ENERGY STORAGE

 The need for energy need arises because the demand for
electrical energy in a utility system is
 characterized by hourly, daily and seasonal variations whereas
the supply from the system in
 majority of cases has fixed capacity. The objective of energy
storage, therefore is to counteract the disadvantages that result
from the fluctuations in demand for electric energy by assuring a
steady high output from existing power plants.
 When the demand is lower than capacity, energy is stored. When
the demand is higher than that capacity, the stored energy is
released.
 The result then is to be able to supply electricity reliably,
efficiently and economically, while being able to provide peak
electrical demands on short notice during certain times of the day
or week.
Examples
 1. Supply power peaks by interconnecting power
networks that might have different power demands
on them.
 2. Use newer and more efficient power plants for
baseload generation and use older less efficient
plants for peak power generation.
 3. Construct smaller, low capital cost, though not so
efficient powerplants as power peaking units.
 4. Add energy storage systems.
Reliability and Economy
 In general, reliability and economy of
electrical supply can best be achieved by
having a mix or three types of power plant,
a base load plant, cycling plant, and a
peaking plant.
Base Load Plants
 Base-load plants are used to provide a base
electrical load to the grid.
 Such plants are usually large, efficient, steam
generating, Rankin Cycle type stations powered by
fossil or nuclear fuels. They operate continuously
except for scheduled maintenance or forced
outages.
 They have a power operating factor (POF) between
60 and 70 percent. This relatively high POF results
in a comparatively low unit cost of power.
Cycling Power Plants
 Cycling power plants, also called intermediate
plants, usually are older, less efficient steam plants,
or new ones specifically designed for cyclic
operation.
 They operate primarily during hours of high load
demand and have an annual POF between 25 to 50
percent.
 This rather wide range is primarily the result of
seasonal variation, such as due to the periods of
high industrial output, air-conditioning loads in the
summertime, etc.
Peaking Plants
 Peaking plants are specifically designed to
provide relatively inexpensive power during
peak demand periods.
 They operate at low annual POF of 5 to 15
percent. Their operation may be for as little
as 2 or as much as 12 h/day, for as many as
6 days per week.
Contd.
 The last of the course of action is the energy
storage.
 Energy storage would allow power plants to be
designed for nearly constant load operation below
peak demand, a process called peak shaving, which
would thus reduce the high capital cost of the initial
plants.
 Energy storage of course becomes attractive only
when the capital and operating costs of the storage
system are more than offset by reduction in the
corresponding costs of the original system.
 One drawback to all energy storage systems is that
their energy densities are much lower than those
mentioned above for fossil and nuclear fuels
ENERGY STORAGE SYSTEMS

 There are basically two generic approaches

to energy storage in utility systems These are
 Electrical storage
 Thermal storage.
Energy Storage Schemes
Electrical Storage

 The primary electric-generating plant is continuously

operated in a base-load mode, which results in
excess electricity production during the off-peak
periods.
 Electrical storage is then used to hold this excess
electricity for use during peak demand.
 Note that the total energy stored is greater than the
total energy supplied because of conversion losses
to and from storage.
 Storage schemes in this category that are in use or
under investigation are as follows:
Electrical-mechanical energy
storage
 Potential Energy Storage:
 Pumped hydro
 Compressed air
 Springs, torsion bars,
 Mass elevation
 Kinetic Energy Storage:
 Flywheels
Direct electrical energy storage

 Batteries
 Superconducting coils
Thermal Storage
 all schemes deal with storing energy in a thermal
form in a material during periods of low power
demand and releasing it back during periods of high
demand.
 The primary electric-generating plant is operated to
meet the real-time electrical demands during off-
peak hours.
 The available thermal energy input to the plant may
be essentially constant, as is that from fossil or
nuclear fuel or varying, as from solar incidence.
Contd.
 The excess thermal energy is stored as such
and withdrawn to be converted to meet peak
electrical demands.
 Conversion could occur in the primary plant
itself or in a separate peaking plant .
 Again, note that because of storage losses
and conversion inefficiencies the total stored
energy is greater than that supplied
Diagram
Thermal storage schemes
 1. Sensible heat
 2. Latent heat
 3. Chemical reaction
Contd.
 Not all the various electrical and thermal energy-
storage schemes are suitable for large utility energy
storage.
 Some, like springs, torsion bars, and mass elevation,
are very low-capacity systems that are used to power
such small devices as watches, clocks, toys, and
instruments. They will not be covered in this lecture.
 Others, like flywheels and batteries, are in the
developmental stages and will probably be suitable for
intermediate storage.
 A few, like pumped hydro, compressed air, and
superconductivity are, or will be, suitable for large
utility energy storage.
 These and the various other schemes are covered in
the following sections.
Diagram
PUMPED HYDRO

