The CUNY Energy Institute Electrical Energy Storage Development for Grid Applications

1. Project Objectives The objectives of the project are to elucidate science issues intrinsic to high energy density electricity storage (battery) systems for smart-grid applications, research improvements in such systems to enable scale-up to grid-scale and demonstrate a large 200 kWh battery to facilitate transfer of the technology to industry. 2. Background Complex and difficult to control interfacial phenomena are intrinsic to high energy density electrical energy storage systems, since they are typically operated far from equilibrium. One example of such phenomena is the formation of dendrites. Such dendrites occur on battery electrodes as they cycle, and can lead to internal short circuits, reducing cycle life. An improved understanding of the formation of dendrites and their control can improve the cycle life and safety of many energy storage systems, including rechargeable lithium and zinc batteries. Another area where improved understanding is desirable is the application of ionic liquids as electrolytes in energy storage systems. An ionic liquid is typically thought of as a material that is fully ionized (consisting only of anions and cations) and is fluid at or near room temperature. Some features of ionic liquids include a generally high thermal stability (up to 450 °C), a high electrochemical window (up to 6 V) and relatively high intrinsic conductivities. Such features make them attractive as battery or capacitor electrolytes, and may enable batteries which are safer (due to the good thermal stability) and of much higher energy density (due to the higher voltage electrode materials which may be employed) than state of the art secondary (rechargeable) batteries. Of particular interest is the use of such liquids as electrolytes in metal air batteries, where energy densities on the order of 1-2,000 Wh / kg are possible; this is 5-10 times that of existing state of the art lithium battery technology. The Energy Institute has been engaged in the development of flow-assisted nickel zinc battery technology. This technology has the promise of enabling low-cost (<$250 / kWh) energy storage, while overcoming the historical poor cycle-life drawback. To date, the results have been promising, with a cycle life of 1,500 cycles demonstrated in small laboratory cells – an improvement of approximately 400%. Prior state of the art nickel zinc batteries have only demonstrated about 400 cycles to failure

Hydrodynamic Self-Consistent Field Theory for Inhomogeneous Polymer Melts

We introduce a mesoscale technique for simulating the structure and rheology of block copolymer melts and blends in hydrodynamic flows. The technique couples dynamic self consistent field theory (DSCFT) with continuum hydrodynamics and flow penalization to simulate polymeric fluid flows in channels of arbitrary geometry. We demonstrate the method by studying phase separation of an ABC triblock copolymer melt in a sub-micron channel with neutral wall wetting conditions. We find that surface wetting effects and shear effects compete, producing wall-perpendicular lamellae in the absence of flow, and wall-parallel lamellae in cases where the shear rate exceeds some critical Weissenberg number.Comment: Revised as per peer revie

Biological approaches in management of nitrogenous compounds in aquaculture systems.

Aquaculture is the fastest growing food-producing sector accounting for almost 43% of the world's food fish. There is however a need to increase aquaculture production in the next two decades in order to satisfy the minimum protein requirement for human nutrition. There are many constraints that limit the maximum production in aquaculture systems such as water quality and adequate live feeds. With the development of modern aquaculture farming, extensive culture has given way to intensive culture systems. In intensive systems, cultured organisms are fed protein-rich formulated feeds. Uneaten feed along with metabolic wastes and other organic matters decompose resulting in an increase of toxic nitrogenous compounds causing deterioration of water quality which is toxic to cultured organisms. The discharge of a large amount of nutrient-rich wastes from these aquaculture systems, the majority of which are nitrogenous compounds, promotes eutrophication in water bodies. In general, an increase of nitrogenous compounds has adverse effects on the environment and on aquaculture production. The aim of this paper is to highlight some of the trends in biological management of nitrogenous substances in aquaculture systems

Effects of salinity on the growth and proximate compositon of selected tropical marine periphytic diatoms and cyanobacteria.

