People involved in the video:
Name: Jiří Charvát
Position: Researcher
Organization: New Technologies Research Centre – University of West Bohemia
Short interview for the video:
What is the main contribution/role of your institution in the HIGREEW project?
New Technologies Research Centre – University of West Bohemia contributes mainly in two different ways.
- The first was about helping other partners to optimize individual battery components such as electrolytes, membranes and electrodes. Our goal was to put all these optimized components together, build a single cell laboratory battery and test it. From these results, we provided feedback to partners which battery parameters are good, which should be further optimized and which components need further development.
- The second was about helping to scale up the battery by means of mathematical modelling. In laboratory single-cell batteries, many aspects such as battery pressure drop, cell flux distribution, or shunt current within the battery pack are not problematic and therefore not measured, but are critical to large real batteries and can significantly affect battery efficiency and lifetime. We have been involved in CFD modelling to predict the flow in a battery cell. These results were shared with other partners who were responsible for scaling the battery and helping them with battery design.
What is the most challenging and/or exciting part?
The most exciting experience about the project was that we were working right on the edge between the university partners that do fundamental research and the industrial partners that are responsible for practical scale-up of the battery, so we were able to see the project and development of the battery from two different perspectives.
How are the results relevant to you and how will you make use of the project results in your institution? How are these advances important in the field of energy storage?
The HIGREEW project offered us the opportunity to perform testing and mathematical modelling of the new type of redox flow battery with organic electrolyte and we were able to closely examine the new challenges that are connected with the development of such a kind of redox flow battery. Gained experience significantly helped us to broaden our knowledge of development and characterization of new types of energy storage devices. These experiences will significantly help us in the future work resulting in a positive impact on the energy storage sector.
What is your experience within the HIGREEW project and collaborating with a team of EU partners?
The work within the HIGREEW project consortium was fantastic. Due to the position on the edge between the university and industrial partners, we were able to actively collaborate with almost all the partners and establish strong connections to them. We also hope that our cooperation with project partners will continue even after the end of the current project and that we will eventually be approached for our participation in future projects.
More videos from the HIGREEW partners can be found on the video timeline.