 Pumped hydro, like compressed air is a potential-

energy storage system suitable for large utility energy
storage.
 It is the most developed and used of all storage
systems.
 The principle behind pumped hydro is simple and
follows the law of potential energy PE that is, the
raising of mass to an elevation, height, or head H.
Above-Ground Pumped Hydro
 In high-head installations, the upper reservoir may
have originally been a stream descending a steep
slope which has been dammed to form the reservoir.
 From that reservoir, water is diverted into a horizontal
pressure tunnel driven through the rock to the valve
house from which the main steel pipeline slopes down
to the powerhouse.
 At the head of the steel pipeline there usually is a
surge tank and a valve house.
 It contains the main sluice valves, which are automatic
isolating valves that come into operation in the case of
pipeline burst. Automatic air valves, also, may be
used.
Contd.
 These contain buoyancy floats that fall when sufficient air
separates from the water.
 These floats are attached to a spindle which then opens the
valve to vent the air to the atmosphere.
 Other automatic air valves allow air to enter the pipeline in
case the pipeline is drained. They safeguard the pipeline
against internal collapse when thus emptied.
 A surge tank or surge chamber is built near the mouth of the
pressure tunnel to relieve the pipes of undue inertia pressure
set up in the tunnel when the flow is checked following a
reduction of load.
 Should this pressure exceed a predetermined amount, water
merely spills over the lip of the surge tank.
 The surge tank also provides a reservoir of water that can be
drawn upon when the load on the turbine suddenly increases.
Continued:
 At every point of deviation of the pipelines, either in the horizontal or
the vertical plane, anchorages are constructed with expansion joints
provided immediately below.
 The powerhouse itself is located as close as possible to the lower
reservoir into which the tail race discharges.
 These contain buoyancy floats that fall when sufficient air separates
from the water.
 These floats are attached to a spindle which then opens the valve to
vent the air to the atmosphere. Other automatic air valves allow air
to enter the pipeline in case the pipeline is drained.
 They safeguard the pipeline against internal collapse when thus
emptied. A surge tank or surge chamber is built near the mouth of
the pressure tunnel to relieve the pipes of undue inertia pressure set
up in the tunnel when the flow is checked following a reduction of
load.
 Should this pressure exceed a predetermined amount, water merely
spills over the lip of the surge tank.
Pumped Hydro storage system
Underground Pumped Hydro
 To overcome the requirement of a suitable
topography, underground pumped hydro is
being considered in this system.
 The upper reservoir may be at or near ground
level.
 The lower reservoir is placed underground in
natural caverns, old mines, or other
underground cavities.
Under pumped hydro storage
system
Continued
 In all systems, a principal piece of equipment is a reversible
pump-turbine or motor-generator set or sets.
 The excess electric energy supplied by the primary power station
during off-peak hours is used to drive it in the motor-pump mode
to pump water from the lower to the upper reservoir.
 During periods of peak demand, the system reverses to the
turbine-generator mode to generate the excess electricity
needed.
 (Some old installations use separate conventional pumps and
turbines rather than reversible machines.)

Continued
 The losses in pumped-hydro systems include motor and pump
losses and flow
 losses during up flow; seepage into ground, leakage from pipes
and equipment, and evaporation during storage; and turbine and
generator losses and flow losses during down flow.
 The combined efficiency of a pumped-hydro system, called the
turnaround efficiency. is defined as the total energy output
divided by the total energy input during a charge-discharge cycle.
 In most plants, the turnaround efficiency is in the neighborhood
of 65 percent.
 Pumped-hydro systems are rated according to their power
output, usually in megawatts (MW).
 The maximum power output in the turbine-generator mode is
usually greater than the maximum power input in the motor-pump
mode. but operation in the latter lasts longer than the former, so
the input energy is greater. (Recall that energy = power Χ time.)
COMPRESSED-AIR STORAGE
 Compressed-air energy storage is analogous to
pumped-hydro energy storage.
 Whereas in the latter excess energy generated by a
base-loaded plant during periods of low demand is
used to increase the potential energy or hydrostatic
pressure of water, compressed-air energy storage
compresses and stores air in reservoirs, aquifers, or
caverns.
 The stored energy is then released during periods of
peak demand by expansion of the air through an air
turbine.
 In general. the turnaround efficiency of compressed-air
storage is comparable to that of pumped-hydro
storage.
Reservoirs
 The underground compressed-air reservoirs are
subjected to repeated fluctuations in pressure.
humidity. and temperature.
 The long-range effects of such fluctuations remain
to be determined.
 Usually multiple reservoirs. operating in parallel,
serve one storage system.
 Three types of reservoirs show the most promising
approaches:
 (1) salt caverns
 (2) aquifer's and
 (3) hard-rock caverns
Salt caverns
 These have been used in the past to store
petroleum products.
 Research so far indicates that they are stable
under compressed-air storage loadings for
the duration of plant life.
 The major concerns are cavern geometry,
size and spacings, long term creep and
creep-rupture of rock salt, and air leakage.
Aquifers
 These are naturally occurring porous-rock formations.
 They have been used for natural gas storage for over
50 years but with annual rather than daily cycling.
 The effects of the different physical properties of air
and its oxygen and the high temperatures of storing
remains to be evaluated.
 Among other concerns are cyclic fatigue of the porous
rock, air-water interface movement (water is usually
present in aquifers), and the generation and transport
of fine particulate matter.