Marine periphytic cyanobacteria and diatoms have been examined as a potential source of feed supplement for rearing aquatic larvae in the aquaculture industry. Culture of the periphytic diatom Amphora sp., Navicula sp., Cymbella sp. and the cyanobacteria Oscillatoria sp. at different salinities showed significant changes in biomass and specific growth rates. Diatoms growth was significantly higher at 35 g L−1, while for cyanobacteria growth was better at 25 g L−1. Significantly higher levels of protein and lipid were found in diatoms at low salinities (15–25 g L−1) and an increase in carbohydrate at high salinities (30–35 g L−1). Conversely, cyanobacteria showed a significantly higher lipid content at 30–35 g L−1 compared with other salinity levels but no significant changes were observed in the protein and carbohydrate contents at different salinity levels. The present findings can be taken into consideration when culturing marine periphytic Amphora sp., Navicula sp., Cymbella sp. and Oscillatoria sp. to provide appropriate levels of protein, lipid and carbohydrate as feed supplement as well as for bioremediation in aquaculture

Inertial Frame Independent Forcing for Discrete Velocity Boltzmann Equation: Implications for Filtered Turbulence Simulation

We present a systematic derivation of a model based on the central moment lattice Boltzmann equation that rigorously maintains Galilean invariance of forces to simulate inertial frame independent flow fields. In this regard, the central moments, i.e. moments shifted by the local fluid velocity, of the discrete source terms of the lattice Boltzmann equation are obtained by matching those of the continuous full Boltzmann equation of various orders. This results in an exact hierarchical identity between the central moments of the source terms of a given order and the components of the central moments of the distribution functions and sources of lower orders. The corresponding source terms in velocity space are then obtained from an exact inverse transformation due to a suitable choice of orthogonal basis for moments. Furthermore, such a central moment based kinetic model is further extended by incorporating reduced compressibility effects to represent incompressible flow. Moreover, the description and simulation of fluid turbulence for full or any subset of scales or their averaged behavior should remain independent of any inertial frame of reference. Thus, based on the above formulation, a new approach in lattice Boltzmann framework to incorporate turbulence models for simulation of Galilean invariant statistical averaged or filtered turbulent fluid motion is discussed.Comment: 37 pages, 1 figur

Formation of periphyton biofilm and subsequent biofouling on different substrates in nutrient enriched brackishwater shrimp ponds

Periphyton grown on substrates is known to improve water quality in aquaculture ponds. Five different substrates, (i) bamboo pipe (ii) plastic sheet (iii) polyvinylchloride (PVC) pipe (iv) fibrous scrubber, and, (v) ceramic tile were evaluated for the formation of biofilm in this experiment. The substrates were suspended 25 cm below the water surface. Each type of substrate was collected fortnightly to analyze the abundance and biomass of different periphytic algae and of the biofouling organism. The study was terminated after 60 days due to severe fouling by polychaete. Results showed that pond water nutrients were high on day 60 with mean total ammonia-N, nitrite-N and soluble reactive phosphorus concentrations of 309.6 ± 8.6 μg L− 1, 26.0 ± 2.7 μg L− 1 and 87.2 ± 7.1 μg L− 1 respectively. During the first two weeks the substrates were colonized by 19 periphytic algae. The most abundant family was Bacillariophyta (8 genera) followed by Chlorophyta (7 genera) and Cyanophyta (4 genera). Periphyton colonization on bamboo pipe showed the highest (p < 0.05) biomass in terms of chlorophyll a amongst all the substrates used. The biomass varied from 179 to 1137 μg m− 2 with mean values of 1137.2 ± 0.6, 929.6 ± 0.6, 684.2 ± 1.2, 179.1 ± 0.6 and 657.0 ± 0.6 μg m− 2 on bamboo pipe, PVC pipe, plastic sheet, fibrous scrubber and ceramic tile respectively for the first 15 days. From 3rd week, polychaetes began to form tubes on the substrate. By day 60, the whole surface of all substrates was covered with tightly packed polychaete tubes with mean densities of 168.0 ± 15.4, 121.0 ± 13.5, 72.8 ± 9.8, 72.4 ± 7.4 and 56.0 ± 6.8 polychaete tubes cm− 2 for bamboo, PVC, plastic, fibrous scrubber and ceramic tile respectively. This study illustrated the invasive nature of attached polychaete thus hampering the formation of periphyton biofilm on substrates which could have been used for improving water quality in enriched brackishwater shrimp ponds

