Co-Molded Redox Flow Battery Cell Plate Assembly for Leak-Safe Sealing
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current redox flow battery technologies face challenges in maintaining wear-parts, preventing electrolyte solution cross-contamination, and reducing manufacturing costs.
Innovation Solution
The use of a frame plate assembly with overmolded cell plates, electrolyte pathways, and frame channels, which reduces the need for O-rings and other connection items that wear down, and integrates components within a robust frame for improved sealing and reduced maintenance.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If traditional assembly methods with separate components and O-rings are used, then ease of manufacture is improved, but reliability deteriorates due to wear and leakage
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines multiple separate components (frame, cell plate, electrolyte pathways, frame channels) into a single integrated frame plate assembly through co-molding. This merging eliminates the need for separate O-rings and connection items, reducing wear points and leakage risks while improving reliability without significantly complicating the manufacturing process.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent extracts and eliminates O-rings and other connection items from the traditional assembly. By removing these separate sealing components through the co-molding process, the design reduces maintenance needs and improves service life while avoiding the complexity of assembling and maintaining multiple separate parts.
2Ease of manufacture
If multiple separate components are assembled together, then ease of manufacture is improved, but manufacturing costs increase due to more components
Solution Approach 1:
The co-molding process merges frame, cell plate, electrolyte pathways, and frame channels into a single integrated component. This reduces the total number of parts that need to be manufactured, stored, and assembled, thereby lowering manufacturing costs despite the increased complexity of the molding process itself.
Solution Approach 2:
The integrated frame plate assembly performs multiple functions simultaneously: structural support (frame), electrical function (cell plate), and fluid transport (electrolyte pathways and frame channels). This multi-functionality in a single component reduces the number of separate manufacturing operations needed, improving productivity and reducing costs.
3Device complexity
If traditional connection items are used, then device complexity is reduced, but reliability deteriorates due to wear and cross-contamination
Solution Approach 1:
By merging the frame, cell plate, and electrolyte pathways into a single co-molded component, the patent eliminates the interfaces where O-rings and connection items would be required. This integration prevents wear and cross-contamination at connection points while the overall device complexity remains manageable due to the streamlined single-component design.
Data Source
AI summary
A cell plate assembly of a redox flow battery has a frame body and a cell plate in fluidic communication. Cell plates, electrolyte pathways and other components of the frame plate assembly may be overmolded inside a frame. Plates, frames and tubes may all be robustly sealed. One piece bonded plug and frames enable reduced use of O-rings and other wear items.