Preliminary Design and Performance Assessment of an Underwater CAES System (UW-CAES) for Wind Power Balancing

Author(s):  
Marco Astolfi ◽  
Giulio Guandalini ◽  
Marco Belloli ◽  
Adriano Hirn ◽  
Paolo Silva ◽  
...  

Abstract A key approach to large renewable power management is based on implementing storage technologies, including batteries, power-to-gas and compressed air energy storage (CAES). This work presents the preliminary design and performance assessment of an innovative type of CAES, based on underwater storage volumes (UW-CAES) and intended for installation in the proximity of deep water seas or lakes. The UW-CAES works with constant hydrostatic pressure storage and variable volumes. The proposed system is adiabatic, not using any fuel to increase the air temperature before expansion; a sufficient TIT is instead obtained through a thermal energy storage system which recovers the compression heat. The system includes (i) a set of turbomachines (modular multi-stage compressor, with partial intercooling; expansion turbine); (ii) a thermal energy storage (TES) system with different temperature levels designed to recover a large fraction of the compression heat, allowing the subsequent heating of air prior to the expansion phase; (iii) an underwater modular compressed air storage, conceived as a network of rigid but open tanks lying on the seabed and allowing a variable-volume and constant pressure operation. The compressor operates at variable loads, following an oscillating renewable power input, according to strategies oriented to improve the overall system dispatchability; the expander can be designed to work either at full load, thanks to the stability of the air flow rate and of the TIT guaranteed by the thermal storage, or at variable load. The paper first discusses in detail the sizing and off-design characterization of the overall system; it is then simulated a case study where the UW-CAES is coupled to a wind farm for peak shaving and dispatchability enhancement, evaluating the impact of a realistic power input on performances and plant flexibility. Although the assessment shall be considered preliminary, it is shown that round trip efficiency in the range of 75%–80% can be obtained depending on the compressor section configuration; making the UW-CAES a promising technology compared to electrochemical and pumped-hydro storage systems. The technology is also applied to perform peak-shaving of the electricity production from a wind park; annual simulations considering part load operation result in global round trip efficiency around 75% with a 10 to 15% reduction in the average unplanned energy injection in the electric grid. The investigated case study provides an example of the potential of this system in providing power output peak shaving when coupled with an intermittent and non-predictable energy source.

2020 ◽  
Vol 142 (9) ◽  
Author(s):  
Marco Astolfi ◽  
Giulio Guandalini ◽  
Marco Belloli ◽  
Adriano Hirn ◽  
Paolo Silva ◽  
...  

Abstract A key approach to large renewable power management is based on implementing storage technologies, including batteries, power-to-gas, and compressed air energy storage (CAES). This work presents the preliminary design and performance assessment of an innovative type of CAES, based on underwater compressed air energy storage (UW-CAES) volumes and intended for installation in the proximity of deep-water seas or lakes. The UW-CAES works with constant hydrostatic pressure storage and variable volumes. The proposed system is adiabatic, not using any fuel to increase the air temperature before expansion; a sufficient turbine inlet temperature (TIT) is instead obtained through a thermal energy storage (TES) system which recovers the compression heat. The system includes (i) a set of turbomachines (modular multistage compressor, with partial intercooling; expansion turbine); (ii) a TES system with different temperature levels designed to recover a large fraction of the compression heat, allowing the subsequent heating of air prior to the expansion phase; (iii) an underwater modular compressed air storage, conceived as a network of rigid but open tanks lying on the seabed and allowing a variable-volume and constant pressure operation. The compressor operates at variable loads, following an oscillating renewable power input, according to strategies oriented to improve the overall system dispatchability; the expander can be designed to work either at full load, thanks to the stability of the air flowrate and of the TIT guaranteed by the thermal storage, or at variable load. This paper first discusses in detail the sizing and off-design characterization of the overall system; then it simulates a case study where the UW-CAES is coupled to a wind farm for peak shaving and dispatchability enhancement, evaluating the impact of a realistic power input on performances and plant flexibility. Although the assessment shall be considered preliminary, it is shown that round-trip efficiency (RTE) in the range of 75–80% can be obtained depending on the compressor section configuration, making the UW-CAES a promising technology compared to electrochemical and pumped-hydrostorage systems. The technology is also applied to perform peak-shaving of the electricity production from an off-shore wind farm; annual simulations, based on realistic wind data and considering part-load operation, result in global RTE around 75% with a 10–15% reduction in the average unplanned energy injection in the electric grid. The investigated case study provides an example of the potential of this system in providing power output peak shaving when coupled with an intermittent and nonpredictable energy source.