Hard-rock caverns
 Because of their size these require water-
compensating surface reservoirs to maintain air
pressure and therefore are more costly than the two
reservoir types above.
 However, they are believed to be most stable in the
absence of severe temperature fluctuations (50°C).
 The major concerns here include the effervescence
of air in the water shaft (called the champagne
effect), hard-rock properties under cyclic conditions,
and the residual strength of hard rock after an initial
failure.
Adiabatic and Hybrid Systems
 When air is compressed for
storage, its temperature will
rise (since it is a compressible
gas) according to the
relationship,

where
 T and P are the absolute
temperature and pressure
and n 1 n
 Subscripts 1 and 2 refer to
P2
before and after
T2 T1
compression, respectively.
P1
 n is the polytropic exponent
for the nonreversible
compression process.
Continued
 The heat of compression may be retained in the compressed
air or in another heat-storage medium and then restored to
the air before expanding through the turbine.
 This is called adiabatic storage and results in high storage
efficiency. Recall that at a given pressure ratio, turbine work is
directly proportional to the inlet absolute temperature.
 Recall also that constant-pressure lines on a temperature-
entropy diagram for gases diverge at high temperatures so
that isentropic work, equal to the vertical distance between
any two constant-pressure lines, increases with temperature.
 Restoring the heat to the air also prevents the turbine parts
from freezing if low-temperature air is allowed to expand
through it.
 If the heat of compression is allowed to dissipate, additional
heat could be added by fuel combustion to retain the high
storage efficiency, but the results would be extra expense and
maintenance problems.
 This is called a hybrid system.

