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Question: Why is this a flow battery and not a fuel cell? My impression is that the difference between flow batteries and fuel cells is that flow batteries are
by tedsanders 9y ago
Question: Why is this a flow battery and not a fuel cell?
My impression is that the difference between flow batteries and fuel cells is that flow batteries are closed systems whereas fuel cells are open systems. Since this can be refueled, it sounds like an open system.
Edit: Your linked Wikipedia article answers my question. "A flow battery is a rechargeable fuel cell." I guess the distinction is not closed vs open, but rechargeable vs unspecified.
- ars 9y agoI think a fuel cell is distinct by having the oxidizer be from the environment, and not within it. A flow battery is completely self contained. Getting your oxidizer from the environment obviously helps with weight, but it comes with its own set of problems since it's hard to control purity. The wikipedia definition kinda touches on this. Since everything is contained in the battery you can recharge it with just electricity. In contrast a fuel cell will emit the waste (water usually), so you no longer have the raw material to recharge it anymore. (Although obviously you can just make more by collecting it from the environment - think emit the water, then electrolyze other water to recharge the battery.)