FR3064115A1 - TRANSPORTABLE CIRCULATION BATTERY SYSTEM AND METHOD OF INSTALLING SUCH A SYSTEM - Google Patents

Abstract

This transportable circulating battery system (10) comprises a reversible electrochemical device (12), an oxidizing fluid reservoir (20), and a reducing fluid reservoir (22), each of said reservoirs (20, 22) being fluidly connected to electrochemical device (12). This circulating battery system (10) also comprises a container (30), free of floor, in which are housed the electrochemical device (12) and at least one first reservoir (20) among the oxidizing fluid reservoirs and reducing fluid (20, 22). The circulating battery system (10) further comprises a base (50) to which the container (30) is assembled, said base (50) defining a blind cavity (54) opening exclusively in an upper face (52) of the base (50). ), a lower face (42) of the container (30) resting on said upper face (52) of the base (50) so that the blind cavity (54) forms a retention tank of the oxidizing or reducing fluid contained in the first reservoir (20) in case of leakage.

Description

© Publication number: 3,064,115 (to be used only for reproduction orders)

©) National registration number: 17 52267 ® FRENCH REPUBLIC

NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF INDUSTRIAL PROPERTY

COURBEVOIE

©) Int Cl ⁸ : H 01 M8 / 18 (2017.01), H 01 M 8/02

A1 PATENT APPLICATION

©) Date of filing: 20.03.17. © Applicant (s): AREVA ENERGY STORAGE - (30) Priority: FR. ©) Inventor (s): HAMMADI YACINE, VOIRON LUCILE, VERBECKE FRANCK and SIQUOT QUENTIN. (43) Date of public availability of the request: 21.09.18 Bulletin 18/38. ©) List of documents cited in the report preliminary research: Refer to end of present booklet (© References to other national documents ©) Holder (s): AREVA STOCKAGE D'ENERGIE. related: ©) Extension request (s): Polynesia-Fr ©) Agent (s): LAVOIX.

TRANSPORTABLE CIRCULATION BATTERY SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR INSTALLING SUCH A SYSTEM.

FR 3,064,115 - A1 (£ /) This transportable circulation battery system (10) comprises a reversible electrochemical device (12), an oxidizing fluid reservoir (20), and a reducing fluid reservoir (22), each of the said reservoirs (20, 22) being fluidly connected to the electrochemical device (12). This circulating battery system (10) also comprises a container (30), free of floor, in which are housed the electrochemical device (12) and at least a first reservoir (20) among the reservoirs of oxidizing fluid and reducing fluid (20, 22). The circulation battery system (10) further comprises a base (50) to which the container (30) is assembled, said base (50) defining a blind cavity (54) opening exclusively into an upper face (52) of the base (50). ), a lower face (42) of the container (30) resting on said upper face (52) of the base (50) so that the blind cavity (54) forms a retention tank for the oxidizing or reducing fluid contained in the first reservoir (20) in the event of a leak.

Transportable circulation battery system and method of installing such a system

The present invention relates to a transportable circulation battery system, of the type comprising:

- a reversible electrochemical device for the production of electrical energy and reaction products from a redox reaction between a reducing fluid and an oxidizing fluid, and the restitution of the oxidizing and reducing fluids by electrolysis of the reaction products,

an oxidizing fluid reservoir for the storage of the oxidizing fluid and a reducing fluid reservoir for the storage of the reducing fluid, each of said reservoirs being fluidly connected to the electrochemical device for supplying the electrochemical device with the oxidizing and reducing fluids stored in the tanks and for the storage of the reaction products in said tanks, and

- a container in which the electrochemical device and at least one first tank are housed among the tanks of oxidizing fluid and of reducing fluid. The invention also relates to a method of installing such a system.