compressed-air energy-storage
system.
Continued
 The main plant is not shown. During off-peak hours, electric
energy from the main plant generator is used by the motor-
generator set (MG) operating in the motor mode to drive the
compressor (C).
 The compressed air passes first through a packed bed (P) for
sensible thermal-energy storage then to a constant-pressure
underground reservoir (R).
 The constant pressure is obtained by displacing water to a
pressure-compensation pond that has a nearly constant head
above the reservoir.
 During peak hours, air from the reservoir flows through the
packed bed picking back sensible heat, then through the air
turbine that now drives the motor-generator set in the generator
mode. Clutches (Cl) separate the compressor during peak
(generation) periods and the turbine during off-peak (storage)
periods.
Continued
 As expected, the air-reservoir (cavern) volume is a
strong function of the storage pressure.
 For a peak unit capacity of 1500 MWh that volume is
estimated at nearly 2,000,000 m3 for 10 bar, or 64,000
m3 for 100 bar storage pressures.
 The packed bed thermal-energy storage volume is about
a tenth of that of the storage reservoir in most cases.
 Thus to reduce storage volume and hence cost,
operation at high pressure is necessary more than offset
by reduction in the corresponding costs of the original
system.
 One drawback to all energy storage systems is that their
energy densities are much lower than those mentioned
above for fossil and nuclear fuels.
The Huntorf Compressed Air Storage
System
 It uses two salt caverns. The system is composed of a
motor-generator set connected by clutches to a three
stage compressor with intercoolers and a two stage gas
turbine with reheat.
 It is of the hybrid variety that requires heat addition prior
to the gas turbine.
 In the storing mode the compressor pumps atmospheric
air into the caverns, where it is stored 50 to 70 bar.
 In the generation mode, stored air, reduced in pressure
to 46 bar enters a natural gas fueled combustion
chamber before the high pressure section of the gas
turbine. Reheat is accomplished by a low pressure
natural gas burner
Continued
 Storage occurs daily for about 8 hours, generation
for about 2 hour.
 The compressor and turbine are each sized
independently to suit the power requirements during
these periods, an advantage over the usual gas
turbine cycle in which the compressor absorbs more
than two thirds of the turbine output.
 Huntorf has shown good availability exceeding 98
percent at times and good reliability.
 The caverns have shown no detectable creep or
stability problems.
ENERGY STORAGE BY FLYWHEELS
 Flywheels store off-peak energy as kinetic energy.
 They have been used extensively to smooth out power pulses
from reciprocating engines.
 They are physically connected to the engine crankshafts and are
larger the smaller the number of cylinders per engine.
 They operate by storing some of the energy given by the
cylinders and releasing it during periods of no power pulses so
that the speed and power delivery of the crankshaft are steady
and continuous.
 More recently, interest in flywheel energy storage has been
generated by motor vehicle designers.
 In the so called hybrid automobile, for example, the flywheel
stores some of the energy of the gasoline engine during periods
of high demands and releases it during periods of high demands,
such as during acceleration, hill climbing etc., and thus operates
the engine at a more steady and hence more efficient output.
 Other uses for flywheels include braking and providing
acceleration upon start of subway cars etc.
Continued
 The use of flywheel energy storage by utilities was tried only few years ago.
 In this the flywheel rotor is physically connected to a motor-generator set.
 In the charging mode, during off-peak period, the motor adds energy to the
flywheel.
 In the generation mode, during periods of peak demand, the fly wheel rotor
coasts driving the generator.
 The fluctuations in speed caused by torque variations are reduced to a
minimum by the use of flywheels. As kinetic energy is proportional to the
mass times velocity squared, the changes in the velocity from the addition
or subtraction of kinetic energy are reduced by the use of large mass.
 Conversely, the energy stored in a flywheel can be increased by increasing
the velocity.
 The principal parameters that determine the suitability of flywheels for
energy storage depends on the type of material, stress and density.
 Vibration frequencies, coupled with high cycle fatigue are also expected to
be strength-limiting.
 Thus the suitability of a design for energy storage depends on the design,
on the material, and on the extent of manufacturing flaws and the methods
for detecting and reinserting them; in other words, the stringency of the
quality control standards.
Energy storage by Fly wheel
 Flywheels for energy storage are systems that include,
besides the flywheel itself, a number of subsystems.
 They are housing: bearings, a vacuum pump to minimize
windage losses inside the housing ; seals to minimize oil
and air leakage into the vacuum chamber and
sometimes a containment ring to protect nearby
personnel and equipment from flying fragments in case
of flywheel rotor fracture.
 Losses in a flywheel energy storage include windage,
bearing and seal friction, vacuum pump input power, and
other inefficiencies in the motor generator (or
transmission system).
ELECTRICAL BATTERY STORAGE
 The familiar lead acid battery used in the motor vehicle is a direct
current battery.
 It contains number of voltaic cells that are connected in series.
Each cell contains several lead plates connected in parallel,
made up of grid that are filled with spongy gray lead, Pb, and
which form the anode.
 Alternating with these plates of similar design but containing lead
oxide, PbO2 , which form the cathode.
 All plates are immersed in water solution of Sulfuric acid which
acts as an electrolyte.
 The electrolyte of each cell is housed separately in its
compartment. In discharge mode, direct current is generated. In
the charge mode, the battery can be restored to its original
condition by reversing the direction of current.
 The lead acid battery the can be charged and discharged over
many cycles.
 The lead acid battery is limited to the small specialized use for
which the low energy mass ratio and high cost of chemicals are
not crucial factors
Continued
 Research and development has been going on for a number of
years to develop advanced storage battery system that would
have greater energy mass ratios, lower costs, and greater life
cycle.
 One of these is nickel cadmium battery which uses nickel
hydroxide cathode, a cadmium anode, and a potassium
hydroxide solution electrolyte.
 The battery is characterized by low mass and is primarily used in
portable equipment such as radios and cordless appliances.
 Another is the silver zinc battery which uses a solution of
potassium hydroxide, saturated with zinc hydroxide as an
electrolyte.
 It has an high energy mass ratio but also a high cost. It is
primarily used in applications in which low mass is more
important than cost. It also suffers from low life cycle.
Battery Systems
 Battery systems that are potentially more suitable for
utility applications however use soluble or liquid
reactants and operate at temperatures other than
atmospheric. The ones with the most promise at present
are:
Sodium Sulphur Batteries
 These use molten sodium as one electrode, a sulphur
and sodium sulphite mixture as other and a solid
aluminum oxide electrolyte.
 They have high energy-mass ratio and have long cycle
life because of the lack of solid transformations.
Lithium-Chlorine and Lithium -telluride batteries
 These are less developed than sodium sulphur batteries
but have similar favorable characteristics.
Zinc Chlorine Batteries
 Here a zinc chloride solution is pumped through graphite
cells on which the zinc is deposited and the chloride is
liberated in gaseous form that is drawn away, cooled in a
heat exchanger, and stored in a separate tank.
 In generating mode, the chilled chlorine is pumped as a
solution back to the cells where it reacts with the zinc to
produce electricity.
 This battery has the advantage of constant electric
output that does not drop off during discharge as in the
case. with most other batteries, for as long as there is
chlorine in the storage tank, the battery system develops
essentially constant power.

