Sealants, adhesives and resin solutions for flow batteries and other energy storage devices

Andreas works as a global Business Development Manager on future applications and markets at Wevo. As a technical expert he coordinates projects and material developments in close cooperation with Wevo’s strong R&D and Applications Department. He joined Wevo in 2010 and worked for many years as Technical Sales Manager for Insulation Solutions. Andreas has a 25 years’ experience in polyurethanes, resins, foams, coatings, adhesives, sealants and elastomers and worked in various functions as an R&D engineer, applications specialist and product manager at BASF and other resin producers. He holds a diploma in chemical engineering from Reutlingen University.

Presentation Summary:

For the implementation of the energy transition, technologies for storing renewable energy need to be developed further. One solution are redox flow batteries and on the other hand green hydrogen as an energy storage material. Redox flow batteries as well as electrolyser stacks for producing green hydrogen are elaborately constructed electro-chemical devices. In redox flow batteries electrolytes, often based on vanadium, are circulated by means of pumps. The technology is seen as having great potential as a storage system for renewable energy from solar photovoltaic and wind farms or rooftop systems. However, the design of the battery stacks has been a real challenge so far as the aggressive electrolytes may cause stress on the materials.

Potting and sealing compounds from WEVO can withstand these conditions – as demonstrated by a series of tests conducted by the company in cooperation with the Fraunhofer Institute for Chemical Technology (ICT) in Pfinztal and the DECHEMA Research Institute in Frankfurt, Germany.

In this presentation WEVO will present:

- Engineered resin solutions for redox flow batteries The presentation will highlight WEVO’s tailormade and specially developed solutions for sealing and assembling redox flow battery stacks with a focus an All-Vanadium-RFB. New production technologies for the stack assembly are playing a key role in the industrialization and scaling-up of redox flow batteries. Instead of using preformed gaskets and manual assembly of the stack with threaded rods or clamping rings, the use of adhesive joining echniques and liquid formed-in-place gaskets (FIPG) offer new possibilities, design freedom as well as simplified and faster automated production technologies.

Furthermore, the sealing of flow battery stacks and insulating of busbars and other electrical and electronic components are still challenging issues due to the lack of resistant sealant materials. In our search for a solution to these problems, liquid sealants and adhesives have been developed and their chemical resistance in vanadium-containing sulphuric acid-based electrolytes has been examined at different oxidation levels of vanadium.

The presentation will also give practical examples for the use of the tested materials in different applications in the Balance of plant of the RFB (sensors, pumps, flow meters etc.).
- An overview of Wevo’s resin solutions for the Hydrogen Economy:

The presentation will highlight new developments for sealing and adhesive solutions for electrolyser and fuel cell stacks with a focus on newly developed materials with a low Hydrogen permeation coefficient. Furthermore example of applications in the Balance of Plant such as humidifiers and power electronic components will be shown.