Energy ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 221 ◽  
pp. 119902
Author(s):  
Amir Reza Razmi ◽  
M. Soltani ◽  
Armin Ardehali ◽  
Kobra Gharali ◽  
M.B. Dusseault ◽  
...  

Energies ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 11 (8) ◽  
pp. 2048 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rodrigo Martins ◽  
Holger Hesse ◽  
Johanna Jungbauer ◽  
Thomas Vorbuchner ◽  
Petr Musilek

Recent attention to industrial peak shaving applications sparked an increased interest in battery energy storage. Batteries provide a fast and high power capability, making them an ideal solution for this task. This work proposes a general framework for sizing of battery energy storage system (BESS) in peak shaving applications. A cost-optimal sizing of the battery and power electronics is derived using linear programming based on local demand and billing scheme. A case study conducted with real-world industrial profiles shows the applicability of the approach as well as the return on investment dependence on the load profile. At the same time, the power flow optimization reveals the best storage operation patterns considering a trade-off between energy purchase, peak-power tariff, and battery aging. This underlines the need for a general mathematical optimization approach to efficiently tackle the challenge of peak shaving using an energy storage system. The case study also compares the applicability of yearly and monthly billing schemes, where the highest load of the year/month is the base for the price per kW. The results demonstrate that batteries in peak shaving applications can shorten the payback period when used for large industrial loads. They also show the impacts of peak shaving variation on the return of investment and battery aging of the system.


Author(s):  
Pablo Bellocq ◽  
Inaki Garmendia ◽  
Jordane Legrand ◽  
Vishal Sethi

Direct Drive Open Rotors (DDORs) have the potential to significantly reduce fuel consumption and emissions relative to conventional turbofans. However, this engine architecture presents many design and operational challenges both at engine and aircraft level. At preliminary design stages, a broad design space exploration is required to identify potential optimum design regions and to understand the main trade offs of this novel engine architecture. These assessments may also aid the development process when compromises need to be performed as a consequence of design, operational or regulatory constraints. Design space exploration assessments are done with 0-D or 1-D models for computational purposes. These simplified 0-D and 1-D models have to capture the impact of the independent variation of the main design and control variables of the engine. Historically, it appears that for preliminary design studies of DDORs, Counter Rotating Turbines (CRTs) have been modelled as conventional turbines and therefore it was not possible to assess the impact of the variation of the number of stages (Nb) of the CRT and rotational speed of the propellers. Additionally, no preliminary design methodology for CRTs was found in the public domain. Part I of this two-part publication proposes a 1-D preliminary design methodology for DDOR CRTs which allows an independent definition of both parts of the CRT. A method for calculating the off-design performance of a known CRT design is also described. In Part II, a 0-D design point efficiency calculation for CRTs is proposed and verified with the 1-D methods. The 1-D and 0-D CRT models were used in an engine control and design space exploration case study of a DDOR with a 4.26m diameter an 10% clipped propeller for a 160 PAX aircraft. For this application: • the design and performance of a 20 stage CRT rotating at 860 rpm (both drums) obtained with the 1-D methods is presented. • differently from geared open rotors, negligible cruise fuel savings can be achieved by an advanced propeller control. • for rotational speeds between 750 and 880 rpm (relatively low speeds for reduced noise), 22 and 20 stages CRTs are required. • engine weight can be kept constant for different design rotational speeds by using the minimum required Nb. • for any target engine weight, TOC and cruise SFC are reduced by reducing the rotational speeds and increasing Nb (also favourable for reducing CRP noise). However additional CRT stages increase engine drag, mechanical complexity and cost.


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