NEW DELHI: The Indian Institue of Technology (IIT) Delhi has inaugurated an environment friendly and high durable Vanadium Redox Flow Battery (VRFB) based Charging Station for Electronic Devices in the campus on Monday. It can charge electronic devices like mobile phone, laptop, portable chargers, mobile banks, tablets and others.
The charging station was designed and installed by the Sustainable Environergy Research Lab (SERL) under the Department of Chemical Engineering which is actively working on VRFB technology. The team has designed it for charging operation of around 9 hours in a day. It can be used by the IIT Delhi community as well as the visitors.
VRFB utilises liquid electrolyte to store electrical energy. During charging, the electrical energy is stored in the liquid electrolyte and during discharging the stored energy is used for various applications. It can efficiently store and utilise renewable energy for a wide range of applications such as rural electrification, e-vehicle charging, domestic and commercial power back-up, etc. leading to zero carbon footprint.
It is non-polluting (no emissions), easily scalable, safe and environmentally friendly, and highly durable. One of the major differences between the flow and conventional battery is the independent scaling of power and energy capacity, said Professor Dr Anil Verma, chemical engineering department. He said the VRFB is suitable for long discharge time with low cost in contrast to the conventional battery. The technology is highly suitable wherever diesel generators are used. Professor Verma said that the research group at SERL developed the second generation prototype so an environmental friendly viable product could be available to society.