FLYWHEEL ENERGY STORAGE SYSTEM

A SEMINAR report submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements to the

Faculty of Engineering for the Award of Degree of

BACHELOR OF TECHNOLOGY
In
MECHANICAL ENGINEERING
By

K.MADHU 17KD5A0307

Department of Mechanical Engineering

DEPARTMENT OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING

LENDI INSTITUTE OF ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY
(Approved by AICTE Affiliated to JNTU, Kakinada)
(Accredited by NBA & Accredited by NAAC with ‘A’ Grade, AUTONOMUS)
Jonnada (V), Denkada (M),
Vizianagaram (Dist.)
2016-2020
 INDEX
ABSTRACT 1
1. INTRODUCTION 2
2. STRUCTURE AND COMPONENTS OF FESS 4
2.1 FLYWHEEL ROTOR: 4
2.2 BEARINGS 5

2.3 MOTOR/GENERATOR 7

2.4 POWER ELECTRONICS AND CONTROL SYSTEM 7

2.5 HOUSING 8

3. ADVANTAGES: 8

4. APPLICATIONS: 9

4.1 FESS IN SPACE APPLICATIONS 9

4.2. RENEWABLES 9

4.3. MILITARY 10

5. CONCLUSION 10

6. REFERENCES
 ABSTRACT

As a clean energy storage method with high energy density, flywheel energy storage
(FES) rekindles wide range interests. Since the rapid development of material science
and power electronics, great progress has been made in FES technology. Material used
to fabricate the flywheel rotor has switched from stone, stainless-steel to the latest
composite material. With the introduction of magnetic bearing and high-efficient
motor/generator, FES becomes a powerful competitor to chemical battery and develops
wider application fields. This report describes the latest developments of FES
technology. Rotor, bearing suspension system, motor/generator are the key parts of a
FES system. Finally, application area of FES technology is presented including energy
storage and attitude control in satellite, high-power uninterrupted power supply (UPS),
electric vehicle (EV), power quality problem.

1
 INTRODUCTION

The idea of storing energy in a rotating wheel has been brought forward since
2400 BCE, when the Egyptians used hand-turned stone wheels to craft pottery. In the
years between 1800 and 1950, traditional steel-made flywheel gained application areas
in propulsion, smooth power drawn from electrical sources, road vehicles. Modern
flywheel energy storage system (FESS) only began in the 1970’s. With the development
of high tense material, magnetic bearing technology, permanent magnetic motor, power
electronics and advanced control strategy, FESS regains interests from many research
organizations and companies, such as NASA’s GRC, US Army and Active Power Inc.
Another driving factor for the upswing focus on FESS is the need to find a more
efficient and environmental friendly energy storage method.

The flywheel as a means of energy storage has existed for thousands of years as
one of the earliest Mechanical energy storage systems. For example, the potter’s wheel
was used as a rotatory object using the flywheel effect to maintain its energy under its
own inertia. Flywheel applications were performed by similar rotary objects, such as
the water wheel, lathe, hand mills, and other rotary objects operated by people and
animals. These spinning wheels from the middle ages do not differ from those used in
the 19th or even 20th centuries. In the 18th century, the two major developments were
metals replacing wood in machine constructions and the use of flywheels in steam
engines. Developments in cast iron and the production of iron resulted in the production
of flywheels in one complete piece, with greater moment of inertia for the same space.
The word ‘flywheel’ appeared at the beginning of the industrial revolution (namely in
1784). At the time, flywheels were used on steam engine boats and trains and as energy
accumulators in factories. In the middle of 19th century, as a result of the developments
in cast iron and cast steel, very large flywheels with curved spokes were built. The first
three-wheeled vehicle was built by Benz in 1885 and can be named as an example. Over
time, several shapes and designs have been implemented, but major developments came
in the early 20th century, when rotor shapes and rotational stresses were thoroughly
analyzed, and flywheels were considered as potential energy storage systems. An early
example of a flywheel system used in transport was the Gyro bus, powered by a 1500
kg flywheel, produced in Switzerland during the 1950s. In the 1960s and 1970s, FESS
were proposed for electric vehicles, stationary power back up, and space missions. In

2
the following years, fiber composite rotors were built and tested. In the 1980s, relatively
low-speed magnetic bearings started to appear.