 The turnaround (charge-discharge) efficiencies of most

batteries are good, about 70 to 80 percent, compared
with some 60 percent for pumped hydro.
SUPERCONDUCTING MAGNETIC
ENERGY STORAGE
 This phenomenon deals with dependence of the
electrical resistance of metals on temperature which
shows that when such metals were cooled to within a
few degrees of absolute zero, their resistance dropped to
zero.
 This is called super conductivity.
 The temperature below which they become
superconductive is called the transition or the critical
temperature.
 All superconducting metals have transition temperatures
in the cryogenic (icy cold or frost) range.
 In 1970, the main application was the construction of
superconducting electromagnets.
Contd.
 These were experimentally used for magneto
hydrodynamic power generation; bubble chambers
to cool electrical generators, motors and
transformers, and electric power transmission and
distribution.
 The latter application promises no-loss transmission.
In the 1970's it was determined that it can best be
accomplished by the use of high purity aluminum
cables operating at liquid hydrogen temperatures
20K (-273 degree C).
Contd.
 Superconducting magnetic energy storage is a
concept that initially received attention for pulsed
energy storage in which the charge and
discharge times have been short.
 The concept is based on the principle that
energy can be stored in the magnetic field
associated with the coil.
 If the coil is made of a material in a
superconducting state, i.e., maintained at a
temperature below its critical temperature, then
once it is charged, the current will not decay and
the magnetic energy can be stored indefinitely.
Contd.
 The stored energy can be released back to the
network by discharging the coil.
 The energy E stored in the coil in which a current I
circulates is given by E = 1/2LI2.
 The inductance of a coil is a function of its
dimensions involving mean radius of coil, width and
depth of conductor (rectangular), and volume of
conductor in one coil turn.
 A coil that gives the maximum value of inductance to
volume L/V is called Brooks Coil.
 It has dimensions a = b, and R = 3/2b .
Contd.
 The mechanical design problem in magnetic energy
storage arises because of the need of a very large
structural mass to contain the magnetic field energy.
 This causes a large radial outward force from the
solenoid.
 The mass is proportional to the material density and
the stored energy, and is inversely proportional to
the stress.
 Such mass if made of stainless steel, would amount
to about 160kg/kWh and result is unacceptable
costs.
Contd.
 This consideration led to the selection of bedrock as
the structural material with an excavated circular
tunnel that would bear the radial outward force and
transmit it to the surrounding.
 As an example of 5500-MWH magnetic storage
system, the total structure has an inner diameter of
1.57Km a height of 15.7m and a thickness of 5 m.
 The solenoid has 112 turns and carries 765000 A
current.
 The energy transfer between the 3 phase ac current
from the grid to the dc magnet is accomplished by an
ac-dc power converter.
 The turnaround efficiency (charge-discharge) of this
circuitry is said be greater than 95 percent.
SENSIBLE ENERGY STORAGE
 Thermal energy storage systems can operate
at many desired temperature levels
depending upon use and choice of system
and material, ranging from refrigeration
temperatures to 1250 degree centigrade.
Contd.
 Sensible energy storage is accomplished by raising
the temperature of a material, such as water, an
organic liquid, or a solid.
 The storage density, J/m3 or Btu/m3, is equal to the
product of the temperature difference, the specific
heat, and density of the material chosen.
 The system is simple in concept but has the
disadvantages of variable temperature operation and
relatively low storage density.
 Following Figure shows an example of pressurized-
water sensible energy storage system in a power plant
in which the primary heat source is either a nuclear
reactor or a fossil fueled furnace.
Diagram
Contd.
 The base loaded portion of the plant is capable of
supplying more steam than needed during periods of
low demand.
 The excess steam is bled at high pressure via turbine
extraction during these periods low demand.
 The extracted steam is fled to steel accumulators and
mixed with water, thus producing saturated
pressurized water.
 The accumulators are later discharged through a small
peaking turbine during periods of high demand.
 Discharge continues until a low specified pressure is
reached in the accumulators.
Contd.
 It has been seen that this results in low and
varying steam temperature entering the
peaking turbine.
 Note that while this system involves steam
condensing in water during accumulator
charge and re-evaporating during discharge,
the storage medium is the pressurized water
in the accumulators and operates over a
relatively wide temperature range.
Contd.
 The electric energy density obtained by the peaking
turbine generator depends upon two efficiencies.
 The first is thermal turnaround efficiency and the
second is the peaking turbine generator efficiency.
 The thermal turnaround efficiency is given by the
energy left in storage after heat losses divided by the
original energy stored.
 The peaking turbine generator efficiency is a complex
function of the losses associated with sensible heat
transfer to and from steel walls, structural members of
the accumulators, and interconnecting pipework, and
the time-dependent convective heat losses to the
environment.
LATENT ENERGY STORAGE
 In this system energy is stored in the form of the latent
heat caused by phase change, either by melting a
solid or vaporizing a liquid.
 Energy release is accomplished by reversing the
process, i.e., solidifying the liquid or condensing the
vapor.
 The storage density here is equal to the product of the
latent heat of fusion (or vaporization) times the density
of the storage material.
 It is much higher than the sensible heat storage
because the latent heats are much larger than the
specific heats of the single phases of the materials.
Contd.
 The system has the additional advantage of operating
at essentially constant temperature with low volume
changes during phase changes.
 Some sensible heat storage may be added to latent
heat storage by further raising the temperature of the
resulting molten solid or vapor.
 Although, little work has been done on the application
of latent heat energy storage to large power plants,
