GRAVITY BATTERY

BARKATULLAH UNIVERSITY

UNIVERSITY INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY

Submitted in Partial Fulfilment of the Requirement for the Award of the Degree

Department of Mechanical Engineering

Minor Project

On

“GRAVITY BATTERY”

Submitted in Partial Fulfilment of the Requirement for the Award of the Degree

Of

Bachelor of Technology (B. Tech) 2023

University Institute of Technology,

Barkatullah University, Bhopal

By

“Yashwardhan Sahu” , “Alok Kumar Bais”

“Dev Sharma” , “Sankesh Mahajan”

Under the Guidance

Dr. Rohit Rajvaidya Mrs. Vaidhya Mehra Dr. Prabhash Jain

Project coordinator Project coordinator Head of Department

Mech, UIT-BU BHOPAL Mech, UIT-BU BHOPAL Mech ,UIT- BU BHOPAL

PAGE 1
 UNIVERSITY INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY
BARKATULLAH UNIVERSITY, BHOPAL

Department of Mechanical Engineering

CERTIFICATE
YEAR – 2023

This is to certify that the project entitled “GRAVITY BATTERY” is

submitted by Mr Yashwardhan Sahu, Alok Kumar Bais,

Sankesh Mahajan And Dev Sharma in their partial fulfilment of the requirement

of the award of the degree of Bachelor OF Technology in Mechanical

Engineering in the year 2023 from University Institute

Mrs. Vaidhya Mehra Dr. Rohit Rajvaidya

Project coordinator Project coordinator

Mech, UIT – BU, Bhopal Mech, UIT – BU, Bhopal

Dr. Prabhash jain Prof. N.K. Gaur

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 Guide & HOD Mech Director

Mech, UIT – BU, Bhopal UIT – BU, Bhopal

Abstract

You are probably familiar with various types of batteries based on their
chemistry: lead-acid, carbon-zinc, nickel-cadmium, lithium-ion and air
batteries, to name a few. But have you heard of the gravity battery? It
could be the next big enabling technology for the electrical grid to
expand the use of renewable sources such as solar and wind power.
The obvious problem with solar and wind is that the sun doesn’t
always shine, and the wind doesn’t always blow. Generally speaking,
this has limited these sources to a supplementary role, with more
traditional sources, such as coal, natural gas, nuclear and hydroelectric
plants, making up the majority of electrical generation. To become
more reliable, wind and solar facilities need a way to store excess
energy when they are producing, and tap the stored energy at night or
on calm days. Batteries are clearly one choice for this task. Of course,
batteries to store significant amounts of energy are large, expensive
and already in high demand for electric vehicles. On the plus side, the
latest generation of lithium-ion batteries are over 90% efficient, so
relatively little energy would be wasted by this method. when they are
producing, and tap the stored energy at night or on calm days.
Batteries are clearly one choice for this task. Of course, batteries to
store significant amounts of energy are large, expensive and already in
high demand for electric vehicles. On the plus side, the latest
generation of lithium-ion batteries are over 90% efficient, so relatively
little energy would be wasted by this method. Regenerative braking

PAGE 3
uses the momentum of the vehicle to essentially run the motor in
reverse, functioning as a generator and routing electrical power back
to the battery gravity battery economically viable.

The ability to use a single motor generator, and rapidly switch

between these modes of operation makes the Modern regenerative
braking systems are over 70% efficient, and in the case of stationary,
large-scale applications, such as gravity batteries, could be even more
efficient. Combined with lower cost, the gravity battery is an. The
ability to use a single motor generator, and rapidly switch between
these modes of operation makes the

The gravity battery could

be the next big enabling

technology for the electrical

grid to expand the use of

renewable sources such as

solar and wind power.

These devices can be placed in high-rise structures designed to blend

in with the surrounding architecture, making them acceptable in both
urban and rural environments. Another possibility being actively
explored is to use existing mine shafts, so the weights would be
underground. Is the term “battery” really appropriate for this type of
energy storage? While contemporary usage of the term implies
“chemical battery,” in fact, “battery” originally referred to a collection
of military weapons, such as artillery, mortars and rocked launches. It
was Benjamin Franklin who first used the term for storage of electrical
energy, when he linked together a series of capacitors and called it a
“battery.” So really, to be a gravity “battery” there just needs to be two
or more of them in one location!

