Preliminary study on fire risk of redox flow battery components

The redox flow battery (RFB) is one new kind of energy storage unit, which is used in electrochemical energy storage. However, the knowledge on its fire risk is very limited. Thus the fire risk of redox flow batteries was investigated using cone calorimeter and C80 calorimeter in this work. The combustion behaviors of RFB components are tested using cone calorimeter, whereas the thermal behaviors of the component materials, including bipolar plate, electrode frame, electrode and membrane, inside the RFBs are measured using C80 calorimeter. By comparing the results in two experiments, it is indicated that the main hazardous source of the fire is the electrode frame, followed by the bipolar plate. The thermal stability of membranes is the worst. The electrode is a non-flammable component with little fire risk. This analytical results can provide safety guide for both improvements of RFBs and large scale usage.