Numerical simulation of bromine crossover behavior in flow battery

Br₂ and HBr has its own series of advantages as the positive electrolyte solution, so some batteries select the Br₂/Br^- as the positive electrolyte solution, such as sodium polysulfide/bromine flow battery, zinc/bromine flow battery, vanadium/ bromine flow batteries and hydrogen/bromine flow batteries. But the crossover benavior of bromine occurs in these batteries too, resulting in cross-contamination, capacity loss and affecting battery's performance. In this work, we build numerical models to study the influence of bromine crossover phenomenon on the three forms of bromine crossover, the concentration of electrolyte on the cathode side and the flow rate of the negative side in the quinone bromine flow battery, to find the main models affecting the bromine crossover and the impact of bromine crossover on battery performance. It was found that the three ways of crossover through the membranes was mainly by diffusion. By reducing the concentration of positive electrolyte solution, the bromine crossover can be reduced and Coulomb Efficiency can be improved. Rising the flow rate of the electrolyte solution on the negative side and reducing the differential between positive side's pressure and negative side's pressure can also reduce the amount of bromine crossover to improve Coulomb efficiency in the battery.