Phase-Field Modeling of Dendritic Zinc Deposition in Zinc-Nickel Flow Batteries

Flow-assisted zinc-nickel batteries offer an inexpensive and safe solution to grid-scale energy storage [1]. However, they remain prone to dendrite formation on charging, limiting battery cycling. Dendritic zinc deposition occurs under a mass-transfer limitation and convection improves cycle life but the phenomenon is not well understood. Naybour [2] qualitatively studied the effect of convection on dendritic growth of zinc. However, the flow modeled was not laminar and significantly higher than required for feasible operation of a flow-assisted battery. Gallaway et al [3] reported a strong dependence of zinc deposition on electrolyte flow and current density, which highlights the need for theoretical model to predict the growth and form of zinc dendrites. Existing numerical models are unable to predict the wide range of structures of electrodeposited zinc. A phase-field model of electrochemistry, proposed by Shibuta [4] was modified to simulate the deposit morphology. The Shibuta model in its original form did not explicitly track the motion of the electrons. The proposed phase field model correctly represents electrons as charge carriers in the electrode and ions as charge carriers in the electrolyte. Interfacial reaction kinetics was added to the model in the form of a linearized Butler-Volmer expression [5], and two-dimensional simulations were performed using the electrochemical parameters for zinc deposition in an alkaline solution. The effect of flow was added using the form given by Tong et al [6]. Lattice Boltzmann methods were used to solve for the concentration and momentum equation, and a hybrid phase field-lattice Boltzmann scheme is incorporated in performing the simulations. Preliminary results of zinc growth report the dependence of zinc morphology on current density and concentration. The simulation morphologies were validated by comparing to zinc electrodeposited in Zinc-Nickel flow batteries, obtained through carefully conducted experiments. Micro X-ray computed tomography was used to reconstruct the three dimensional structure of zinc, and the fractal dimensions were compared with simulation. The results are in good agreement, indicating the future use of phase field models to predict morphologies of electrodeposited materials

Preliminary study on the use of Bacillus sp., Vibrio sp. and egg white to enhance growth, survival rate and resistance of Penaeus monodon fabricius to white spot syndrome virus

Research in low cost feeds with high nutritional value and immunogenicity is important to reduce production cost and increase yields in the shrimp industry. In this study, immunostimulants of bacterial origin (peptidoglycan and lipopolysaccharides) and egg white were incorporated in shrimp diets as feed additives to determine the growth, survival and tolerance of Penaeus monodon to white spot syndrome virus (WSSV). Although the results obtained were not statistically significant (p>0.05) among the treatments, shrimp fed with bacterial additives and egg white showed higher weight gain, specific growth rate and survival than those fed on commercial shrimp diet. Shrimp fed with artificial diet showed 100% mortality when challenged with WSSV. However, shrimp fed on peptidoglycan supplemented diet had higher survival than their counterpart, whereas shrimp fed on egg white supplemented diet had a higher specific growth rate and better tolerance when challenged with WSSV. Further studies are required to determine the effectiveness and optimization of bacterial strains and egg white as feed additives to increase production and enhance the shrimp immune response to diseases

Incorporating Forcing Terms in Cascaded Lattice-Boltzmann Approach by Method of Central Moments

Cascaded lattice-Boltzmann method (Cascaded-LBM) employs a new class of collision operators aiming to improve numerical stability. It achieves this and distinguishes from other collision operators, such as in the standard single or multiple relaxation time approaches, by performing relaxation process due to collisions in terms of moments shifted by the local hydrodynamic fluid velocity, i.e. central moments, in an ascending order-by-order at different relaxation rates. In this paper, we propose and derive source terms in the Cascaded-LBM to represent the effect of external or internal forces on the dynamics of fluid motion. This is essentially achieved by matching the continuous form of the central moments of the source or forcing terms with its discrete version. Different forms of continuous central moments of sources, including one that is obtained from a local Maxwellian, are considered in this regard. As a result, the forcing terms obtained in this new formulation are Galilean invariant by construction. The method of central moments along with the associated orthogonal properties of the moment basis completely determines the expressions for the source terms as a function of the force and macroscopic velocity fields. In contrast to the existing forcing schemes, it is found that they involve higher order terms in velocity space. It is shown that the proposed approach implies "generalization" of both local equilibrium and source terms in the usual lattice frame of reference, which depend on the ratio of the relaxation times of moments of different orders. An analysis by means of the Chapman-Enskog multiscale expansion shows that the Cascaded-LBM with forcing terms is consistent with the Navier-Stokes equations. Computational experiments with canonical problems involving different types of forces demonstrate its accuracy.Comment: 55 pages, 4 figure