Circulating batteries, also called "Redox Flow Battery", are known. Their operation is based on a reversible redox reaction between an oxidizing reagent and a reducing reagent, each of these reagents being in solution in a clean electrolyte. The reagents are thus stored in two separate reservoirs and circulate in two respective half-cells. The reaction products are also stored in the same tanks and circulate in the same half-cells. At the interface between the two half-cells, an electrochemical device, or reversible electrochemical core, formed from at least one stack of cells, called a stack, each cell being provided with a semi-permeable membrane allowing the passage of he ions common to the two electrolytes, makes it possible to generate electrical energy by oxidation-reduction reaction between the oxidizing and reducing reagents. The electrochemical device also makes it possible to restore the oxidizing and reducing reagents when it is supplied with electrical energy. Pumps circulate the electrolytes to keep the electrochemical device supplied.

Such a circulation battery is described for example in CN 10 3873272.

An advantage of circulation batteries is that they allow a decoupling between on the one hand the available power, which will depend on the dimensioning of the electrochemical device, and on the other hand the energy capacity of the system, which will depend on the size of the tanks. storage.

Circulating batteries are generally used as a temporary storage solution for intermittent electrical energy produced by renewable energy sources such as solar power plants or tidal turbines.

A disadvantage of circulating battery systems is that the electrolytes used are generally made up of acids. Consequently, the fluids used in this technology are often corrosive, even toxic. It is therefore important to prevent the escape of these fluids into the environment.

One solution to this problem consists in installing, under the circulating battery system, a sealed retention tank adapted to receive the fluids of the circulating battery system in the event of said system leaking.

Another problem encountered with circulating battery systems concerns the installation of these systems. Most often, circulating battery systems need to be installed on site. However, it would be desirable to be able to deliver pre-assembled circulating battery systems, so that they can be produced in the factory, which would reduce production costs.

In order to achieve this objective, it has been proposed to produce circulation battery systems in which the major part of the circulation battery system would be housed inside a container as defined by standard ISO 668, the standardization of such containers making it possible to reduce supply costs and to facilitate the transport and installation of circulating battery systems.

However, the integration of the retention tank into the container is problematic. The retention tank must indeed be installed first inside the container, which requires, to allow the mounting of other equipment of the circulation battery system, to remove the top wall of the container. In addition, the retention tank occupies a large volume inside the container, which considerably limits the space available for other equipment. Finally, the installation of other equipment in the circulating battery system must be carried out with care so as not to puncture the retention tank, which requires the use of qualified and therefore expensive labor.

An objective of the invention is thus to limit the costs of production and installation of circulating battery systems.

To this end, the subject of the invention is a transportable circulation battery system of the aforementioned type, in which the container is floor-free and the circulation battery system also comprises a base to which the container is assembled, said base defining a blind cavity opening exclusively into an upper face of the base, a lower face of the container resting on said upper face of the base so that the blind cavity forms a retention tank for the oxidizing or reducing fluid contained in the first reservoir in the event of a leak.

According to particular embodiments of the invention, the transportable circulation battery system also has one or more of the following characteristics, taken in isolation or in any technically possible combination:

- the transportable system includes a seal at the interface between the base and the container,

the container is elongated in a longitudinal direction and comprises two side walls each extending from a longitudinal end of the container to an opposite longitudinal end, two end walls each closing one of the longitudinal ends, an upper wall defining an upper face of the container, and at least one cross-member connecting a lower edge of one of the side walls to the lower edge of the other side wall,

the base includes at least one partition disposed in the blind cavity, the partition (s) dividing the blind cavity into a plurality of compartments isolated from each other by said partition (s),

- the or each partition extends from a bottom of the blind cavity to a distance from the bottom less than the depth of the blind cavity,

the transportable system comprises at least one tablet placed in the blind cavity, said tablet comprising at least one chemical element suitable for reacting with the oxidizing or reducing fluid contained in the first tank so as to reduce the danger of said oxidizing or reducing fluid,

the transportable system comprises at least one pellet disposed in the blind cavity, said pellet being made of a porous material chemically resistant to the oxidizing or reducing fluid contained in the first reservoir, said material having a density less than the density of the fluid contained in the first tank,

the upper face of the base is elongated in a longitudinal direction and the base comprises a tube defining a longitudinal passage opening into at least one longitudinal end of the base, the transportable circulation battery system comprising at least one fluid line and / or at least an electric cable extending in said passage,

