Electrolyte flow optimization and performance metrics analysis of vanadium redox flow battery for large-scale stationary energy storage

Vanadium redox flow battery (VRFB) is the best choice for large-scale stationary energy storage, but its low energy density affects its overall performance and restricts its development. In order to improve the performance of VRFB, a new type of spiral flow field is proposed, and a multi-physics coupling model and performance metrics evaluation system are established to explore the electrolyte distribution characteristics. The results show that the new spiral flow field can effectively improve the uniformity of electrolyte flow and alleviate the phenomenon of local concentration polarization as compared with the traditional serpentine flow field and parallel flow field. Due to the long flow channel and large pressure drop, the system efficiency is low. However, coulombic efficiency, voltage efficiency and energy efficiency are significantly better than the traditional flow fields. Therefore, the novel flow field has obvious advantages in the application of small stacks.