Sangwon Kim

KIST Europe Germany

Dr. Sangwon Kim is a senior scientist in Biosensor & Materials Group at KIST Europe. He holds a BS and MS from Seoul National University and obtained his PhD in mechanical engineering from Colorado State University in 2005. He has worked as senior research engineer at Hyundai Motor Group and moved to KIST Europe in 2010. He has been an active researcher in redox flow battery systems and PEM fuel cell systems working in close collaboration with KIST, KRICT and industrial partners. His research interests include transport phenomena, numerical analysis and thermodynamic analysis in electrochemical energy conversion systems.

2chapters authored

Chapters authored

Redox Flow Batteries: Fundamentals and Applications

By Ruiyong Chen, Sangwon Kim and Zhenjun Chang

A redox flow battery is an electrochemical energy storage device that converts chemical energy into electrical energy through reversible oxidation and reduction of working fluids. The concept was initially conceived in 1970s. Clean and sustainable energy supplied from renewable sources in future requires efficient, reliable and cost‐effective energy storage systems. Due to the flexibility in system design and competence in scaling cost, redox flow batteries are promising in stationary storage of energy from intermittent sources such as solar and wind. This chapter covers basic principles of electrochemistry in redox flow batteries and provides an overview of status and future challenges. Recent progress in redox couples, membranes and electrode materials will be discussed. New demonstration and commercial development will be addressed.

Part of the book: Redox

Vanadium Redox Flow Batteries: Electrochemical Engineering

By Sangwon Kim

The importance of reliable energy storage system in large scale is increasing to replace fossil fuel power and nuclear power with renewable energy completely because of the fluctuation nature of renewable energy generation. The vanadium redox flow battery (VRFB) is one promising candidate in large-scale stationary energy storage system, which stores electric energy by changing the oxidation numbers of anolyte and catholyte through redox reaction. This chapter covers the basic principles of vanadium redox flow batteries, component technologies, flow configurations, operation strategies, and cost analysis. The thermodynamic analysis of the electrochemical reactions and the electrode reaction mechanisms in VRFB systems have been explained, and the analysis of VRFB performance according to the flow field and flow rate has been described. It is shown that the limiting current density of “flow-by” design is more than two times greater than that of “flow-through” design. In the cost analysis of 10 kW/120 kWh VRFB system, stack and electrolyte account for 40 and 32% of total cost, respectively.

Part of the book: Energy Storage Devices

Sangwon Kim

Chapters authored

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