Air-Breathing Aqueous Sulfur Flow Battery for Ultralow-Cost Long-Duration Electrical Storage

The intermittency of renewable electricity generation has created a pressing global need for low-cost, highly scalable energy storage. Although pumped hydroelectric storage (PHS) and underground compressed air energy storage (CAES) have the lowest costs today (∼US$100/kWh installed cost), each faces...

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Veröffentlicht in:Joule 2017-10, Vol.1 (2), p.306-327
Hauptverfasser: Li, Zheng, Pan, Menghsuan Sam, Su, Liang, Tsai, Ping-Chun, Badel, Andres F., Valle, Joseph M., Eiler, Stephanie L., Xiang, Kai, Brushett, Fikile R., Chiang, Yet-Ming
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Sprache:eng
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Zusammenfassung:The intermittency of renewable electricity generation has created a pressing global need for low-cost, highly scalable energy storage. Although pumped hydroelectric storage (PHS) and underground compressed air energy storage (CAES) have the lowest costs today (∼US$100/kWh installed cost), each faces geographical and environmental constraints that may limit further deployment. Here, we demonstrate an ambient-temperature aqueous rechargeable flow battery that uses low-cost polysulfide anolytes in conjunction with lithium or sodium counter-ions, and an air- or oxygen-breathing cathode. The solution energy density, at 30–145 Wh/L depending on concentration and sulfur speciation range, exceeds current solution-based flow batteries, and the cost of active materials per stored energy is exceptionally low, ∼US$1/kWh when using sodium polysulfide. The projected storage economics parallel those for PHS and CAES but can be realized at higher energy density and with minimal locational constraints. [Display omitted] •Chemical cost analyzed for 40 rechargeable couples developed over the past 60 years•Aqueous sulfur/sodium/air system identified with ultralow chemical cost of ∼US$1/kWh•Air-breathing flow battery architecture demonstrated at laboratory scale•Techno-economic analysis shows installed cost is comparable with PHS and CAES Wind and solar generation can displace carbon-intensive electricity if their intermittent output is cost-effectively re-shaped using electrical storage to meet user demand. Reductions in the cost of storage have lagged those for generation, with pumped hydroelectric storage (PHS) remaining today the lowest-cost and only form of electrical storage deployed at multi-gigawatt hour scale. Here, we propose and demonstrate an inherently scalable storage approach that uses sulfur, a virtually unlimited byproduct of fossil fuel production, and air, as the reactive components. Combined with sodium as an intermediary working species, the chemical cost of storage is the lowest of known batteries. While the electrical stacks extracting power can and should be improved, even at current performance, techno-economic analysis shows projected costs that are competitive with PHS, and of special interest for the long-duration storage that will be increasingly important as renewables penetration grows. The dropping cost of wind and solar power intensifies the need for low-cost, efficient energy storage, which together with renewables can displace fossil fuels. W
ISSN:2542-4351
2542-4351
DOI:10.1016/j.joule.2017.08.007