- a through window is provided in a wall of the tube, said window opening into the passage and into an external face of the tube, the fluid line and / or the electric cable extending through said window,

- said outside face of the tube is an upper face of the tube, facing away from the blind cavity and towards the container,

- said upper face of the tube is flush with the upper face of the base,

- the base is made of concrete,

the upper face of the base comprises a rectangle having the dimensions of the lower face of the container,

- the container consists of a forty-foot container,

the oxidizing fluid comprises at least one acid from the hydracid family, and the reducing fluid comprises dihydrogen.

The subject of the invention is also a method of installing a transportable circulation battery system as defined above, the method comprising the following steps:

- supply of the transportable circulation battery system,

- transport of the transportable circulation battery system to an installation site, and

- installation of the transportable circulation battery system at the installation site.

Other characteristics and advantages will appear on reading the description which follows, given solely by way of example and made with reference to the appended drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a side elevation view of a transportable circulation battery system according to the invention, and

- Figure 2 is a sectional view along the plane II-II shown in Figure 1.

The transportable circulation battery system 10, shown in FIG. 1, comprises a circulation battery 11. This battery 11 comprises, in known manner, a reversible electrochemical device 12 for the production of electrical energy and reaction products from of an oxidation-reduction reaction between a reducing fluid and an oxidizing fluid, and the restitution of the oxidizing and reducing fluids by electrolysis of the reaction products. To this end, the electrochemical device 12 comprises a first compartment 14 for the circulation of the oxidizing fluid and a second compartment 16 for the circulation of the reducing fluid and, at the interface between the first and second compartments 14, 16, an exchange membrane d 'ions (not shown).

The system 10 also includes two half-cells 18, 19 for supplying the electrochemical device with the oxidizing and reducing fluids and recovering the reaction products. Each half-cell 18, 19 comprises a reservoir 20, 22 for storing the oxidizing and reducing fluids and the reaction products, and fluid lines 24, 26 fluidly connecting the reservoir 20, 22 to the electrochemical device 12.

In order to make the description as clear as possible, it is chosen to describe the invention in a configuration where the oxidizing fluid is stored in the first tank 20, and the reducing fluid is stored in the second tank 22, without this having to be considered as a limitation of the invention to this configuration. The reverse configuration could just as easily have been described.

A first half-cell 18 is thus distinguished, comprising a first reservoir 20 for storing the oxidizing fluid and the reaction products and first fluid lines 24 fluidly connecting the first reservoir 20 to the first compartment 14 of the electrochemical device 12, and a second half-cell 16 comprising a second tank 22 for storing the reducing fluid and second fluid lines 26 fluidly connecting the second tank 22 to the second compartment 16 of the electrochemical device 12.

The oxidizing fluid comprises for example a solution of hydrobromic acid and / or any other hydracid such as for example hydrochloric acid, hydrofluoric acid, hydroiodic acid, hydrofluoric acid, hydrocyanic acid, or acid azothydric, the reducing fluid then consisting of dihydrogen.

The system 10 also comprises a container 30 in which are housed the electrochemical device 12 and the first reservoir 20. By the use of the term "container" it is understood, here and in the following, that it is a question of a container as defined by standard ISO 668. The container 30 is preferably a forty-foot container.

The electrochemical device 12 and the first and second half-cells 18, 19 are preferably attached to this container 30.

The container 30 has, in known manner, a substantially parallelepiped shape. In the following, the terms of orientation are to be understood with reference to the usual orthogonal reference frame of the parallelepipeds, represented in the Figures, in which there are:

a longitudinal axis X, oriented from the rear towards the front, parallel to the direction of elongation of the container 30,

a transverse axis Y, oriented from right to left, perpendicular to the axis X and parallel to one of the walls of the container 30, the axis Y defining with the axis X a horizontal plane, and

- a vertical axis Z, oriented from bottom to top, perpendicular to the horizontal plane.

