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A Cyclable Laminar Flow Battery for Large Scale Energy Storage
We here describe our work in the design and development of a unique prototype laminar flow battery. Unlike previous laminar flow batteries, our device is designed for closed-loop cyclability using innovative means of controlling stream mixing within porous media. This is achieved through two novel mechanisms: i) the use of a porous "dispersion blocker" layer to prevent rapid mixing within the porous structure via transverse mechanical dispersion, and ii) a two-dimensional flow field, including a flow component in the direction of the electric field (in addition to the typical flow which is perpendicular to the electric field), to inhibit oxidant crossover. Through the use of hydrogen-bromine chemistry and flow-through porous electrodes, we demonstrate that our battery can achieve an exceptionally high maximum power density of up to 0.66 W/cm2 in addition to, for the first time in a laminar flow battery, multiple closed loop cycles.
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Figure 1: Schematic of the cyclable laminar flow battery using hydrogen-bromine chemistry. Undesirable bromine (oxidant) flux into the electrolyte channel is prevented through use of a dispersion blocker layer and 2D flow (blue arrows). Insets show numerical results of co-flowing fluids within porous media at high Peclet number, a) without a dispersion blocker layer, and b) with a dispersion blocker. The dispersion blocker can strongly inhibit mixing of co-flowing streams within porous structures of a flow battery.