Biomedical Engineering and Bioengineering Commons^™

Life-Cycle Optimization And Flow Control In A Nickel-Zinc Flow Assisted Battery, Steve Lever

Dissertations and Theses

Nickel-Zinc flow-assisted rechargeable batteries are currently being explored as a potential new generation of large-scale, low-cost energy storage devices. The viability of a commercial nickel-zinc battery has been hindered by the well-known phenomena of dendrite formation and zinc morphology variation over time. Applying electrolyte flow to traditional nickel-zinc battery systems has demonstrated significant life cycle performance improvements by reducing both dendrite formation and morphological variation. It has also been demonstrated that periodic low-current reconditioning discharge further improves cycle life. This thesis examines the effect of eliminating electrolyte flow during discharge of nickel-zinc flow assisted batteries, which would allow a much …