficients, electrode morphology, and current density to analyze the performance of the battery. The latter part describes the effect of flow rate on concentration overpotential, pressure losses, and pumping power to come up with an optimal variable flow rate strategy to maximize the battery capacity and system efficiency.