Development of 10 kW/50 kWh Redox Flow Battery System for Solar PV Applications
Primary Information
Domain
Energy
Project No.
5296
Sanction and Project Initiation
Sanction No: F.NO.41-2/2015-T.S.-I (Pt.)
Sanction Date: 09/01/2017
Project Initiation date: 25/01/2017
Project Duration: 36
Partner Ministry/Agency/Industry
Ministry of New and Renewable Energy
Role of partner:To provide 50% funding for the project and monitor the progress of the project
Support from partner:No funding has been provided by the Partner and there has been no interaction with the Ministry so far
Principal Investigator
Dr. Sreenivas Jayanti
IIT Madras
Host Institute
Co-PIs
Dr. U.V. Varadaraju
IIT Madras
Dr. K. S. Swarup
IIT Madras
Dr. Raghunathan Rengasamy
IIT Madras
Dr. L.N. Satapathy
BHEL-Bangalore
Dr. D.S. Monder
IIT Bombay
Dr. Raghuram Chetty
IIT Madras
Dr. R. Kothandaraman
IIT Madras
Dr. Vasu Gollangi
BHEL Hyderabad
Dr. P.V. Suresh
NIT Warangal
Scope and Objectives
To develop a 10 kW/ 50 kWh redox flow battery-based electrical energy management system (EMS) capable of drawing electrical power from solar PVs panels or the main grid, as necessary, and deliver uninterrupted power to a community of users.
Deliverables
A prototype vanadium redox flow battery capable of storing 50 kWh of electrical energy at a power of 10 kW
Scientific Output
Cell level optimization of cell design completed through experimental and CFD studies of a large number of possibilities Scale-up of cell size from 100 cm2 to 900 cm2 completed Stack of 0.75 kW assembled and performance characterized
Results and outcome till date
At single cell level, reproducible electrochemical performance with energy efficiency of 80% or higher has been achieved in cell active areas of up to 900 cm2 Single cell configuration has been optimized to operate at a current density in excess of 100 mA/cm2 (which is twice that of commercial cells) while reducing the cell pressure drop by more than 25% compared to the baseline case A four-cell stack has been thoroughly tested and the influence of major parameters has been characterised An eight-cell stack has been built and operated but it could tested only at low current densities. The delivery of a high power battery cycler is expected in August 2018; an order for it could be ordered placed only in April 2018 due to lack of funds Long-term, continuous running of up to 150 cycles has been demonstrated with the short stack
Societal benefit and impact anticipated
None yet
Next steps
Scale-up of cell size to 1500 cm2 cell size (underway) Scale-up stack to 2 kW Development of power electronic modules Integration of battery with solar PV and mixed DC/AC load
Publications and reports
One journal paper published in INAE Letters (2018) : Gundlapalli, R., Kumar, S. & Jayanti, S. INAE Lett, 3(3), 149-157 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s41403-018-0044-1 Two manuscripts under preparation
Patents
Under preparation
Scholars and Project Staff
Mr. Ravendra Gundlapalli (registered for PhD, IIT Madras with MHRD scholarship) Mr. Vikram Krishnan (registered for PhD, IIT Madras with MHRD scholarship) Ms A. Vijayalakshmi (employed as Project Officer) Mr. A Rajbharath (employed as Project Associate)
Challenges faced
Lack of money is the major problem; there is a 50% shortfall in funding for the first two years The project has been on negative balance for the last two months Delays in construction of new lab and implementation of GST have also caused delays in purchase of equipment and consumables.
Other information
Without the full sanction of funding, the project objectives will have to be severely curtailed. If no funding is received from the Partnering Ministry/Agency (MNRE), then the project deliverable will be limited to making one 2 kW stack and integrating it with solar PV system and DC + AC load
Financial Information
-
Total sanction: Rs. 399.84 lakhs
-
Amount received: Rs. 142.56 lakhs
-
Amount utilised for Equipment: Rs. 60.46 lakhs
-
Amount utilised for Manpower: Rs. 10.09 lakhs
-
Amount utilised for Consumables: Rs. 45.86 lakhs
-
Amount utilised for Contingency: Rs. 9.36 lakhs
-
Amount utilised for Travel: Rs. 0.27 lakhs
-
Amount utilised for Other Expenses: 0.13 lakhs
-
Amount utilised for Overheads: Rs. 21.76 lakhs
Equipment and facilities
Main equipment: (i) 10 V, 120 A potentiostat (ii) 60 V, 200 A battery cycler Facility created: Redox flow battery test facility
