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Redox flow batteries are promising for large scale stationary energy storage, necessary with the rising share of intermittent electricity sources like wind mills and solar panels. The performance of redox flow batteries is however hindered by hurdles such as mass transport limitations and slow kinetics, affecting its efficiency. In this work, we studied the effect of non-steady state pulsatile flow regimes in porous electrodes. By applying a pulsatile flow, eddy generation is stimulated in the porous electrode, which replenishes the diffusion boundary layer in the vicinity of the electrode’s surface [1]. As a result, mass transport limitation is diminished, boosting capacity utilisation of the electrolyte and power output of the redox flow batteries. Utilizing a commercial porous felt electrode and parallel flow field, the discharge accessible capacity was increased by 38.7% compared to the same net flow rate of 5 ml/min without pulsations [2]. Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy attributes these effects to a reduction of the mass transfer resistance by 71.4 % due to the pulsating flow. To study the effect of the pulsatile flow, pumping power characterisation experiments were conducted allowing to assess the effect of the pulsatile flow versus conventional steady state flows as function of the electrode geometry. This allows to tailor the porous electrode geometry towards the pulse amplitude and pulse frequency, opening new possibilities for boosting performance in flow batteries through flow engineering.
| References | [1] Teenakul, K.; Arenas Martinez, L.F.; Hereijgers, J. 3D-pritned pulsator to enhance mass transfer in electrochemical reactors. HardwareX 2025, e00645. [2] De Wolf, R.; Rossen, A.; De Rop, M.; Arenas, L. F.; Breugelmans, T.; Hereijgers, J. Improved Vanadium Flow Battery Performance through a Pulsating Electrolyte Flow Regime. Batteries & Supercaps 2023, e202300382. |
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| Country | Belgium |
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