Thermo-economic assessments of pumped-thermal electricity storage systems employing sensible heat storage materials
File(s)
Published version
Author(s)
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
Three distinct pumped-thermal electricity storage (PTES) system variants based on currently available sensible heat storage materials are presented: (i) Joule-Brayton PTES systems with solid thermal reservoirs; (ii) Joule-Brayton PTES systems with liquid thermal stores; and (iii) transcritical Rankine PTES systems with liquid thermal stores. Parametric design optimisation is performed for each PTES system variant considering various system configurations, working fluids and storage media from a thermodynamic perspective. The results show that amongst the investigated systems, the recuperative transcritical Rankine PTES system with CO2 as the working fluid and Therminol VP-1 as the storage material achieves the highest roundtrip efficiency of 68%. Further to the optimal thermodynamic performance of these system, their corresponding capital costs are also evaluated. The economic performance comparisons of selected optimal PTES designs reveal that the recuperative transcritical Rankine PTES system with CO2 and Therminol VP-1 exhibits the lowest capital cost of 209 M$ for the given power capacity (50 MW) and discharge duration (6 h). The influences of the power capacity and discharge duration are also investigated, with results showing that the lowest power and energy capital costs are 3790 $/kW (discharge duration of 2 h) and 396 $/kWh (discharge duration of 12 h), respectively.
Date Issued
2022-03-01
Date Acceptance
2022-01-05
Citation
Renewable Energy, 2022, 186, pp.431-456
ISSN
0960-1481
Publisher
Elsevier BV
Start Page
431
End Page
456
Journal / Book Title
Renewable Energy
Volume
186
Copyright Statement
© 2022 The Author(s). Under a Creative Commons license.
License URL
Sponsor
Engineering & Physical Science Research Council (EPSRC)
Engineering & Physical Science Research Council (E
Identifier
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0960148122000192
Grant Number
EP/R045518/1
UOB107926
Subjects
Science & Technology
Technology
Green & Sustainable Science & Technology
Energy & Fuels
Science & Technology - Other Topics
Pumped-thermal electricity storage
Carnot battery
Energy storage
Thermo-economic analysis
AIR ENERGY-STORAGE
FIRED POWER-PLANTS
THERMODYNAMIC ANALYSIS
OPERATIONAL FLEXIBILITY
LIQUID-AIR
PHYSICAL-PROPERTIES
CONCEPTUAL DESIGN
SIDE FLEXIBILITY
TECHNOLOGIES
PERFORMANCE
Energy
0906 Electrical and Electronic Engineering
0913 Mechanical Engineering
0915 Interdisciplinary Engineering
Publication Status
Published
Date Publish Online
2022-01-10