much work has been done on its use for residential
and solar heating applications using fused salts that
are available for high and low temperature ranges.
Contd.
 One of the salts considered most suitable for latent heat
storage is the 70% NaF-30% FeF2 eutectic salt, which
has a fusion temperature of about 680 degree
Centigrade and potentially possesses the highest
storage energy density of any thermal-energy storage
material, about 1500 MJ/m3.
 ZnCl2 is another with fusion temperature of about 370
degree Centigrade and potential energy storage density
of about 400 MJ/m3.
 Other materials being suggested are silicon, germanium,
and sulfides of germanium.
 They have high heats of fusion. A latent heat energy
storage conceptual design using 70% NaF-30% FeF2
eutectic salt as the storage medium has been shown in
figure.
Contd.
 The storage system capacity is 7200 MWh, whereas
the charge-discharge rates are 600 MW.
 The peak electric-generating capacity of the plant is
200 MW for 12h.
 In order to give the necessary heat absorption and
heat release rates, the eutectic is not allowed to freeze
completely but instead operates as slurry.
 Another feature of the design is the addition of a
secondary heat transfer loop using molten lead as a
heat carrier.
 During heat withdrawal, lead is heated from 380
degree centigrade to 675 degree centigrade in the
slurry tank and accomplished by having globules of
lead "rain" on top of the slurry, thus sufficiently stirring
the reservoir.
Contd.
 In addition, it is important that the
temperature of feed water entering the lead
boiler not be lower than the melting point of
lead (325° C).
 This necessitated the addition of a feed water
preheater that uses wet steam from the same
boiler.
Contd.
 During base load operation, helium from the reactor at
775°C is short circuited directly to the helium-water
boiler.
 During periods of low demand, helium is shunted to the
fused salt reservoir, thus storing heat in the slurry at the
fusion temperature of 680°C and leaving at 690°C to the
helium-water boiler.
 During period of peak demand lead is circulated to the
reservoir, leaving at 675°C to the lead-water boiler.
 In all cases steam with the proper flow rate is generated
at 540°C and admitted to the same turbine condenser
system.
 Condensate at 650°C is fed back to the helium-water
boiler and during peak demand, also to the lead- water
boiler via the preheater.
CHEMICAL REACTION
STORAGE
 In this mode of energy storage, the heat of
reaction of reversible chemical reactions is
used to store thermal energy during
endothermic reactions (heat absorbed) and to
release it during exothermic reactions.
 Like latent energy storage, this form also
offers large energy storage densities and
thus has been considered an attractive
alternative for some time.
Contd.
 CO + 3H2 ↔ CH4 + H2O
 In the above equation, heat is stored by absorbing it in
the endothermic direction of reaction, from right to left.
 In the reverse direction of reaction from left to right,
energy is released and the reaction is exothermic
reaction.
 The endothermic reaction is also called Reformation (
a process in which low-grade hydrocarbon is
catalytically reformed to a higher grade hydrocarbon)
and
 The exothermic reaction is called Methanation (it is the
production of methane from a mixture of carbon
monoxide and hydrogen).
Contd.
 A schematic diagram of a power plant with a chemical
storage system using the reaction in the above equation
is shown in the figure.
 During periods of low demand, some heat from primary
heat source is diverted to the reformer (endothermic
reactor) to convert the products CH4 + H2O to the
reactants CO + 3H2,which are stored in a vessel at high
pressure but at ambient temperature.
 During periods of high demand, these reactants are fed
to the methanator (exothermic reactor) where heat is
generated to run a peak turbine (or generate more steam
for the main turbine).
 In the methanator, the reactants are converted to the
products CH4 + H2O which are stored in a separate
vessel for later use in the reformer during periods of low
demand.
Contd.
 A turnaround efficiency of this system is estimated at 85 to 90
percent. The losses are mainly heat Losses to storage vessels
and piping and pumping losses of the gases.
 The two storage vessels and the two reactors will have to
operate at different pressures.
 Storage pressures need to be high to minimize vessel size and
cost, and the reformer has to operate at low pressures to
maximize the rate of endothermic reaction CH4 + H2O → CO +
H2 .
 This is shown in the figure which includes the use of compressor-
expander sets with a compressor between the reformer and the
reactants storage tank and an expander (turbine) between the
latter and the methanator.
 A similar compressor-expander set would be put between the
methanator, the product storage vessel, and the reformer.
Contd.
 The problems associated with such system
include safety in terms of storing large
volumes of high pressure flammable and
poisonous gases, the optimization of the
entire cycle and increase overall efficiency
and proper heat -exchanger design in the
reformer and the methanator.
Energy Storage Characteristics
 The suitability of an energy storage resource for a particular discharge time-frame is determined
by its:
 power density and
 energy density
 Power density
 refers to the energy storage technology’s ability to provide instantaneous power.
 A higher power density indicates that the technology can discharge large amounts of power
on demand.
 Generally, energy storage technologies with the highest power densities tend to have the
lower energy densities;
 they can discharge enormous amounts of power, but only for a short time.
 Energy density
 refers to the ability of the technology to provide continuous energy over a period of time.
 A high energy density indicates that the technology can discharge energy for long periods.
 Energy storage technologies with the highest energy densities tend to have lower power
densities;
 They can discharge energy for a long time, but cannot provide massive amounts of power
immediately.
 This quality gives rise to a division of energy storage technologies into categories based on
discharge times which can be useful in playing many roles with respect to renewables integration.
They are as follows:
Energy Storage Characteristics
 Based on discharge times, energy storage
technologies fall into following categories:
 Short discharge time resources

