SBIR Phase I: Low Cost Metal Chelate Flow Battery for Long Duration Energy Storage

这个小企业创新研究（SBIR）第一阶段项目开发了一种用于为电网储存能量的新型液流电池的化学成分。电池化学使用丰富的矿物和材料，可以在美国采购和制造。这些液流电池材料支持4到100小时的长时间能量存储，足以支持电网，并支持太阳能和风能等间歇性能源的增加使用。这种液流电池技术旨在满足电网规模储能的激进成本目标，使该公司能够利用国内和国际市场对储能的需求。该电池系统为美国提供了拥有高冲击性电池技术并在长期储能市场占据领先地位的机会。SBIR一期项目旨在降低金属螯合液流电池的材料成本，使其储存时间超过10小时，往返效率超过80%。目标是开发一种使用低品位矿物的材料净化工艺，并以最小的浪费去除关键杂质。这一目标将通过开发和建造一种化学净化系统来实现，该系统可以选择性地去除低品位矿物中的杂质。该工艺将通过一个液流电池的演示来验证，该电池在全功率下连续放电10小时以上。研究和开发工作的重点是通过一种新的化学物质来优化液流电池性能的整体解决方案，在单一平台上优化成本、丰度、安全性和性能，实现长时间的能量存储。开发领域包括电解液纯度，对前体的敏感性，工艺开发，系统污垢和电解液纯度敏感性，净化系统设计和回收，以及包含新净化工艺的10-24小时放电电池性能演示。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project develops the chemistry for a new flow battery used to store energy for the electric grid. The battery chemistry uses abundant minerals and materials that can be sourced and manufactured in the United States. These flow battery materials support long duration energy storage of 4 to 100 hours – enough to back up the grid and support increased use of intermittent power sources such as solar and wind. This flow battery technology aims to meet aggressive cost targets for grid-scale storage, positioning the company to take advantage of the domestic and international market demand for energy storage. The battery system provides an opportunity for the U.S. to own high impact battery technology and claim a leadership position in the long duration energy storage market. This SBIR Phase I project seeks to lower the materials costs of a metal chelate flow battery for 10+ hour storage durations with greater than 80% round-trip efficiency. The goal is to develop a material purification process that uses low-grade minerals and removes key impurities with minimal waste. This goal will be achieved through the development and construction of a chemical purification system that selectively removes the impurities present in the low-grade minerals. The process will be validated by the demonstration of a flow battery operating with 10+ hours of continuous discharge at full power. The research and development effort focuses on a holistic solution to flow battery performance via a new chemistry that optimizes cost, abundance, safety, and performance in a single platform for long duration energy storage. Areas of development include electrolyte purity, sensitivity to precursors, processes development, system fouling and electrolyte purity sensitivity, purification system design and recycling, and 10-24 hour discharge battery performance demonstration incorporating the new purification process.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.