State of charge monitoring of vanadium redox flow batteries using half cell potentials and electrolyte density

The operation of vanadium redox flow batteries requires reliable in situ state of charge (SOC) monitoring. In this study, two SOC estimation approaches for the negative half cell are investigated. First, in situ open circuit potential measurements are combined with Coulomb counting in a one-step calibration of SOC and Nernst potential which doesn't need additional reference SOCs. In-sample and out-of-sample SOCs are estimated and analyzed, estimation errors <= 0.04 are obtained. In the second approach, temperature corrected in situ electrolyte density measurements are used for the first time in vanadium redox flow batteries for SOC estimation. In sample and out-of-sample SOC estimation errors <= 0.04 demonstrate the feasibility of this approach. Both methods allow recalibration during battery operation. The actual capacity obtained from SOC calibration can be used in a state of health model.