Ferro-Alloy Resources Ltd (LSE:FAR, FRA:5PE) has received a Kazakhstan patent for the efficient technology which it has developed to produce electrolyte for vanadium flow batteries directly from ammonium metavanadate, a precursor form of vanadium from which vanadium pentoxide is usually made.
The company has also signed an agreement with Fraunhofer Institute for Chemical Technology for testing of the company's electrolyte for battery purposes. The Fraunhofer is an institute in Germany that is well-known for its research work on VFBs and electrolyte technology.
Samples have been shipped and work is expected to commence on 15 September 2021.
Vanadium flow batteries provide a means of storing energy and discharging over longer periods than are economic for lithium-ion battery technology.
In VFBs energy (kWh) can be scaled independently of power (kw), meaning that economies of scale can be achieved by simply increasing the amount of electrolyte rather than by adding more cells to the battery, thus reducing the cost of storage per kWh.
VFBs can be fully charged and discharged repeatedly without damage, do not catch fire, and do not deteriorate in use after many cycles.
They are also easily recyclable.
For these reasons, VFBs are the front-running technology for large-scale storage of energy produced from solar and wind which typically require storage and discharge over many hours. This market is expected to grow rapidly as the world moves to decarbonise power generation.
The company's process of producing electrolyte for VFBs directly from AMV requires relatively simple equipment, is safer and improves the quality of electrolyte produced compared with other processes.
"Receiving the electrolyte technology patent is another endorsement of the FAR technical team's capabilities,” said Ferro Alloys chief Nick Bridgen.
"FAR expects to become the world's lowest cost producer of vanadium and this technology positions the company to become a dominant supplier of VFB electrolyte at prices which other producers will find impossible to achieve."