Modeling flow distribution and pressure drop in redox flow batteries

MacDonald, Malcolm; Darling, Robert M.

doi:10.1002/aic.16330

Title: Modeling flow distribution and pressure drop in redox flow batteries

Journal Article · 25 June 2018 · AIChE Journal

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/aic.16330 · OSTI ID:1457191

^[1]; Darling, Robert M. ^[1]

United Technologies Research Center, 411 Silver Lane East Hartford CT 06074

The combination of interdigitated flow fields (IDFF) with porous electrodes offers lower pressure drop and better performance than conventional flow‐through porous electrodes in redox flow batteries. Comprehensive three‐dimensional and simplified one‐dimensional + two‐dimensional models describing flow uniformity and pressure losses within flow through, parallel, and interdigitated flow fields were developed and used to demonstrate the benefits of IDFF. Analytical solutions for IDFF that compare favorably with computational fluid dynamics quantify the trade between pressure loss and velocity maldistribution both along the channels and within the electrode. © 2018 American Institute of Chemical Engineers AIChE J , 64: 3746–3755, 2018

View Accepted Manuscript (Publisher)

Cite

Export

Save

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE

OSTI ID:: 1457191

Journal Information:: AIChE Journal, Journal Name: AIChE Journal Vol. 64 Journal Issue: 10; ISSN 0001-1541

Publisher:: Wiley Blackwell (John Wiley & Sons)Copyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

Citation Metrics:

Cited by: 23 works

Citation information provided by
Web of Science

References (33)