The container 30 comprises, in known manner, two opposite side walls 32, substantially vertical, each extending longitudinally from a first longitudinal end 34 of the container 30 to a second opposite longitudinal end. The container 30 also comprises two end walls 38 closing the longitudinal ends 34, 36 of the container 30, and an upper wall (not shown) defining an upper face 40 of the container 30. The lower edges of the side walls 32 and the walls d the end 38 together define the contours of a lower face 42 of the container 30.

The side walls 32, upper and end 38 surround an interior chamber 44 in which the first reservoir 20 and the electrochemical device 12 are arranged. In the example shown, the second reservoir 22 is disposed outside the container 30, in particular on the upper face 40 of the container 30, so that, in the event of leakage of hydrogen from the reservoir 22, the hydrogen can disperse, thus avoiding creating an explosive pocket.

According to the invention, the container 30 is floor-free, that is to say that the interior chamber 44 opens to the exterior of the container 30 through the underside 42. The container 30 does however have crosspieces 46 (FIG. 2) connecting the lower edges of the side walls 32 to one another, so as to reinforce the container 30. In an alternative embodiment not shown, the lower face 42 of the container 30 comprises a grating allowing both to ensure the opening of the lower face 42 and the circulation of personnel in the container 30.

The system 10 also includes a base 50 on which the container 30 rests. This base 50 is in particular made of concrete and advantageously forms a one-piece molded assembly made of concrete.

The base 50 has a substantially planar upper face 52 on which the lower face 42 of the container 30 rests. This upper face 52 is elongated in the longitudinal direction X and comprises a rectangle having the dimensions of the lower face 42 of the container 30.

A sealed connection is made at the interface between the base 50 and the container 30, so as to avoid the leakage of oxidizing fluid outside the envelope defined by the base 50 and the container 30. For this purpose, the system 10 comprises a seal 53 at the interface between the base 50 and the container 30, said seal 53 following the contour of the lower face 42 of the container 30. The seal 53 is for example constituted by any type of industrial seal or sealant having good resistance to oxidizing fluid.

Referring to Figure 2, the base 52 defines a blind cavity 54 opening exclusively in the upper face 52. This cavity 54 is arranged below the reservoir 20 and the electrochemical device 12, so as to form a fluid retention tank oxidizing in the event of a leak. Advantageously, the concrete base 52 is coated with a layer of material making it possible to increase its resistance to oxidation. For example, this coating could be a layer of epoxy or any other resistant polymer.

The cavity 54 has an opening 56 through which it opens into the upper face 52, and a bottom 58 opposite the opening 56. A depth of the cavity 54 is defined as the distance from the bottom 58 to the opening 56.

The base 52 comprises a plurality of vertical partitions 60 disposed in the cavity 54, so as to divide the cavity 54 into a plurality of compartments 62 isolated from each other by said partitions 60. For this purpose, each partition 60 extends from a vertical wall 64 bordering the cavity 54 to an opposite vertical wall 66, and from the bottom 58 of the cavity 64 to a predetermined height, this predetermined height being greater than 50% of the depth of the cavity 54 and less at the depth of the cavity 54. In a preferred embodiment, this predetermined height is 80% of the depth of the cavity.

These partitions 60 make it possible, in the event of the oxidizing fluid leaking into the cavity 54, to limit the exchange surface of the oxidizing fluid with the air, and thus to limit the formation of dibroma, which is a toxic gas.

The base 52 also comprises a tube 70 defining a longitudinal passage 72 for fluid and electrical cable conduits, said passage 72 opening into a first longitudinal end 74 of the base 52 and, preferably, into the opposite longitudinal end 76.

The tube 70 comprises a plurality of walls, including an upper wall, surrounding the passage 72. This upper wall defines an upper face 78 of the tube 70, facing away from the cavity 54 and towards the container 30. Said upper face 78 Preferably the upper face 52 of the base 50 is flush. Advantageously, the upper face 78 of the tube 70 constitutes a part of the upper face 52 of the base 50.