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 Content

Chapter 1. Introduction
Chapter 2. Literature Review
Chapter 3. Objectives
Chapter 4. Methodology
Chapter 5. Result & discussion
Chapter 6. Conclusion & future scope

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 Chapter 1.
Introduction
Sessional pump hydro Storage
The transition toward a sustainable and resilient energy system
compliant with Paris climate targets requires large-scale storage of
variable renewable energy, such as wind and solar, over different time
periods from hours to weeks and seasons. Seasonal pumped hydro
storage (SPHS) and hydrogen electrolysis (green hydrogen) are the two
most envisioned alternatives for long-duration energy storage.
However, the site specificity of SPHS and the high cost plus the low
efficiency of green hydrogen have been an impetus for research on
emerging solutions for long-duration energy storage, e.g., based on
solid gravitational Different geological and geographical locations can
be considered for storing energy, such as mountains, oceans,
underground caverns, or mine Limited availability of fossil fuels and
pollution due to conventional energy production leads the world to
think some carbon free, clean and pollution free sources as an
alternate of energy resources.

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Underground Gravity Energy Storage (UGES)
UGES is a gravitational energy storage technology that consists of
filling an underground mine with sand to generate electricity when the
cost of electricity is high and then removing the sand from the mine to
store energy when electricity is cheap. The main components of UGES
are the shaft, motor / generator, upper and lower storage sites, and
mining equipment (Figure 3). The UGES shaft has variable depths and
diameters. The deeper and broader the mine shaft, the more power
can be extracted from the plant. In addition, the more volume in the
mine, the higher the plant's energy storage capacity. To maximize
power capacity, the sand containers in the shaft occupy approximately
50% of the shaft's volume. The other 50% of space is required for filling
and emptying the containers with sand. To reduce the costs and
number of cables to support the sand containers and the forces exerted
on the motor / generator, we propose several motors/ generators
throughout the shaft. The containers in Figure 4 are independent, i.e.,
each module can be put into operation or removed independently (to
complete loading and unloading), ensuring that the system does not
stop due to the putting in or removal of carriers. In addition to
independence, the container must enable the rapid loading and
unloading of

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Mountain gravity storage.
Islanded grids usually have to operate a relatively expensive energy
system due to the complications related to

 maintaining energy security, including the logistics of importing

and storing fossil fuels.
 the requirements for meeting electricity demand reliably at any
time, which leaves the system with challenges related to
provisioning of large back-up capacity and dealing with
emissions and techno-economic burdens of part-load operate.
 low electricity demand, which reduces the options for

employing an economic baseload electricity generation system.

The possibility of generating electricity with variable renewable

energy (VRE) sources, such as wind and solar, has a considerable
potential for lowering electricity costs in small islands and micro-
grids. However, VRE requires a supplementary flexibility solution
due to the intermittency and seasonal variation in supply. In

PAGE 8
addition, electricity demand in small grids often varies a lot
depending on holiday seasons and weather conditions.

Electrical energy storage (EES) alternatives for storing energy in an

islanded grid are typically batteries and pumped-hydro storage
(PHS). Batteries benefit from an ever-decreasing capital costs and
will probably offer an affordable solution to store energy for daily
energy variations or to provision ancillary services However,
storage capability of batteries in a yearly cycle might never become
economically viable, due to the high cost of stored energy
($/MWh), and in some cases, a high rate of losses and/or self-
discharge per day. Moreover, the large-scale deployment of
batteries in mobility applications and power systems raises the
questions related to the resource availability and sustainability of
such heavy use of materials for batteries.

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Solid Gravity Energy Storage
Large-scale energy storage technology is crucial to maintaining a high-
proportion renewable energy power system stability and addressing
the energy crisis and environmental problems. Solid gravity energy
storage technology (SGES) is a promising mechanical energy storage
technology suitable for large-scale applications. However, no
systematic summary of this technology research and application
progress has been seen. Therefore, the basic concept of SGES and
conducted a bibliometric study between 2010 and 2021 is first
introduced to show SGES technology's evolution and predict future
trends. Various SGES technologies have been intensively investigated
in equipment, principles, materials, progress, and mathematical
models. Furthermore, the key equipment's impact on SGES is
discussed, and a systematical classification of SGES's different
technical routes is conducted. Based on the technical characteristics,
the advantages and disadvantages of SGES's different technical routes
are discussed through their comparison. The decision tree is made for
different technical route selections to facilitate engineering
applications. Moreover, this paper also proposed the evaluation
method of large-scale energy storage technology and conducted a
comparative analysis of solid gravity energy storage with other large-
scale energy storage technologies. Compared with other large-scale
energy storage technologies, SGES has many advantages: high cycle
efficiency (80%-90%), large energy storage capacity (up to several
GWh), good geographical adaptability, and economy.

