Energy Storage: Flywheels

Introduction
A flywheel is a spinning wheel where the energy is stored in the rotor as kinetic energy (a
moving body or a moving vehicle: train, car) or as the rotational kinetic energy of a rotating
disk. Linear kinetic energy storage is a less common technology and is only really
applicable to energy storage systems on board vehicles. An example of such system is the
regenerative braking systems in hybrid vehicles. These systems convert some of the linear
kinetic energy of the vehicle into electricity which is used to charge the vehicles battery.

In linear kinetic energy systems, the amount of kinetic energy (Ekin) is calculated as:
𝟏𝟏
𝑬𝑬𝒌𝒌𝒌𝒌𝒌𝒌 = 𝒎𝒎𝒗𝒗𝟐𝟐 (1)
𝟐𝟐

Where m [kg] is the mass of the moving object and v [m/s] is the linear velocity of the object.
A key point regarding linear kinetic energy storage systems is that it usually results in a
geographical displacement of the storage system; this is likely not practical for many
applications.

The flywheels which exploit the energy produced by a rotating disk can store energy when
their angular velocity increases and discharge when their speed is reduced. They are
driven by a motor generator which exchanges the mechanical energy in electrical energy
and viceversa.

History of Flywheels

Flywheels as means of energy storage have been around for thousands of years. One
very good example is the pottery’s wheel which is driven by a flywheel to produce
vases, plates etc.

Fig.1 An example of pottery’s wheel [1]

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During the industrial revolution flywheels were utilised on steam engine boats and
trains as energy accumulators in factories.A typical example of flywheel in our country
is the Mill Meece Pumping Station near Stoke of Trent where a 6m diameter and a
weight of 31.5 tons flywheel serving 8 million litres of water per day to the local citizens.

Figure 2 The Ashton Frost engine at Mill Meece Pumping Station [2].

Components of a Flywheel

A flywheel is essentially composed of [3]:

• A rotor – Spinning mass storing energy in the form of momentum

• Electric Machines

• Bearings

• Power Electronics

• Controls and Instrumentation

Fig.3 A schematic of a flywheel [4]

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Theory of flywheel.

The rotor is where the kinetic energy is stored. In rotating systems the amount of
kinetic energy is calculated as:

𝟏𝟏 𝟏𝟏
𝑬𝑬𝒌𝒌𝒌𝒌𝒌𝒌 = 𝑰𝑰𝝎𝝎𝟐𝟐 = 𝒎𝒎𝒗𝒗𝟐𝟐 (2)
𝟐𝟐 𝟐𝟐

where I (kg m2) is the moment of inertia of the rotating body and ω (rad s-1) is the objects
angular velocity.

For a solid cylinder the moment of inertia is:

𝟏𝟏
𝑰𝑰 = 𝒎𝒎𝒓𝒓𝟐𝟐 (3a)
𝟐𝟐

For a thin-walled empty cylinder

𝑰𝑰 = 𝒎𝒎𝒓𝒓𝟐𝟐 (3b)

And for Thick-walled empty cylinder:

𝟏𝟏
𝑰𝑰 = 𝒎𝒎�𝒓𝒓𝟐𝟐𝒆𝒆𝒆𝒆𝒆𝒆 + 𝒓𝒓𝟐𝟐𝒊𝒊𝒊𝒊𝒊𝒊 � (3c)
𝟐𝟐

and for a hollow cylinder with an outer radius b and an inner radius a:

𝟏𝟏
𝑰𝑰 = 𝒎𝒎(𝒃𝒃𝟐𝟐 − 𝒂𝒂𝟐𝟐 ) (4)
𝟐𝟐

The useful energy of a flywheel between the maximum angular speed (ωmax) and the
minimum angular speed (ωmin) is:

𝟏𝟏 𝟏𝟏 𝝎𝝎𝟐𝟐𝒎𝒎𝒎𝒎𝒎𝒎
𝑬𝑬 = 𝑰𝑰�𝝎𝝎𝟐𝟐𝒎𝒎𝒎𝒎𝒎𝒎 − 𝝎𝝎𝟐𝟐𝒎𝒎𝒎𝒎𝒎𝒎 � = 𝝎𝝎𝟐𝟐𝒎𝒎𝒎𝒎𝒎𝒎 �𝟏𝟏 − � (5)
𝟐𝟐 𝟐𝟐 𝝎𝝎𝟐𝟐𝒎𝒎𝒎𝒎𝒎𝒎

2
Electrical driven flywheels operate between 𝜔𝜔𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚 and ωmin to avoid large voltage variation
and to limit the maximum motor-generator (MG) torque for a given power rating. Flywheel
are mostly built as hollow cylinder ranging from short and disc-type to long and drum
type. For a flywheel with length h and mass density ρ the moment of inertia is:

𝟏𝟏
𝑰𝑰 = 𝝅𝝅𝝅𝝅𝝅𝝅(𝒃𝒃𝟒𝟒 − 𝒂𝒂𝟒𝟒 ) (6)
𝟐𝟐

And the energy:

