TY - JOUR
T1 - Mathematical modeling and numerical analysis of alkaline zinc-iron flow batteries for energy storage applications
AU - Chen, Ziqi
AU - Yu, Wentao
AU - Liu, Yongfu
AU - Zeng, Yikai
AU - He, Qijiao
AU - Tan, Peng
AU - Ni, Meng
N1 - Funding Information:
P. Tan thanks the funding support from CAS Pioneer Hundred Talents Program (KJ2090130001), Shanghai JINGYI Electrical Apparatus Factory Co., Ltd. (ES2090130106), USTC Research Funds of the Double First-Class Initiative (YD2090002006), and USTC Tang Scholar. Y.K. Zeng thanks the funding support from National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 51806182 ). M. Ni thanks the funding support from The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (G-YW2D) and a grant (Project Number: PolyU 152214/17E and PolyU 152064/18E) from Research Grant Council, University Grants Committee, Hong Kong SAR.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2020 Elsevier B.V.
Copyright:
Copyright 2020 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.
PY - 2021/2/1
Y1 - 2021/2/1
N2 - The alkaline zinc-iron flow battery is an emerging electrochemical energy storage technology with huge potential, while the theoretical investigations are still absent, limiting performance improvement. A transient and two-dimensional mathematical model of the charge/discharge behaviors of zinc-iron flow batteries is established. After validated by experimental data, numerical analysis is carried out focusing on the influences of electrolyte flow rate and electrode geometry towards the electrochemical performance. The results demonstrate that a high flow rate, high electrode thickness, and porosity are favorable for battery performance. Following this finding, the parameters of a zinc-iron flow battery are optimized by utilizing a high flow rate of 50 mL min−1, an asymmetrical structure with a negative electrode of 7 mm and a positive electrode of 10 mm, and high porosity of 0.98. With the optimal flow rate and geometry, the electrolyte utilization, coulombic efficiency, and energy efficiency attain 98.62%, 99.18%, and 92.84%, respectively, significantly higher than those of the un-optimized design. This work provides a comprehensive strategy allowing for the improvement of the practical design of zinc-iron flow batteries.
AB - The alkaline zinc-iron flow battery is an emerging electrochemical energy storage technology with huge potential, while the theoretical investigations are still absent, limiting performance improvement. A transient and two-dimensional mathematical model of the charge/discharge behaviors of zinc-iron flow batteries is established. After validated by experimental data, numerical analysis is carried out focusing on the influences of electrolyte flow rate and electrode geometry towards the electrochemical performance. The results demonstrate that a high flow rate, high electrode thickness, and porosity are favorable for battery performance. Following this finding, the parameters of a zinc-iron flow battery are optimized by utilizing a high flow rate of 50 mL min−1, an asymmetrical structure with a negative electrode of 7 mm and a positive electrode of 10 mm, and high porosity of 0.98. With the optimal flow rate and geometry, the electrolyte utilization, coulombic efficiency, and energy efficiency attain 98.62%, 99.18%, and 92.84%, respectively, significantly higher than those of the un-optimized design. This work provides a comprehensive strategy allowing for the improvement of the practical design of zinc-iron flow batteries.
KW - Aqueous electrolyte
KW - Design optimization
KW - Numerical simulation
KW - Zinc-iron flow battery
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85089904420&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.cej.2020.126684
DO - 10.1016/j.cej.2020.126684
M3 - Journal article
AN - SCOPUS:85089904420
SN - 1385-8947
VL - 405
JO - Chemical Engineering Journal
JF - Chemical Engineering Journal
M1 - 126684
ER -
