Vanadium based flow battery stack

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2026074256-A1
Application number	US-202418884973-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Sep 13, 2024
Priority date	Sep 11, 2024
Publication date	Mar 12, 2026
Grant date	—

Abstract

A flow cell battery that includes at least one electrochemical cell. The electrochemical cell includes: an ion exchange membrane; a 1 mm to 4 mm thick anode; an anode current collector; a first bipolar plate disposed between the anode and the anode current collector; a first flow frame that defines first flow channels; a first tank including an anolyte that includes V4+ and V5+; a first pump to flow the anolyte from the first tank into the first flow channels; a 1 mm to 4 mm thick cathode; a cathode current collector; a second bipolar plate disposed between the cathode and the cathode current collector; a second flow frame that defines second flow channels; a second tank including a catholyte that includes V2+ and V3+; and a second pump to flow the catholyte from the second tank into the second flow channels.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . A flow cell battery comprising:
at least one electrochemical cell, comprising:
an ion exchange membrane;
an anode having a thickness from 1 mm to 4 mm;
an anode current collector electrically connected to the anode;
a first bipolar plate disposed between the anode and the anode current collector;
a first flow frame disposed between the anode and the anode current collector, the first flow frame defining a plurality of first flow channels;
a first tank comprising an anolyte, the anolyte comprising V 4+ and V 5+ ;
a first pump configured to flow the anolyte from the first tank into the plurality of first flow channels;
a cathode having a thickness from 1 mm to 4 mm;
a cathode current collector electrically connected to the cathode;
a second bipolar plate disposed between the cathode and the cathode current collector;
a second flow frame disposed between the cathode and the cathode current collector, the second flow frame defining a plurality of second flow channels;
a second tank comprising a catholyte, the catholyte comprising V 2+ and V 3+ ; and
a second pump configured to flow the catholyte from the second tank into the plurality of second flow channels.

2 . The flow cell battery of claim 1 , further comprising a stack of a plurality of the electrochemical cell.

3 . The flow cell battery of claim 2 , wherein the stack has a dimension of 790 mm×640 mm×420 mm, the stack is configured to produce a power of at least 10 kW, and the first and second pumps are both configured to flow the anolyte or the catholyte at a flow rate of at least 5.2 m 3 /h.

4 . The flow cell battery of claim 1 , further comprising:
a first end plate comprising an insulating epoxy resin, in contact with the anode current collector; and a second end plate comprising the insulating epoxy resin, in contact with the cathode current collector.

5 . The flow cell battery of claim 1 , wherein the insulating epoxy resin comprises a glass-reinforced epoxy laminate material.

6 . The flow cell battery of claim 1 , wherein the thickness of the anode or the thickness of the cathode is from 2.30 mm to 2.67 mm.

7 . The flow cell battery of claim 1 , wherein the thickness of the anode and the thickness of the cathode is from 2.30 mm to 2.67 mm.

8 . The flow cell battery of claim 1 , wherein the thickness of the anode or the thickness of the cathode is 2.5 mm.

9 . The flow cell battery of claim 1 , wherein the thickness of the anode and the thickness of the cathode is 2.5 mm.

10 . The flow cell battery of claim 1 , wherein each of the plurality of first flow channels or each of the plurality of second flow channels has a width from 2 mm to 4 mm.

11 . The flow cell battery of claim 1 , wherein each of the plurality of first flow channels has a first width from 2 mm to 4 mm, and each of the plurality of second flow channels have a second width from 2 mm to 4 mm.

12 . The flow cell battery of claim 1 , wherein each of the plurality of first flow channels or each of the plurality of second flow channels is separated from each other by a rib having a width from 4 mm to 7 mm.

13 . The flow cell battery of claim 1 , wherein each of the plurality of first flow channels is separated from each other by a first rib having a width from 4 mm to 7 mm, and each of the plurality of second flow channels is separated from each other by a second rib having a width from 4 mm to 7 mm.