𝟏𝟏
𝑬𝑬 = 𝝅𝝅𝝅𝝅𝝅𝝅𝝎𝝎𝟐𝟐 (𝒃𝒃𝟒𝟒 − 𝒂𝒂𝟒𝟒 ) (7)
𝟒𝟒

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The maximum speed at which a flywheel can operate is a function of the strength of the
rotor material tensile strength σ. The maximum stress (σmax) of a thin rotating ring is:

𝝈𝝈𝒎𝒎𝒎𝒎𝒎𝒎 = 𝝆𝝆𝒓𝒓𝟐𝟐 𝝎𝝎𝟐𝟐 (8)

where ρ is the density of the flywheel material r the radius and ω the angular velocity.
More complex equations are needed it for different rotor geometries. The maximum
specific energy and density can now be written as:

𝑬𝑬 𝝈𝝈𝒎𝒎𝒎𝒎𝒎𝒎 𝑱𝑱
= 𝑲𝑲 � � (9)
𝒎𝒎 𝝆𝝆 𝒌𝒌𝒌𝒌

𝑬𝑬 𝑱𝑱
= 𝑲𝑲𝝈𝝈𝒎𝒎𝒎𝒎𝒎𝒎 � � (10)
𝑽𝑽 𝒎𝒎𝟑𝟑

where E is the kinetic energy of the rotor [J]

m is the mass of the rotor [kg]

k is the geometric form factor [dimensionless]

σ the tensile strength of the material [Pa]

ρ the density of the material [kg/m3]

The Laval disk (named after the Swedish engineer Gustav de Laval) has a shape factor
of K = 1. In this particular disk the radial and tangential stress are equal.

Figure 3 Shape factor of common flywheel shapes [3]

Different flywheels are built from different materials which can be isotropic (steel) or
anisotropic (composite). A thin rim flywheel is a very good candidate because of the
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unidirectional stress of these materials. Composite materials have high strength and low
densities make them the ideal flywheels with high energy density (their theoretical
specific density is five times higher than metal ones). They are also better for health and
safety reason over metallic material because in case of failure they will produce much
lighter pieces. Table 1 illustrate the properties of different rotor materials obtained with a
value of K=0.5.

Table1 Rotor material comparison [5].

Electric Machines
Electric machines (EM) are coupled to the rotor to enable the energy conversion and
responsible for the charging process of the flywheels. There are three different kind of
EM such as:

• Induction Machines (IM)

• Permanent Magnet Machines (PM)

• Variable Reluctant Machines (VRM)

An IM is normally utilised in high power flywheels due to its endurance and high torque
coupled with low material cost. Their speed limitation and their high maintenance cost
represent their major disadvantages limiting their application to wind turbines.

A PM is the most common machine for Flywheels for Energy Storage Systems (FESS)
because of its high efficiency, higher density and low power loss (high speed
applications). Their major disadvantages are the high idling losses, high cost and low
tensile strength.

A VRM is very robust machine with low idling losses and a wide speed range with a
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simpler control mechanism compared to IM but with low power energy and low power
density.

Bearing

Bearings are required to support the flywheel with very low friction. They can be of two
different types: mechanicals or magnetics. The oldest bearings are the mechanical ones
which have much higher fraction if compared to the magnetic bearings. They also require
a much higher maintenance cost to the degradation of their lubricants.

Magnetic bearings can be divided into:

• Permanent (passive) magnetic bearings (PMB)

• Active magnetic bearings (AMB)

• superconducting magnetic bearings (SMB)

The major advantages of a PMB are: high stiffness, low cost, and low losses due to
lack of a current. PMB suffers of stability issues and is found space in flywheel as
auxiliary bearing system [5].

The AMB is maintained by the magnetic field and is responsible for the rotor operation.
It has a high capital cost and a complicated control system.

An SMB provides a high speed, frictionless, long lifetime and stable operation
machine. It certainly represents the best bearing for high speed applications. Its major
disadvantage relies on the cryogenic cooling system which requires very low
temperatures (high cost).

Carbon Nanotube (CNT) bundle material for flywheels

If the material could be used in flywheels for energy storage the energy density would
40 times more than lithium-ion batteries. Electric cars with carbon nanotube bundle
flywheels would have a range of 10,000 miles [15].

Flywheels have demonstrated excellent aging characteristics, with cycle lifetimes in

excess of 1,000,000 cycles, regardless of charge rate and depth of discharge.

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Fig.4 Flywheel rotor material versus specific material energy [15]

Boeing and Japanese companies have been working on superconducting bearing

flywheels for several years. In 2012, Boeing flywheel tip speed was 800 m/sec. World
record on small test rotor in 2012 was about 1,405 m/sec.

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Air friction in Flywheel

Smaller flywheels have a smaller ratio between mass (correlated to stored energy) and
surface (correlated to gas friction), and hence, the gas friction which is proportional to
the surface increases [16]. The gas friction (Pgas) can be calculated (Kolk 1997)
assuming molecule to housing impacts only and no molecule to molecule impacts that
would cause a viscous fluid. Since a micro-FESS would run in a highly evacuated
vacuum with a rest pressure of less than 1∗10−4 mbar, the assumption of molecule to
housing impacts would be valid up to a flywheel to housing distance of 1 m.