A through window 80 is formed in the upper wall, said window 80 opening into the upper face 78 of the tube 70 and into the passage 72.

The system 10 also includes pellets 82 placed in the blind cavity 54, in particular in each compartment 62 of the cavity 54.

In a first embodiment, each tablet 82 comprises at least one chemical element suitable for reacting with the oxidizing fluid so as to reduce the danger of said oxidizing fluid.

In a second embodiment, the pellets are bromine traps made of porous material such as for example polyvinylidene fluoride or activated carbon. Advantageously, these pellets have a density lower than the oxidizing fluid and, by floating on the surface of the oxidizing fluid, they will reduce the surface of oxidizing fluid in contact with air and therefore the formation of dibroma.

The system 10 also comprises fluid lines 84, in fluid communication with the half-cells 18, 19 of the system 10, for the fluid connection of the system 10 to an external fluid network (not shown), and electrical cables 86, electrically connected to the electrochemical device 12, for the electrical connection of the battery 11 to an external electrical network (not shown). Each of these electrical pipes 84 and electrical cables 86 extends in the passage 72 of the tube 70, and through the window 80.

A method of installing the system 10 will now be described.

This method firstly comprises a step of supplying the system 10, said system 10 already comprising the base 50 and the container 30. The system 10 is then transported to an installation site (not shown), then installed on the installation site.

This installation step simply includes depositing the system 10 on the site, and connecting the fluid lines 84 and the electrical cables 86 to a fluid network and to an electrical network present on the site. Since the system 10 is delivered preassembled, no additional operation is indeed necessary. The installation of system 10 is therefore considerably simplified.

Thanks to the invention, it is therefore possible to pre-assemble circulation battery systems in the factory, the installation of which is consequently greatly facilitated.

Assembly in the factory can also be done at a lower cost since the retention tank 54 is produced independently of the circulation battery 11, the positioning of the retention tank 54 relative to the circulation battery 11 being carried out only as a final step, when all the elements of the circulation battery 11 have already been fixed to the container 30; the risks of damage to the retention tank during assembly operations of the circulation battery are therefore nonexistent here.

The concrete base 52 also makes it possible not to pour a slab on the operational site; the container can thus be directly installed after a simple leveling of the ground.

Alternatively, this base 52 is buried so as to bring the container floor to the level of the natural ground.

These advantages are finally associated with the fact that the circulation battery system comes in standardized dimensions which facilitate its transport and its installation on the site which it equips.

It will be noted that, although in the description given above, the fluid stored in the tank contained in the container 30 is the oxidizing fluid, the invention is not limited to this single embodiment. Thus, as a variant (not shown), it is not the reservoir 20 of oxidizing fluid which is housed in the container 30, but the reservoir 22 of reducing fluid, the cavity 54 then serving as a retention tank in the event of leakage of the reducing fluid. In another variant (not shown), the two reservoirs 20, 22 are housed in the container 30, and the cavity 54 then serves as a retention tank both for the oxidizing fluid and for the reducing agent.

Claims (15)