Despite major developments during their early stages, the utilization of

flywheels has not been significant and has declined with the development of the electric
grid. However, due to the recent improvements in materials, magnetic bearings, power
electronics, and the introduction of high speed electric machines, FESS have been
established as a solid option for energy storage applications.

A flywheel stores energy that is based on the rotating mass principle. It is a

mechanical Storage device which emulates the storage of electrical energy by
converting it to mechanical energy. The energy in a flywheel is stored in the form of
rotational kinetic energy. The input energy to the FESS is usually drawn from an
electrical source coming from the grid or any other source of electrical energy. The
flywheel speeds up as it stores energy and slows down when it is discharging, to deliver
the accumulated energy. The rotating flywheel is driven by an electrical motor-
generator (MG) performing the interchange of electrical energy to mechanical energy,
and vice versa. The flywheel and MG are coaxially connected, indicating that
controlling the MG enables control of the flywheel.

A modern FESS consists of five primary components. They are rotor, bearing,
motor/generator, power electronics, and vacuum containment. In order to achieve

3
minimum energy loss, the flywheel rotor is installed in a vacuum container. The energy
will be transferred into and out of the flywheel through the generator/motor that serves
as a generator to spin down the flywheel when discharge and as a motor to spin up the
flywheel when charge.

2. STRUCTURE AND COMPONENTS OF FESS:

FESS consist of a spinning rotor, MG, bearings, a power electronics interface, and
containment or housing, which are discussed in detail in the following subsections. A
typical flywheel system suitable for ground-based power is schematically shown in
Figure.

2.1 FLYWHEEL ROTOR:

Generally, the flywheel rotor is composed of the shaft, hub and rim. The rim is
the main energy storage component. Since the flywheel stores kinetic energy, the
energy capacity of a rotor has the relation with its rotating speed and material.

The material strength and density determine the flywheel rotor’s energy
capacity. Carbon-fiber composite and alloy steel are the two common materials used to
fabricate rotor. Higher strength means higher rotating speed, so composite rotor

4
operates at speed measured in tens of thousands RPM and steel rotors usually rotate at
thousands.

Selection of material depends on energy requirement, risk, cost and application area.
For instance, in NASA’s integrated power and attitude control (IPAC) for satellite
project, usable power and light weight are the pre-determined factors. However, in
commercial UPS market, cost and reliability are most regarded, so Active Power choose
4340 steel to reduce product cost. Apart from single rim disk, multi-rim design can
make full use of different materials to enhance the energy density and reduce cost for
the material of the rim. Thickness calculation and stress analysis are carried out to
optimize the multi-rim design. During the fabrication process, filament winding and
press-fitting methods are widely utilized to attach the rim to a metal shaft through the
hub.

2.2 BEARINGS

Bearings are required to keep the rotor in place with very low friction, yet
provide a support mechanism for the flywheel. The bearing system can be mechanical
or magnetic, depending on the weight, lifecycle life, and lower losses. Gas bearings
cannot be used due to the vacuum within the enclosure. Traditionally mechanical ball
bearings have been used, but these have a higher friction compared to magnetic
bearings and also require higher maintenance as a result of lubricant deterioration.
These difficulties may be mitigated by using a hybrid system of magnetic and
mechanical bearings. A magnetic bearing has no friction losses and does not require
any lubrication but, if active, requires power to energize it. It stabilizes the flywheel by
supporting its weight using permanent magnets. Permanent (passive) magnetic bearings
(PMB), active magnetic. (AMB), and superconducting magnetic bearings (SMB) are
the main types of magnetic bearing systems. A PMB has high stiffness, low cost, and
low losses, due to lack of a current. However, it has limitations in providing stability
and is usually considered as an auxiliary bearing system. An AMB is operated by the
magnetic field produced from current carrying coils controlling the rotor position. It
positions the rotor through a feedback system by applying variable forces which are
determined based on the deviation of the rotor position, due to external forces. An AMB
has a high cost, a complicated control system, and consumes energy to operate, which
in turn, adds to system losses. FESS standby loss is affected by the AMB mass. As a