PAGE 10
Mountain Mine-Car SGES
The main equipment of this technical route includes weights, motor-
generator unit, cables, transmission equipment, rails, and sloping
areas, as shown schematically. The technical route converts electrical
energy to gravitational potential energy by moving weights between
high and low stacking platforms. When there is excess power in the
grid, the motor will drag the mine car from the lower stacking
platform along the rail to the upper stacking platform. At this time, the
weight will rise with the mine car, its altitude will increase, and the
gravitational potential energy will increase so that the electricity will
be converted into gravitational potential energy. When the electricity
is insufficient, the mine car on the upper stacking platform will be
slowly released to the lower stacking platform, and at the same time,
the mine car will rotate the motor through the chain to generate
electricity. Thus, the gravitational potential energy will be converted
back to electricity and return to the grid.

The design originates from the PHES, built using a mountain slope or
abandoned mine site. Similar to a water turbine, the renewable
braking motor is located on the upper stacking platform, connects the
mine car through a cable, and controls its speed, which helps improve
the controllability and safety of the energy storage system.

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Energy vault LDES solutions are based on proprietary gravity energy
technology and ideally deployed for use cases requiring 4
or more hours of storage capacity. The Energy Vault EV x
platform utilizes a mechanical process of lifting and
lowering composite blocks to store and dispatch electrical
energy.

Gravitricity Gravitricity has developed a gravity-based energy storage

system that works by raising heavy weights (up to 12,000
tons) in a deep shaft and then releasing them when
energy is required. Gravitricity claims its system can
operate for up to 50 years and store energy at half the cost
of lithium-ion batteries. In India, it has partnered with
Panitek Power on the 12-month project, which aims to
identity and shortlist sites for a demonstration scheme.
Mr. Berrada et Berrada et al. proposed the concept of this technological
al. route. According to a study, the P-SGES's height of 500

PAGE 12
 meters could generate 20 MWh of electricity, and it can
lower its height
ARES(The The American company, Advanced Rail Energy Storage
American (ARES), represents the technology whose energy storage
Company) equipment consists of multiple tracks with a 5MW
storage capacity.
Currently
In project is designed within seconds, has a will serve as a
despair.
shown
dozens of tracks, the can respond the project
erector (CAISO
Mountain Cable-Car SGES)
The leading equipment of this technical route includes
weights, a motor-generator unit, transmission equipment,
a heavy loading station, and cable. The cable is used to
carry the cable car and must be mechanically strong
enough to remain smooth. Other equipment
requirements are the same as the MM-SGES and will not
be repeated. In addition, steep slopes, canyon cliffs, or
inclined mine caves are required, as shown schematically
MR. Emrani et The research has been conducted to discuss the selection
al. of rope and winch to better match the P-SGES. The study
shows that adding a rope can increase the eight mass with
the same strength as the sealed bin. Therefore, RP-SGES
achieved a higher rated power due to the simultaneous
operation of the motor and pump
Hunt et al. The research conducted by Hunt et al. [68] suggests that
the installed cost of this technology route will vary
between
S1-2 million/MW and $50-100/MWh for electricity,

PAGE 13
 Chapter 3.
Objective:

 To make efficient transmission system with

proper gearing ratio.
 Use of regenerative breaking to maximize its
efficiency
 To develop hybrid energy storage system by
using gravity buttery.

PAGE 14
 Chapter 4.
Methodology

1. Literature review for press machine & forging machine,

linear generators and magnets were carried out from SAE
papers, books, Journals, magazines and websites.
2. Based on reviewed literature a system that converts linear
motion of ram of presses to electrical energy was
conceptualized.
3. Designed system was retro-fit and it was integrated to
existing press machine & forging machine.
4. Based on the generated magnetic flux different. concepts
were built.

PAGE 15
 5. A technology prototype was fabricated to exhibit the
functionality using one of the concepts among various
concepts.
6. Prototype was validated with the analysis results for
generated voltage.

MGES Methodology
MGES consists of building two cranes on the edge of a steep canyon or
mountain with enough reach to transport sand or gravel from a storage
site located on the bottom of the mountain (lower storage site) to a
storage site on the top (upper storage site). One example of the
proposed arrangement is presented Energy is stored as potential
energy by carving sand or gravel from the lower storage site into the
upper storage site. Electricity is then generated by lowering the sand or
gravel from the upper to the lower storage site. The loading of sand or
gravel into the storage vessels is performed with an underground
filling station, where valves release the sand and gravel stored in the
upper or lower storage sites. The unloading process happens with the
discharge of the sand or gravel as close as possible to the upper and
lower storage sites. This is a practical way to facilitate a fully automatic
and unmanned loading and unloading process. However, this method
results in a head loss of ha and h meters as presented in Figure 2,
which reduces the efficiency of the system.

