Flow battery

Energy Storage in Buildings, A Technology Overview (BG 73/2018), written by John Piggott and published by BSRIA in March 2018, sates: ‘A flow battery is a specific type of battery in which the chemicals (which have a negative electrical charge) are kept in a solution which flows over the positively charged anode. This means that the chemicals at the anode are kept ‘fresh’ so that the battery produces a steady, continuous electrical current. A flow battery is effectively a battery that has moving parts which can be serviced and replaced. In a non-flow or ‘fixed’ battery, the chemicals are held in position, so that as the battery discharges, the electrical current can reduce prematurely because the chemicals nearest to the anode become exhausted. The fresh chemicals that are further away from the anode have to migrate through a layer of their depleted neighbours. This becomes progressively more difficult as more and more of the chemicals become exhausted. In some cases, this leads to a memory effect, when the battery becomes progressively less effective as it goes through its discharge/ recharge cycle. This is known as voltage depression…’

--BSRIA

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