Bipolar Electrodialysis Flow Battery

Aqua-Cell Energy, the partner organization, is developing low cost batteries that utilize safe chemicals and have a unique design. The technology being developed can enable large amounts of energy to be stored at a low cost. When using lithium ion batteries, the current industry standard technology, it is expensive to store large amounts of energy and there are significant fire safety concerns. Aquacell’s technology is safer and lower cost than lithium ion batteries but requires more development before being commercially viable.
The research being performed by the intern, which would be supported in part by the Mitacs funding, concerns the testing of a prototype battery. The protype has been designed and constructed, and performance testing will be used to validate the results of simulation work that has already been completed, as well as to understand how different operating parameters effect the battery’s performance.

The results of this research are a critical step in the development process for the Aquacell’s battery designs. The work will allow Aquacell to understand what parameters are most critical in optimizing cell performance, and larger “scale up” designs can be engineered to maximize desirable parameters and minimize detrimental characteristics.

Faculty Supervisor:

Jeff Gostick

Student:

Keith Cleland

Partner:

Aqua-Cell Energy Inc.

Discipline:

Engineering - chemical / biological

Sector:

Professional, scientific and technical services

University:

University of Waterloo