 Medium discharge time resources

 Medium to long discharge time

resources
 Long discharge time resources

 All of them are briefly defined as follows:

Energy Storage Characteristics
Short discharge time resources
 discharge for seconds or minutes, and have an energy-
to-power ratio (kWh/kW) of less than 1. Examples
include:
 double layer capacitors (DLCs)
 superconducting magnetic energy storage (SMES),
and
 flywheels (FES).

 These resources can provide instantaneous frequency

regulation services to the grid that mitigate the impact of
RE’s uncontrollable variability.
Energy Storage Characteristics
Medium discharge time resources
 In this case, resources discharge for minutes to hours, and have an
energy-to-power ratio of between 1 and 10.
 This category is dominated by batteries, namely lead acid (LA),
lithium ion (Li-ion), and sodium sulphur (NaS), though fly wheels
may also be used.
 Medium discharge time resources are useful for power quality and
reliability, power balancing and load-following, reserves, consumer
side time-shifting, and generation-side output smoothing.
 Moreover, specific batteries may be designed so as to optimize for
power density or energy density.
 As such, they are relevant to both the uncontrollable variability and
partial unpredictability that RE generation brings to the grid.
Energy Storage Characteristics
Medium-to-long discharge time resources:
 In this case, the resources discharge for hours to days,
and have energy-to power ratios of between 5 and 30.
 They include pumped hydro storage (PHS), compressed
air energy storage (CAES), and redox flow batteries
(RFBs).
 Technologies in this category are useful primarily:
 For load-following and time-shifting,
 Can assist RE integration by hedging against weather
uncertainties and
 Can solve diurnal mismatch of wind generation and peak loads
Energy Storage Characteristics
Long discharge time resources
 May discharge for days to months, and have energy-to-power ratios of over
10.
 They include hydrogen and synthetic natural gas (SNG).

