Quote:
Originally Posted by sawickm
Aren’t fuel based batteries called “Fuel Cells” ????
There are already Liquid and Gaseous based fuel cells.
What's the difference ?
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This isn't a "fuel battery," it's a Flow Battery. You can Google it or try wikipedia to get a better description but generally; Flow batteries allow storage of the active materials external to the battery and these reactants are circulated through the cell stack as required. A flow battery was used in 1884 by Charles Renard to power his airship La France.
The technology was revived in the mid 1970s. Modern flow batteries are generally two electrolyte systems in which the two electrolytes, acting as liquid energy carriers, are pumped simultaneously through the two half-cells of the reaction cell separated by a membrane. On charging, the electrical energy supplied causes a chemical reduction reaction in one electrolyte and an oxidation reaction in the other. The thin ion exchange membrane between the half-cells prevents the electrolytes from mixing but allows selected ions to pass through to complete the redox reaction. On discharge the chemical energy contained in the electrolyte is released in the reverse reaction and electrical energy can be drawn from the electrodes. When in use the electrolytes are continuously pumped in a circuit between reactor and storage tanks.