PAGE 16
Vee Model Approach
A vee model approach will be adopted for the development of this
design and its verification within along the design process. This model
approach will analyses the different stages of the design the process
taken to arrive at the design that make up the system lifecycle using
simulation within all the stages of the design from specification and
design concept to Realtime simulation for rapid prototyping and
design, testing and validation of the system functionality [16, 20, 21].
The chart below shadows a detailed view of the path the model
lifecycle will take from the start to validation of the system

PAGE 17
 Chapter 5.
Result & discussion

If The amount of usable space will determine the suggested design's

storage medium in the upper storage site (surface) and the lower
storage site (underground), which is proportional to the energy storage
potential of the mine, the demand for the energy storage service, and
the energy storage costs. For instance, a solution including a sand and

PAGE 18
water mixture can be appropriate due to its low cost. However, if the
mine is small and the demand for energy storage is high, materials
with a higher density may be used if the additional cost of the material
permits. The densities and prices of various storage mediums have
been compared.

The mountain gravitational energy storage world potential framework

results are presented where for each 1 degree resolution the 3 arc-
second resolution location with the highest height difference 1s
selected in order to better present the results. As it can be seen, the
locations with highest potentials are mountainous regions, such as the
Andes, Himalaya, Rocky Mountains, Alps, etc. However, the most
interesting location for MGES are remote locations and small islands,
such as Hawaii, Galapagos, Caribbean, Cape Verde, Madeira,
Indonesia, Philippines and Pacific Islands with steep mountainous
topography.

Taking a small island as an example, the topography of the Molokai

Island in the

presented in Figure and the potential for MGES The MGES potential
reach in several locations as presented in Figure The eastern and
western locations do not have a suitable area to build the lower storage
site. he central location has a more favorable potential, however, it is
native access. with difficult access. Thus, a location with the
consecutive potential of on average of 166 m, with a combined height
of 500 m head was selected. It is possible to combine two or three
consecutive potential locations because the steepness of the plant will
be higher than 60% and allow two cranes to develop a viable project. If
the steepness increases, there will be the need to build towers
structures between the two cranes, which would considerably increase
the costs of the project and increase energy losses.

The MGES plant design and operation should focus on long-term

storage cycles (monthly, yearly, seasonal) as batteries can provide

PAGE 19
short-term energy storage more reliably, cheaply and efficiently.
However, if the demand in the mini-grid is exceeding its peak
generation capacity or there is excess generation in the grid, which the
batteries can’t store, the MGES could be used to complement the
short-term energy storage requirements of the system. With the intent
of reproducing the operational scenario of a MGES plant, we proposed
a future energy matrix for the Molokai Island using only wind, solar,
batteries and MGES to supply the island’s demand, as shown in Figure
The wind and solar generation profile of the location uses data from
the Renewable Ninja site. The winter and summer daily demand
variation is from In Figure the storage is represented in MWh
combining the energy stored in the MGES plant and in batteries.
Figure zooms into an eleven days period in October, and separates the
operation of MGES and batteries in MW. As it can be seen the MGES
plant operation focuses on storing energy for the long-term and the
batteries are used to store energy for the short-term. This is
convenient because the installed capacity of MGES (short-term
storage) is high, however the costs for long-term energy storage is low.

PAGE 20
the information of a test model created to investigate the viability of
the system. Here, a set of 10 different load current requirement were
analyzed highlighting the key parameters that determines
functionality of the design and the resulting output electrical energy
were investigated bearing in mind that some parameters referring to
the mathematical modelling were kept constant as highlighted in
session 3.4.1. However, some of the these parameters were actually
observed to be constant as the study progresses. These parameters
includes, Moment of Inertia (kg.m2) which was observed to be 16×
10−6 and Inertia of Motor(M) Pulley (kg.m) was 288× 10−5.