 Technologies in this category are thought to be useful for seasonal time-

shifting, and are deployed only when RE penetrations is very large.
 For example, large amounts of solar power on the grid will produce large
amounts of energy in the summer months, but significantly less in the
winter.
 Storing excess generation in the summer as hydrogen or SNG and
converting it back to electricity in the winter would allow a time shift of
generation from one season to the next.
 Such technologies can assist RE integration in the long term by deferring
the need for transmission expansion and interconnection that arises due to
the locational dependency of renewable resources.
 Fuel Cell
 Where did fuel cell come from?
 The 1st fuel cell was built in 1839 by sir
William .G. serious interested in the fuel cell
as practical generators did not begin until this
1960.
What is Fuel Cell ?
 In principle, a fuel cell operates like a battery.
 Unlike a battery, a fuel cell does not run down
or require recharging.
 It will produce energy in the form of electricity
and heat as long as fuel is supplied.
 A fuel cell consists of two electrodes
sandwiched around an electrolyte.
 Oxygen passes over one electrode and
hydrogen over the other, generating
electricity, water and heat.
Diagram
Contd.
 Hydrogen fuel is fed into the "anode" of the fuel cell.
 Oxygen (or air) enters the fuel cell through the
cathode.
 Encouraged by a catalyst, the hydrogen atom splits
into a proton and an electron, which take different
paths to the cathode.
 The proton passes through the electrolyte.
 The electrons create a separate current that can be
utilized before they return to the cathode, to be
reunited with the hydrogen and oxygen in a
molecule of water.
Contd.
 A fuel cell system which includes a "fuel
reformer" can utilize the hydrogen from any
hydrocarbon fuel - from natural gas to
methanol, and even gasoline.
 Since the fuel cell relies on chemistry and not
combustion, emissions from this type of a
system would still be much smaller than
emissions from the cleanest fuel combustion
processes.
TYPES OF FUEL CELL
 1- Phosphoric acid
 2- Proton exchange membrane or solid
polymers.
 3- Molten carbonate.
 4- Solid oxide
 5- Alkaline
 6- Other fuel cell
Phosphoric acid:
 This is the most commercial develop type of fuel cell.
 It is already being used in such diverse applications as
hospital, nursing homes, hotels, office buildings, utility power
and air port terminal.
 Phosphoric acid fuel generates more than 40% efficiency and
nearly 85% of steam this fuel cell produces is used for CO
generation compared to 30% for the most efficient internal
combustion engine.
 Operating temperature is in the range of 400 degree F.
 These fuel cell also can be used in larger vehicles such as
busses locomotives proton exchange membrane.
 These cells operates at relatively low temperature about 200
degree F, have high power density, can vary their output
quickly to meet shifts in power demand and are suited for
applications such as in automobile where quick start up is
required, according to the US department of energy there is a
primary candidate for light vehicles, for building and for
potentially much smaller applications such as replacements
for rechargeable batteries in video cameras.
Molten carbonate
 These cells promise high fuel to electricity
efficiency and the ability to consume cold
based fuels.
 This cell operates at about 1200 degree F.
the first full scale molten carbonate stack has
been tested and in California in 1996.
Solid Oxide:
 Another highly promising fuel cell the solid oxide fuel cell
could be used in big, high power application including
industrial in large scale in central electricity generating station.
 Some developer also sees solid oxide used in motor vehicles.
 A 100 kw test has been readied in Europe too small in 25 kw
are already online in Japan.
 A solid oxide system usually uses a hard ceramic material
instead of a liquid electrolytes allowing operating temperature
1800 degree F.
 Other variation includes a compressed disk that resembles
the top of soup can alkaline. Long used by NASA on space
mission these cells can be achieved power generation
efficiency up to 70%.
 They use alkaline potassium hydroxide as the electrolytes
until recently. They were too costly for commercial
applications but several companies are examining weight to
reduce cost and improve operating flexibility.
Other fuel cells:
 Direct methanol fuel cell DMFC are relatively
new member of the fuel cell family.
 These cells are similar to the PEM cells.
 However in the DMFC the anode catalyst itself
draws the hydrogen from the liquid methanol
 efficiency of about 40% are expected with this
type of fuel cell which would typically operate at
a temperature b/w 120-190 degree F.
 Higher efficiency are achieved at a high
frequency.
REGENERATING FUEL CELLS:
 Still a very young member of the fuel cell
family.
 It would be attracted as closed loop form of
power generation.
 Water is separated into hydrogen and oxygen
by a solar power electrolyser.
 The water is then recalculated back to the
solar power electrolysers and the process
begins again.
 These types of fuel cells are currently being
researched by NASA and other world wide.
BENEFITS of fuel cells:
 New markets. Fuel cell power system market could
exceed $10 billion world wide by 2020 according to a
recent report.
 A mere 1 % of the global vehicles market 450, 000
vehicles would mean another $ 2 billions or more.
 If just 20% of cars used fuel cells they would cut oil
imports by 1.5 million barrels every day.
 If every new vehicles sold in the US in coming years
was occupied with a 60% kw fuel cell.
 10,000 fuel cell vehicles running on non petroleum fuel
would reduce fuel consumption by 6.98 million gallons
per year
CLEAN AND EFFICIENT
 Fuel cells could dramatically reduce urban air
pollution, decrease oil imports and produces
American job.
 The US departments of the energy projects
that if the mere 10% of automobiles nation
wide were powered by fuel cells regulated air
pollutant would be cut by 1 million ton per
year and 60 million tons of the green house
gas carbon dioxide would be eliminated.
FUEL CELL EMISSION:
 Fuel cell running on derived from a reliable
source would be nothing but water vapour
fuel cell can create new market for steel
electronics electrical control industries
suppliers.
 They could provide tens of thousands of high
quality jobs the consultant’s estimates that
each 1 thousand mega volt will create 5000
jobs.
What sort of fuel can be used in
a fuel cell?
 Fuel cells can promote energy diversity and a
transition to renewable energy sources.
 Hydrogen can be used directly.
 Fuel cell today are running on many different
fuel even gas in land field and waste water
treatment plants.
How much do fuel cells cost?
 One company commercially offers fuel cell
power plants for about $ 3000 power kw
 At that price the units are competitive in high
value,” NICHE” markets, and in areas where
electricity price is high and natural gas price
is low.
 Fuel cell will have to be much cheaper to
become commercially in vehicles.
 More research is needed to bring the cost of
fuels cell down to that level.
What is U.S government doing
now?
 The U.S government owns and operates 30
fuel cell cogeneration units, the world’s
largest fleet of fuel cell.
 The U.S department of energy spends the
most i.e. 50 million on research in molten
carbonate and solid oxide fuel cell and more
then 30 million dollar on transportation
application.
Why should government support the
fuel cell development?
 Fuel cell can provide major environmental,
energy and economic benefits.
 Developments and optimization of energy
technologies has always been a partnership
between governments and private sector.
What are other countries doing?
 Canada, Japan and Germany aggressively promoting
fuel cell development with text credits, low interest loans
and grants to support purchases and drive down costs.
 Toyota has been investing heavily in fuel cells vehicles
research. Show casing a methanol fuel cells version of
its RAV4.
 Sport utility vehicles in 1997 while Chrysler recently
invested CAN$450 million in cash.
 The latest been a hydrogen fuel cell passenger vehicles
based on company A class car.
 The company has a fuel cell buss Ballard also has fuel
cell buses running both in Canada and on the other
streets of Chicago.
 Almost all other automakers researching fuel cell cars
are incorporating Ballard fuel cell engine.
What more should be done to
spur development of fuel cell?
 There are three steps to help commercialize fuel cells.
 major increase are needed in research in development
budget
 the federal government should also take the lead to
purchase early power unit and vehicles
 the government should continue to expand the
program to help buy down the costs of early unit install
around the country
 To put cost into perspective we pay more than $5
billion for imported oil each month.
 A smaller fraction of the amount could fully
commercialized fuel cells within five years and creates
tens of thousands of jobs.