Three dimensional, two phase flow mathematical model for PEM fuel cell: Part II. Analysis and discussion of the internal transport mechanisms Hu, Mingruo; Zhu, Xinjian; Wang, Minghua Energy Conversion and Management, Vol. 45, Issue 11-12 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enconman.2003.09.023	journal	July 2004
Three dimensional, two phase flow mathematical model for PEM fuel cell: Part I. Model development Hu, Mingruo; Gu, Anzhong; Wang, Minghua Energy Conversion and Management, Vol. 45, Issue 11-12 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enconman.2003.09.022	journal	July 2004
Performance studies of PEM fuel cells with interdigitated flow fields Wang, Lin; Liu, Hongtan Journal of Power Sources, Vol. 134, Issue 2, p. 185-196 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpowsour.2004.03.055	journal	August 2004
Pathways to low-cost electrochemical energy storage: a comparison of aqueous and nonaqueous flow batteries Darling, Robert M.; Gallagher, Kevin G.; Kowalski, Jeffrey A. Energy & Environmental Science, Vol. 7, Issue 11, p. 3459-3477 https://doi.org/10.1039/C4EE02158D	journal	January 2014
Progress in Flow Battery Research and Development Skyllas-Kazacos, M.; Chakrabarti, M. H.; Hajimolana, S. A. Journal of The Electrochemical Society, Vol. 158, Issue 8, p. R55-R79 https://doi.org/10.1149/1.3599565	journal	June 2011
Theoretical and experimental determination of cell constants of planar-interdigitated electrolyte conductivity sensors Olthuis, W.; Streekstra, W.; Bergveld, P. Sensors and Actuators B: Chemical, Vol. 24, Issue 1-3 https://doi.org/10.1016/0925-4005(95)85053-8	journal	March 1995
Carbon felt and carbon fiber - A techno-economic assessment of felt electrodes for redox flow battery applications Minke, Christine; Kunz, Ulrich; Turek, Thomas Journal of Power Sources, Vol. 342 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpowsour.2016.12.039	journal	February 2017
Flow simulation and analysis of high-power flow batteries Knudsen, E.; Albertus, P.; Cho, K. T. Journal of Power Sources, Vol. 299 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpowsour.2015.08.041	journal	December 2015
Effect of direct liquid water injection and interdigitated flow field on the performance of proton exchange membrane fuel cells Wood, David L.; Yi, Jung S.; Nguyen, Trung V. Electrochimica Acta, Vol. 43, Issue 24 https://doi.org/10.1016/S0013-4686(98)00139-X	journal	August 1998
Influence of flow field design on the performance of a direct methanol fuel cell Aricò, A. S.; Cretı̀, P.; Baglio, V. Journal of Power Sources, Vol. 91, Issue 2, p. 202-209 https://doi.org/10.1016/S0378-7753(00)00471-7	journal	December 2000
Distribution of incompressible flow within interdigitated channels and porous electrodes Kee, Robert J.; Zhu, Huayang Journal of Power Sources, Vol. 299 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpowsour.2015.09.013	journal	December 2015
Three-dimensional analysis of transport and electrochemical reactions in polymer electrolyte fuel cells Um, Sukkee; Wang, C. Y. Journal of Power Sources, Vol. 125, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpowsour.2003.07.007	journal	January 2004
Performance enhancement of iron-chromium redox flow batteries by employing interdigitated flow fields Zeng, Y. K.; Zhou, X. L.; Zeng, L. Journal of Power Sources, Vol. 327 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpowsour.2016.07.066	journal	September 2016
Redox flow batteries a review Weber, Adam Z.; Mench, Matthew M.; Meyers, Jeremy P. Journal of Applied Electrochemistry, Vol. 41, Issue 10, p. 1137-1164 https://doi.org/10.1007/s10800-011-0348-2	journal	September 2011
Investigation of the performance improvement in decreasing aspect ratio interdigitated flow field PEMFCs Cooper, Nathanial J.; Santamaria, Anthony D.; Becton, Maxwell K. Energy Conversion and Management, Vol. 136 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enconman.2017.01.005	journal	March 2017
Three-dimensional effects of liquid water flooding in the cathode of a PEM fuel cell Natarajan, Dilip; Van Nguyen, Trung Journal of Power Sources, Vol. 115, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1016/S0378-7753(02)00624-9	journal	March 2003
Theoretical Analysis of Current Distribution in Porous Electrodes Newman, John S.; Tobias, Charles W. Journal of The Electrochemical Society, Vol. 109, Issue 12 https://doi.org/10.1149/1.2425269	journal	January 1962
The Influence of Electrode and Channel Configurations on Flow Battery Performance Darling, Robert M.; Perry, Mike L. Journal of The Electrochemical Society, Vol. 161, Issue 9 https://doi.org/10.1149/2.0941409jes	journal	January 2014
Dramatic performance gains in vanadium redox flow batteries through modified cell architecture Aaron, D. S.; Liu, Q.; Tang, Z. Journal of Power Sources, Vol. 206 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpowsour.2011.12.026	journal	May 2012
Three-dimensional numerical analysis of proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs) with conventional and interdigitated flow fields Hu, Guilin; Fan, Jianren; Chen, Song Journal of Power Sources, Vol. 136, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpowsour.2004.05.010	journal	September 2004
Performance of a low cost interdigitated flow design on a 1 kW class all vanadium mixed acid redox flow battery Reed, David; Thomsen, Edwin; Li, Bin Journal of Power Sources, Vol. 306 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpowsour.2015.11.089	journal	February 2016
Oxygen Transport in Polymer-Electrolyte Fuel Cells with Interdigitated Air Channels in Porous Bipolar Plates Darling, Robert M.; Badrinarayanan, Paravastu Journal of The Electrochemical Society, Vol. 158, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1149/1.3509159	journal	January 2011
Scale-up of high power density redox flow batteries by introducing interdigitated flow fields You, Xin; Ye, Qiang; Cheng, Ping International Communications in Heat and Mass Transfer, Vol. 75 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.icheatmasstransfer.2016.03.021	journal	July 2016
Ex-situ characterisation of gas diffusion layers for proton exchange membrane fuel cells El-kharouf, Ahmad; Mason, Thomas J.; Brett, Dan J. L. Journal of Power Sources, Vol. 218 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpowsour.2012.06.099	journal	November 2012
A Mathematical Model for the Iron/Chromium Redox Battery Fedkiw, Peter S. Journal of The Electrochemical Society, Vol. 131, Issue 4 https://doi.org/10.1149/1.2115676	journal	January 1984
Experimental study on the performance of PEM fuel cells with interdigitated flow channels Yan, Wei-Mon; Mei, Sheng-Chin; Soong, Chyi-Yeou Journal of Power Sources, Vol. 160, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpowsour.2006.01.063	journal	September 2006
Flow maldistribution in interdigitated channels used in PEM fuel cells Shyam Prasad, K. B.; Maharudrayya, S.; Jayanti, S. Journal of Power Sources, Vol. 159, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpowsour.2005.09.066	journal	September 2006
Concept of equivalent diameter for heat and fluid flow in porous media Nakayama, A.; Kuwahara, F.; Sano, Y. AIChE Journal, Vol. 53, Issue 3 https://doi.org/10.1002/aic.11092	journal	January 2007
A hydrodynamic network model for interdigitated flow fields Shyam Prasad, K. B.; Suresh, P. V.; Jayanti, S. International Journal of Hydrogen Energy, Vol. 34, Issue 19 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhydene.2009.07.107	journal	October 2009
High Power Density Redox Flow Battery Cells Perry, M. L.; Darling, R. M.; Zaffou, R. ECS Transactions, Vol. 53, Issue 7 https://doi.org/10.1149/05307.0007ecst	journal	May 2013
Stromverteilung in porösen elektroden Euler, J.; Nonnenmacher, W. Electrochimica Acta, Vol. 2, Issue 4 https://doi.org/10.1016/0013-4686(60)80025-4	journal	May 1960
In situ investigation of water transport in an operating PEM fuel cell using neutron radiography: Part 2 – Transient water accumulation in an interdigitated cathode flow field Owejan, J. P.; Trabold, T. A.; Jacobson, D. L. International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer, Vol. 49, Issue 25-26 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijheatmasstransfer.2006.07.004	journal	December 2006
Effect of hydraulic diameter and aspect ratio on single phase flow and heat transfer in a rectangular microchannel Sahar, Amirah M.; Wissink, Jan; Mahmoud, Mohamed M. Applied Thermal Engineering, Vol. 115 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.applthermaleng.2017.01.018	journal	March 2017

Similar Records

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

Journal Article · 2019 · AIChE Journal · OSTI ID:1496645

Macdonald, Malcolm; Darling, Robert M.

Topology Optimization of 3D Flow Fields for Flow Batteries

Journal Article · 2022 · Journal of the Electrochemical Society · OSTI ID:1876685

Lin, Tiras Y.; Baker, Sarah E.; Duoss, Eric B.; +1 more

A One-Dimensional Stack Model for Redox Flow Battery Analysis and Operation

Journal Article · 2019 · Batteries · OSTI ID:1495871

Barton, John L.; Brushett, Fikile R.

Title: Modeling flow distribution and pressure drop in redox flow batteries

Citation Formats

References (33)

Similar Records

Related Subjects