5
result, increasing the rotational speed and AMB mass add to the AMB iron and copper
loss.

Schematic of an AMB system

To ensure a good efficiency of the overall system, a compromise between speed

and losses has to be made. An SMB provides a high speed, frictionless, long life,
compact, and stable operation. It is the best magnetic bearing for a high speed operation
as it can stabilize the flywheel without electricity or a positioning system, according to.
However, an SMB requires a cryogenic cooling system as it operates at a very low
temperature; but recently, it has been improved by using high temperature
superconductors (HTS). The main drawback of an SMB system is its very high cost.
The parasitic losses of mechanical bearings are about 5% of the total storage capacity
per hour unless hybrid systems are used. This factor is about 1% for electromagnetic
bearings 14 and can be further lowered to 0.1% by using HTS bearings. The use of
hybrid bearings will reduce the losses and complexity of the control system and also
provide a stable and cost effective solution. A compact flywheel energy storage system
assisted by hybrid mechanical-magnetic bearings is proposed in. The magnetic

6
levitation in the vertical orientation is maintained by the magnetic bearing, while the
translational and rotational levitation is assisted by mechanical bearing. In a
combination of SMB and PMB have been analyzed to reduce the cost of the cooling
system. The position of the flywheel rotor is controlled by the PMB and the SMB is
mainly used to suppress the rotor vibrations. However, the capability of PMB in
restraining the system during high speeds still remains in question.

2.3 MOTOR/GENERATOR

Energy conversion between electrical and mechanical form is made available

through motor/generator. The key criterions to select this component include high
efficiency, high power density and low rotor loss. During the flywheel’s standby state,
the motor/generator’s zero power spinning loss should be as low as possible. Thus, in
most high speed FESS, permanent magnetic synchronic machine (PMSM) is chosen.
However, due to specific application and cost control, various machine types are also
considered in flywheel systems, such as induction machine, synchronous reluctance
machine and synchronous homo-polar machine.

2.4 POWER ELECTRONICS AND CONTROL SYSTEM

Power converter is the interface between motor/generator and power system.

Design requirements of the power electronics system are high power capacity, high
switching frequency and low loss.

7
With the rapid development of semiconductor technology, IGBT and IGCT become the
first choice. Control system of a FESS includes magnetic bearing control and
motor/generator control. The later one manages the charge and discharge of the
flywheel. The control algorithm should operate well at high speed and provide
maximum torque under rated voltage or current. As for PMSM there are two basic
strategies: vector control and directed torque control. Numerous improvements have
been made to enhance the system efficiency and reduce harmonic distortion.

2.5 HOUSING

The containment for a flywheel system provides vacuum enclosure, mounting

location for inner components and protecting external facilities from rotor failure. The
wall of containment should be able to absorb the remaining energy of rotor debris. The
crack mode of rotor depends on its materials. Metal flywheel rotors are prone to break
into large pieces. That can be predicted because metals are homogeneous isotropic.
Composite rotors are composed of different materials, so the rotor failure mode analysis
and mechanical loads (i.e. axial load, radial load, and torque load) evaluation are
necessary for building a metallic containment economically and reliably.

