19 March 2013

More and more electricity is being generated from variable sources of power, such as solar and wind energy. Powerful electric energy storage devices are necessary to level out corresponding irregularities in the power supply. There are more storage technologies than one may imagine. Batteries are the primary format, but other technologies are being developed.

However, in general battery technologies remain a growing option for storing variable renewable energy sources such as wind and solar. Increasing amounts of solar and wind energy have to be stored for use during the night, or for times when there is less wind. Electric batteries are an option, and Redox flow batteries offer an effective way to balance out fluctuations in the supply of renewable energy and thus guarantee its constant availability.

The batteries store electrical energy in chemical compounds, the liquid electrolytes. The electrolytes are charged and discharged in small reaction chambers. Several of these cells are lined up in stacks. However, the batteries that are currently available on the market, which are roughly the size of A4 paper (1/16 square meters), can only generate 2.3 kilowatts (kW) of power.

Scientists at the Fraunhofer Institute for Environmental, Safety and Energy Technology UMSICHT in Oberhausen, Germany, claim to have developed a redox flow battery that reaches stack power up to 25 kW, with a cell size of 0.5 square meters. This is eight times larger than the previous A4-sized systems. The company will be presenting the new battery for the first time at the Hannover Messe trade show (from 8-12 April).

The prototype reportedly has an efficiency of up to 80 percent, and can take a load of up to 500 amps of current.

Bigger and better

According to the company, scientists began by testing new membrane materials and researching battery management and battery design. Flow simulations helped them to optimize the cell structure. A complete redesign of the battery followed which enabled the Fraunhofer team to make their breakthrough.. “The biggest challenge we faced for producing batteries with this level of performance was the development of a completely new stack structure andthe scale-up,” explains Dr. Jens Burfeind, Group Manager for Electrochemical Storage Systems at Fraunhofer UMSICHT.

UMSICHT experts are working together with colleagues from the Fraunhofer Institutes for Chemical Technology ICT and for Solar Energy Systems ISE to conduct intensive research into redox flow batteries as part of a project funded by the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (BMU). The research work is carried out at the institute in Oberhausen, home to one of Europe’s largest test laboratories for redox flow batteries.

How does a Redox battery work?

The redox flow cell (red for reduction = electron uptake, ox for oxidation = electron release) is an accumulator. It stores energy in electrolyte solutions contained in tanks. The electrolyte circulate from these tanks through a cell, which generates electricity from the fluid in a chemical process. The most common kind of this type of battery is the vanadium redox flow battery. The vanadium is charged and discharged in small reaction chambers. Several of these cells are lined up in stacks, which increases the battery’s power. Redox flow batteries offer several advantages; they are cost-effective, robust, durable, and can be individually customised.