1 Transportable circulation battery system (10), comprising: - a reversible electrochemical device (12) for the production of electrical energy and reaction products from an oxidation-reduction reaction between a reducing fluid and an oxidizing fluid, and the restitution of the oxidizing and reducing fluids by electrolysis of the products reaction, - an oxidizing fluid reservoir (20) for storing the oxidizing fluid and a reducing fluid reservoir (22) for storing the reducing fluid, each of said reservoirs (20, 22) being fluidly connected to the electrochemical device (12) for the feeding the electrochemical device (12) with the oxidizing and reducing fluids stored in the tanks (20, 22) and for storing the reaction products in said tanks (20, 22), and - a container (30) in which are housed the electrochemical device (12) and at least a first reservoir (20) among the reservoirs of oxidizing fluid and reducing fluid (20, 22), characterized in that the container (30) is floor-free and in that the circulation battery system (10) also includes a base (50) to which the container (30) is assembled, said base (50) defining a blind cavity (54) opening exclusively in one face upper (52) of the base (50), a lower face (42) of the container (30) resting on said upper face (52) of the base (50) so that the blind cavity (54) forms a fluid retention tank oxidizer or reducing agent contained in the first reservoir (20) in the event of a leak. 2, - Transportable circulation battery system (10) according to claim 1, comprising a seal (53) at the interface between the base (50) and the container (30). 3, - transportable circulation battery system (10) according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the container (30) is elongated in a longitudinal direction (X) and comprises two side walls (32) each extending from one end longitudinal (34) of the container (30) to an opposite longitudinal end (36), two end walls (38) each closing one of the longitudinal ends (34, 36), an upper wall defining an upper face ( 40) of the container (30), and at least one crosspiece (46) connecting a lower edge of one of the side walls (32) to the lower edge of the other side wall (32). 4, - Transportable circulation battery system (10) according to any one of the preceding claims, in which the base (50) comprises at least one partition disposed (60) in the blind cavity (54), the partition (s) ( s) (60) dividing the blind cavity (54) into a plurality of compartments (62) insulated from each other by said partition (s) (60). 5. - transportable circulation battery system (10) according to claim 4, in which the or each partition (60) extends from a bottom (58) of the blind cavity (54) to a distance from the bottom ( 58) less than the depth of the blind cavity (54). 6. - transportable circulation battery system (10) according to any one of the preceding claims, comprising at least one tablet (82) disposed in the blind cavity (54), said tablet (82) comprising at least one suitable chemical element. for reacting with the oxidizing or reducing fluid contained in the first reservoir (20) so as to reduce the danger of said oxidizing or reducing fluid. 7. - transportable circulation battery system (10) according to any one of claims 1 to 5, comprising at least one tablet (82) disposed in the blind cavity (54), said tablet (82) consisting of a porous material chemically resistant to the oxidizing or reducing fluid contained in the first reservoir (20), said material having a density less than the density of the fluid contained in the first reservoir (20). 8. - transportable circulation battery system (10) according to any one of the preceding claims, in which the upper face (52) of the base (50) is elongated in a longitudinal direction (X) and the base (50) comprises a tube (70) defining a longitudinal passage (72) opening into at least one longitudinal end (74, 76) of the base (50), the transportable circulation battery system (10) comprising at least one fluid line (84) and / or at least one electric cable (86) extending in said passage (72). 9. - transportable circulation battery system (10) according to claim 8, in which a through window (80) is formed in a wall of the tube (70), said window (80) opening into the passage (72) and into an outer face (78) of the tube (70), the fluid line (84) and / or the electric cable (86) extending through said window (80). 10. - transportable circulation battery system (10) according to claim 9, in which said outer face (78) of the tube (70) is an upper face of the tube (70), oriented opposite the blind cavity ( 54) and to the container (30). 11. - transportable circulation battery system (10) according to claim 10, wherein said upper face of the tube (70) is flush with the upper face (52) of the base (50). 12. - Transportable circulation battery system (10) according to any one of the preceding claims, in which the base (50) is made of concrete. 13. - transportable circulation battery system (10) according to any one of the preceding claims, in which the upper face (52) of the base (40) comprises a rectangle having the dimensions of the lower face (42) of the container ( 30). 14. - Transportable circulation battery system (10) according to any one of the preceding claims, in which the container (30) consists of a forty-foot container. 15. - Transportable circulation battery system (10) according to any one of the preceding claims, in which the oxidizing fluid comprises at least one acid from the hydracid family, and the reducing fluid comprises dihydrogen. 16.- A method of installing a transportable circulation battery system (10) according to any one of the preceding claims, the method comprising the following steps: - supply of the transportable circulation battery system (10), - transport of the transportable circulation battery system (10) to a site 15 installation, and - installation of the transportable circulation battery system (10) at the installation site. FRENCH REPUBLIC will I institute r NATIONAL INSTITUTE INDUSTRIAL PROPERTY