3. ADVANTAGES:

 High energy conversion efficiency than batteries, a FESS can reach 93%.
 Accurate measurement of the state of charge by measuring the speed of the
flywheel rotor.
 Eliminate the lead acid proposal issues of chemical batteries.
 Shorter recharge time, deeper depth of discharge (DOD). For example, to
discharge 1/10 of the energy available, batteries need about 20 times more than
the flywheel to recharge to the full state. And the FESS has at least 75% DOD
when batteries only have 60%-65%.
 Flywheels have a long life time and very low operational and maintenance
requirements. The cycle life is also high, compared to many other energy
storage systems, as flywheels do not require long charge-discharge cycles.
 The technology is capable of transferring large amounts of power in seconds,
with a high roundtrip energy efficiency in the range of 90%–95% .

8
  It can deliver its stored energy and recharge quickly, in a matter of seconds.
 It is an environmentally friendly technology and there are no emissions as a
result of its operation, since the material used is not hazardous to the
environment

4. APPLICATIONS:

There are a wide range of applications of flywheels in high power output for
short periods; however, in addition to the rotor material, a longer storage period requires
developing new rotor designs (e.g., larger diameter rotors and/or rotor laminations), to
allow longer storage durations.

The most common applications are:

4.1 FESS IN SPACE APPLICATIONS

Conventional low earth orbit space satellites require energy storage system and
moment gyro attitude reference. High speed FESS can provide energy storage and
attitude control at the same time. NASA’s IPAC system shows the advantages of FESS
like improved efficiency, reduced space satellite weight and cost. Another NASA’s
flywheel utilization is to regulate DC bus power of international space station (ISS).
During eclipse period of ISS earth orbit, the FESS provides power to the load.
Experiment results prove the feasibility of replacing batteries with a FESS.

NASA’s FESS

9
4.2. RENEWABLES

Flywheels can assist in the penetration of wind and solar energy in power
systems by improving system stability. The fast response characteristics of flywheels
make them suitable in applications involving RES for grid frequency balancing. Power
oscillations due to solar and wind sources are compensated for by storing the energy
during sunny or windy periods, and are supplied back when demanded. A FESS is
operated as a UPS system, to allow maximum solar power injection during sunshine
and ramp up diesel generators when the sun is obscured. This enables a saving of
405,000 liters of fuel and 1100 metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions each year.
Moreover, the integration of flywheels in the system has helped the PV system to supply
60% of the average daytime energy for both towns, generating 1 GWh of renewable
energy per year.

4.3. MILITARY

In the military, a recent trend has been towards the inclusion of electricity in
military applications, such as in ships and other ground vehicles, as well as for weapons,
navigation, communications, and their associated intelligent systems. This use of
electric energy at different rates and different power levels requires energy storage to
respond rapidly and reliably to this variable energy demand. Hybrid electric power is
essential for future combat vehicles, based on their planned electrically powered
applications. Flywheels appear as an appropriate energy storage technology for these
applications. They are combined with super capacitors to provide power for high speed
systems requiring power in less than 10 µs.

5. CONCLUSION

Flywheel energy storage shows promising future in commercialization. With

the rapid development of material sciences and semiconductor technology,
performance of flywheel rotor and system efficiency enhanced greatly. This paper
reviews the main technical considerations of each FESS components and introduces
flywheel energy’s application areas. Further research is underway to cut the fabrication
cost and improve system stability.

10
6. REFERENCES:

 Medina, P.; Bizuayehu, A.W.; Catalao, J.P.S.; Rodrigues, E.M.G.;

Contreras, J. Electrical Energy Storage Systems: Technologies’
State-of-the-Art, Techno-economic Benefits and Applications
Analysis. In Proceedings of the 47th Hawaii International
Conference on System Sciences, Waikoloa, HI, USA, 6–9 January
2014; pp. 2295–2304.
 REVIEW OF FLYWHEEL ENERGY STORAGE SYSTEM Zhou
Long, Qi Zhiping Institute of Electrical Engineering, CAS.
 US Department of energy, Flywheel Energy Storage An alternative
to batteries for uninterruptible power supply systems, 2004.

11