Design, Development, and Testing of a Low-Concentration Vanadium Redox Flow Battery

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to highlight the design, development, and testing of a low-concentration vanadium redox flow battery (VRFB). The low-cost implementation has a 7 cm × 7 cm active membrane area and an electrolyte volume of 450 mL for each positive and negative electrolyte. The electrolyte concentration is approximately 0.066 M vanadium. An H-cell for performing electrolysis with the electrolytes is developed, and the process and method for creating the electrolyte for this low-concentration implementation are described and documented. The maximum power density and energy efficiency of the battery among tests between 500 and 800 mA are 1.32 W/L and 28.51%, respectively. Results are presented in terms of polarization curves, charge/discharge cycles, and voltage, coulombic, and energy efficiencies. Adaptation of a COMSOL Multiphysics model is implemented to compare the computational performance figures and the results of our VRFB implementation. The numerical results agree with experimentation, and differences in the results can be attributed to the losses present in the experimental tests. The proposed battery and design are intended to investigate the performance and feasibility of a low-concentration VRFB. The ultimate long-term objective of this research is the development of a novel, cost-effective, and safe redox flow battery using hydrogen peroxide as one of the electrolytes.