3D unsteady numerical simulation of all-vanadium redox flow battery

Abstract

The all-vanadium redox flow battery has been accounted as one of the viable rechargeable batteries for large scale energy storage devices that can be united with renewable energy sources such as wind and solar energy for electrical energy distribution and storage. The main advantage of the all-vanadium redox flow battery is capable to withstand average loads, higher power output and higher energy efficiency. The battery shows good unsteady behavior and sustains a sudden voltage drop. A transient, isothermal, three-dimensional model of the all-vanadium redox flow battery is developed, which is governed by the conservation laws, such as momentum, mass and charge, united with a kinetic model for reaction having vanadium species. In this context earlier efforts reported in the literature were mainly focused on simulation of the variation of the charge/discharge characteristics of the cell. There is a need to optimize the cell parameters so as to improve cell performance. The performance of the battery is also studied numerically with the three dimensional isothermal unsteady model. This model is employed to predict the effects of change in concentration, electrolyte flow rate and electrode porosity.