14 . The flow cell battery of claim 1 , wherein each of the plurality of first flow channels is separated from each other by a first rib of 6 mm, and each of the plurality of second flow channels is separated from each other by a second rib of 6 mm.

15 . The flow cell battery of claim 1 , wherein each of the plurality of first flow channels or each of the plurality of second flow channels is interlocked.

16 . The flow cell battery of claim 1 , wherein a number of inlets for the plurality of first flow channels is less than a number of outlets for the plurality of first flow channels by 1.

17 . The flow cell battery of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of first flow channels has 32 inlets, and wherein the plurality of second flow channels has 32 inlets.

18 . A flow cell battery comprising:
a stack comprising a plurality of vanadium flow battery electrochemical cells connected tandemly, each of the plurality of vanadium flow battery electrochemical cells comprising:
an ion exchange membrane;
an anode having a thickness of 2.30 mm to 2.67 mm;
a first bipolar plate to separate the plurality of vanadium flow battery electrochemical cells on an anode side;
a first flow frame disposed between the anode and the first bipolar plate, the first flow frame defining a plurality of first flow channels;
a cathode having a thickness from 2.30 mm to 2.67 mm;
a second bipolar plate to separate the plurality of vanadium flow battery electrochemical cells on a cathode side; and
a second flow frame disposed between the cathode and the second bipolar plate;
an anode current collector electrically connected to an anode side of the stack; a first end plate comprising an epoxy resin, in contact with the anode current collector; a cathode current collector electrically connected to a cathode side of the stack; a second end plate comprising an epoxy resin, in contact with the cathode current collector; a first tank comprising an anolyte, the anolyte comprising V 4+ and V 5+ ; a first pump configured to flow the anolyte from the first tank to each of the plurality of vanadium flow battery electrochemical cells, into each of the plurality of first flow channels; a second tank comprising a catholyte, the catholyte comprising V 2+ and V 3+ ; and a second pump configured to flow the catholyte from the second tank to each of the plurality of vanadium flow battery electrochemical cells, into each of the plurality of second flow channels.

19 . The flow cell battery of claim 18 , wherein the stack has a dimension of 790 mm×640 mm×420 mm.

20 . The flow cell battery of claim 18 , wherein the stack is configured to produce a power of at least 10 kW.

21 . The flow cell battery of claim 18 , wherein the first and second pumps are both configured to flow the anolyte or the catholyte at a flow rate of at least 5.2 m 3 /h.

22 . The flow cell battery of claim 18 , wherein the anode and the cathode have a thickness of 2.5 mm.

23 . A flow cell battery comprising:
an electrochemical cell, the electrochemical cell comprising:
an ion exchange membrane;
an anode;
an anode current collector electrically connected to the anode;
a first bipolar plate disposed between the anode and the anode current collector;
a first flow frame disposed between the ion exchange membrane and the first bipolar plate, the first flow frame defining a plurality of first flow channels, each of the plurality of first flow channels having a width of 3 mm and being separated from each other by a rib having a width of 6 mm;
a first end plate comprising an epoxy resin, in contact with the anode current collector;
a first tank comprising an anolyte, the anolyte comprising V 4+ and V 5+ ;
a first pump configured to flow the anolyte from the first tank into the plurality of first flow channels;
a cathode;
a cathode current collector electrically connected to the cathode;
a second bipolar plate disposed between the cathode and the cathode current collector;
a second flow frame disposed between

Assignees

• Saudi Arabian Oil Co

Inventors

• Hammad Ahmad D
• Amr Issam T
• Wang Shiyu
• Xu Shilong

Classifications

• H01M8/188 Primary

  by recharging of redox couples containing fluids; Redox flow type batteries · CPC title

• H01M4/86

  Inert electrodes with catalytic activity, e.g. for fuel cells · CPC title

• H01M8/0258

  characterised by the configuration of channels, e.g. by the flow field of the reactant or coolant · CPC title

• H01M8/04186 Primary

  of liquid-charged or electrolyte-charged reactants · CPC title

• Y02E60/50

  Fuel cells · CPC title