Undulating Flow Battery Plates for Higher Power Density
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Solution Overview
Problem
Flow batteries have a relatively high mass and low energy density compared to conventional electric vehicle batteries, limiting their effectiveness in applications requiring power storage, especially in electric vehicles.
Innovation Solution
The design of flow batteries with undulating conductive plates that increase the surface area of contact between the plates and electrolyte, allowing for a more efficient battery configuration with higher power density, reduced size, and weight.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Power
If conventional planar conductive plates are used in flow batteries, then the battery structure is simple and easy to manufacture, but the surface area of contact between plates and electrolyte is limited, resulting in low power density
Solution Approach 1:
The conductive plates are designed with undulating surfaces featuring curved peaks and troughs instead of flat surfaces. This curvature increases the surface area of contact between the plates and electrolyte, thereby enhancing power density while maintaining a relatively simple plate configuration
Solution Approach 2:
The invention transitions from two-dimensional planar plate surfaces to three-dimensional undulating surfaces by adding vertical dimensionality through peaks and troughs. This dimensional change significantly increases the effective surface area without substantially increasing the horizontal footprint of the battery
2Quantity of substance
If flow batteries are designed with larger capacity to achieve higher energy density, then the battery can store more energy, but the mass of the battery increases
Solution Approach 1:
The invention changes the geometric parameters of the conductive plates by introducing undulations with specific peak and trough configurations. This parameter change increases the surface area to volume ratio, allowing higher power density in a more compact mass, thereby improving energy density without proportionally increasing battery mass
3Power
If the surface area of conductive plates is increased to improve power density, then the battery becomes more efficient, but the footprint area of the battery increases
Solution Approach 1:
The undulating plate surfaces utilize the vertical dimension (z-axis) to increase surface area while maintaining a compact horizontal footprint. The peaks and troughs create additional surface area without requiring the battery to occupy more horizontal space, thus resolving the contradiction between power density and footprint area
Data Source
AI summary
A flow battery includes a first conductive plate and a second conductive plate. Each of the first and second conductive plates has an undulating surface formed with a first plurality of undulations which extend along a first axis of the conductive plate. and a second plurality of undulations which extend along a second, perpendicular axis of the conductive plate. The first and second conductive plates are arranged to form a first cell of the flow battery in which the respective undulating surfaces of the first and second conductive plates provide a cathode and a corresponding anode of the first cell, and define opposing walls of an electrolyte flow channel between the first and second conductive plates.