Shunt currents in vanadium flow batteries: Measurement, modelling and implications for efficiency

Shunt currents are an important factor which must be considered when designing a stack for flow batteries. They lead to a reduction of the coulombic efficiency and can cause furthermore a critical warming of the electrolyte. Shunt currents inevitably appear at bypass connections of the hydraulic system between the single cells of a stack. In this work the shunt currents of a five-celled mini stack of a vanadium flow battery with external hydraulic system and their effects are investigated directly. The external hydraulic system allows the implementation of current sensors for direct measurement of the shunt currents; moreover, the single bypass channels can be interrupted by clamping the tube couplings and with it the shunt currents between the cells when the pumps are off. Thus the shares of losses by cross contamination and by shunt currents are quantified separately by charge conservation measurements. The experimentally gained data are compared to a shunt current model based on a equivalent circuit diagram and the linear equation system derived from it. Experiments and model data are in good agreement. The effects of shunt currents for different flow frame geometries and number of cells in a stack are simulated and presented in this work. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.