Chapter 6.
Conclusion & future scope

In light of the findings of this study, to produce a modest but constant

amount of energy for a long time, UGES could be designed to store
energy over weekly, monthly or seasonal scales, depending on the

PAGE 21
demand for energy storage. To offset the short-term changes in
electricity consumption of solar and wind generation, this modest but
consistent electricity generation might be supplemented with other
storage technologies, such as batteries and PHS. The cost of installed
energy storage for UGES is estimated in this study to vary from 1.0–10.0
USD/kWh, assuming an average height difference between the upper
and lower storage sites of 1500 and 200 m, respectively. The project is
less expensive the more significant the height difference. The power
generation capacity varies with the mine’s depths, the mine shaft’s
diameter, and the sand moving speed. This paper proposed allow using
smaller, more common/affordable motors/generators. The system’s
technical lifespan can range from 20 to 30 years. The technology’s
storage potential ranges from7 to 70 TWH globally, with most of this
potential concentrated in China, India, the USA, and Russia. A precise
description of the UGES system performance is outside this paper’s
scope. We propose a more detailed analysis of the system’s
performance and efficiency for future work. UGES is a particularly
interesting technology for long-term energy storage to reduce seasonal
fluctuations in electricity demand and wind and solar generation. The
alternative gravity storage system is very simple, and all its
components are quite reachable in terms of availability in the market.
The basic difference between this alternative gravity storage system
and other gravity storage tech inquest currently in the literature is that
this concept can be applied on both domestic for household utilization
or on a commercial scale depending on the electricity demand of the
area applied [30, 31, 32]. Also, this module can be easily constructed to
demonstrate principle of conversion of potential energy via
gravitational influence on various form of energy on small scale to
students in colleges and colleges, design manufacturers in the
industry, exhibition to the general public, etc. Essentially, due to the
importance and rising necessity for energy storage in combating
climate issues as it brings about the integration of renewable energy
into the national grid network, this work designed a new storage

PAGE 22
method that is environmentally friendly and reduce the pathway to
coeffects. Hence, a concept approach to optimally harness gravity
storage was proposed. The technical analysis in the work constitute the
design of the optimal that could generate and store energy in the light
of all constraints involved. This storage system has been described in
this context using necessary performance parameters associated with
energy storage which include energy efficiency value (charge/discharge
rate), System capacity, etc. These aforementioned parameters and
others listed in the work were used as measures to identify the viability
of the storage system. Subsequent optimization of the design and
sizing of this storage method might enable the gravity storage
approach to compete favorably with current storage This paper
concludes that mountain gravitation energy storage could be a viable
alternative to long term energy storage, particularly, in isolated micro-
grids or small islands demanding storage capacities lower than 20 MW.
The global storage potential for the technology is relatively high,
mainly in mountainous regions, such as the Himalayas, Andes, Rocky
Mountains, etc. However, small islands such as Hawaii, Caribbean,
Galapagos, Cape Verde, Madeira, Indonesia, Philippines and Pacific
Islands are more favorable locations for this technology, due to their
isolation and small energy storage demand. MGES can serve as a
storage solution to balance seasonal variations in electricity supply
from wind and

solar sources. However, mountainous regions, where the potential for

MGES is higher, favors wind power in detriment to solar power
projects. MGES plants can also store energy to fulfil yearly demand
variation in islands, due to holiday seasons.

This paper shows that the cost of storing energy with MGES will vary
between 1 to 2 million $/MW of

installed capacity and levelized cost of 50-100 $/MWh. The higher the
height difference between the lower and

PAGE 23
upper storage sites, the lower the cost of the project. Though the
generation cost is relatively high, it could be an interesting solution for
small islands or mini-grids due to the high cost of electricity supply
and challenge

Compared with other large-scale energy storage technology, SGES

technology has the advantages of low geographical constraints, large
storage capacity, high cycle efficiency, long life, low cost of electricity,
and high safety. As a novel and promising technology for large-scale
energy storage technology, SGES hopefully changes the existing
pattern of largescale energy storage. The problems of SGES's current
research include: the selection methods of different technical routes
under specific conditions are still unclear and need further techno-
economic evaluation; the existing research is mainly based on existing
technical routes, lacking further innovation of core technologies; lack
of optimal parameter design for some technical routes; lack of
equipment and grid interaction effects of different technical routes,
etc.

To this end, it is recommended to focus on the following aspects of

work：

 Conduct further techno-economic studies on each technology

route.
 Study the major difficulties of existing technical routes, optimize
their materials, sizes, costs, etc., achieve vertical development,
and explore new technical routes.

Combine several technical routes and even different types of energy

storage technologies such as electric energy storage and
electrochemical energy storage to achieve horizontal development by
complementing the advantages of different types of energy storage
technologies.

PAGE 24
Study the mathematical model and numerical simulation method of
SGES, and establish the corresponding numerical simulation research
methods.

Research on power control techniques, operational characteristics of

SGES, and scheduling strategy of large-scale SGES, system from the
perspective of the power grid.

FUTURE SCOPE

1. Increase the overall efficiency of the model

2. Implementation of the lithium ion for the storage of
the
electricity produced
3. Design and development of the large-scale model.

PAGE 25
3. Analysis for the large-scale load in the shaft and the
respective members.

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