Numerical insight into characteristics and performance of zinc-bromine redox flow battery

Wei Li, Shengguan Xu, Yujie Chen, Bohong Wang and Qiuwang Wang

Energy, 2025, vol. 335, issue C

Abstract: The modeling study serves as a pivotal approach for elucidating the fundamental reaction mechanisms and prognosticating the operational performance of zinc-bromine flow batteries (ZBFBs). Herein, a time-dependent model for ZBFB is established, integrating redox reaction kinetics, species transport, two-step electron transfer, and bromine complexation/decomplexation processes, to unravel transient electrochemical phenomena during the charge-discharge phase. Parametric analyses reveal that increasing applied current density (20–40 mA/cm2) intensifies overpotential, reducing energy efficiency (ηE) from 73 % to 69.11 %. Electrode porosity (ɛed) profoundly influences concentration polarization and zinc deposition uniformity. Enhancing specific surface area from 10,000 to 20,000 m2/m3 improves reaction kinetics, elevating ηE by 5.8 % through reduced activation losses. While higher electrolyte conductivity (>200 S/m) yields insignificant returns, boosting flow rates from 10 mL/min to 40 mL/min extends discharge duration by 23.67 % by mitigating concentration gradients. Furthermore, halving or doubling the tank volume improves or diminishes ηE by 6.84 % or 15.01 % owing to the changed bromine concentration. The optimized case achieves voltage, coulombic, and energy efficiencies of 88.13 %, 94.25 %, and 83.1 %, representing 5.27 %, 8.08 %, and 13.78 % enhancements over baseline. This work provides a predictive framework for ZBFB design and operation while highlighting trade-offs between efficiency gains and actual techno-economic costs.

Keywords: Zinc-bromine flow battery; Transient model; Species transport; Concentration overpotential; Zinc deposition (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:energy:v:335:y:2025:i:c:s0360544225035388

DOI: 10.1016/j.energy.2025.137896

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