When a molecule hits the spinning rotor it transfers its momentum:

Where mm is the molecule mass, ω the angular velocity and r the radius.

At an average molecule per time unit hits a specific rotor surface

Where (13)

Thus, the transferred angular momentum of inertia due to molecule impacts is:

This leads to the total gas friction losses with the rotational velocity equal to:

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The gas friction losses PGAS for a solid disk is thus:

and for a thin ring:

With M=NAmm and RG=NAkB=83,145J/(mol∗K)

•Where M: molar mass

•R : molar gas constant
G

•T: temperature
•p: pressure
•h: flywheel height
•N : Avogadro constant
A

Stress analysis in flywheels (disk and rim)

One of the most important parameter in flywheel is the stress σ which is function of the
material property. There are two different materials: isotropic and composite.

In order to evaluate the stress for an isotropic material we need to solve a differential
equation of the second order.

The equilibrium and compatibility equations can be written as (Stedola 1945) [6]:

𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅 𝒅𝒅𝝈𝝈𝒓𝒓
𝒉𝒉𝝈𝝈𝒓𝒓 + 𝒓𝒓𝝈𝝈𝒓𝒓 + 𝒉𝒉𝒉𝒉 − 𝒉𝒉𝝈𝝈𝜽𝜽 + 𝝆𝝆𝝆𝝆𝒓𝒓𝟐𝟐 𝝎𝝎𝟐𝟐 = 𝟎𝟎 (17)
𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅 𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅

𝒅𝒅𝝈𝝈𝜽𝜽 𝒅𝒅𝝈𝝈𝒓𝒓 𝝈𝝈𝒓𝒓 −𝝈𝝈𝜽𝜽

− 𝝂𝝂 = (𝟏𝟏 + 𝝂𝝂) (18)
𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅 𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅 𝒓𝒓

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where r is the radius ν the Poisson ratio, ρ the density, h the axial thickness of the
flywheel and the subscripts r and θ the cylindrical coordinate direction.

Fig.5 Constant stress disk and constant thickness rim flywheel [6].

The strain (ε)-stress (σ) relations for an isotropic material are:

𝑬𝑬 𝑬𝑬
𝝈𝝈𝒓𝒓 = [𝜺𝜺𝒓𝒓 + 𝝂𝝂𝜺𝜺𝜽𝜽 ] 𝝈𝝈𝜽𝜽 = [𝝂𝝂𝜺𝜺𝒓𝒓 + 𝜺𝜺𝜽𝜽 ] (19)
𝟏𝟏−𝝂𝝂𝟐𝟐 𝟏𝟏−𝝂𝝂𝟐𝟐

And the strain displacement relations:

𝒅𝒅𝒖𝒖𝒓𝒓 𝒖𝒖𝒓𝒓
𝜺𝜺𝒓𝒓 = 𝜺𝜺𝜽𝜽 = (20)
𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅 𝒓𝒓

Substituting (15) in (14) and then in (13):

𝒅𝒅𝟐𝟐 𝒖𝒖𝒓𝒓 𝟏𝟏 𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅 𝟏𝟏 𝒅𝒅𝒖𝒖𝒓𝒓 𝝂𝝂 𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅 𝟏𝟏

+� + � +� − 𝟐𝟐� 𝒖𝒖𝒓𝒓 + 𝑨𝑨𝟏𝟏 𝒓𝒓 = 𝟎𝟎 (21)
𝒅𝒅𝒓𝒓𝟐𝟐 𝒉𝒉 𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅 𝒓𝒓 𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅 𝒉𝒉𝒓𝒓 𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅 𝒓𝒓

�𝟏𝟏−𝛎𝛎𝟐𝟐 �𝛒𝛒𝛚𝛚𝟐𝟐
where 𝐀𝐀𝟏𝟏 =
𝐄𝐄

If the stress is constant than 𝝈𝝈𝒓𝒓 = 𝝈𝝈𝜽𝜽 and eq.17 becomes:

𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅 𝝆𝝆𝝎𝝎𝟐𝟐
=− 𝒓𝒓𝒓𝒓𝒓𝒓 (22)
𝒉𝒉 𝝈𝝈
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Integrating eq.(22) with h=ha and r=ra

𝒓𝒓 𝟐𝟐
𝑩𝑩�𝟏𝟏−� � �
𝒉𝒉 = 𝒉𝒉𝒂𝒂 𝒆𝒆𝒆𝒆𝒆𝒆 𝒓𝒓𝒂𝒂 (23)
𝝆𝝆𝝎𝝎𝟐𝟐 𝒓𝒓𝟐𝟐𝒂𝒂
where 𝑩𝑩 =
𝟐𝟐𝟐𝟐

For the rim h=ha= constant and eq.21 becomes:

𝒅𝒅𝟐𝟐 𝒖𝒖𝒓𝒓 𝟏𝟏 𝒅𝒅𝒖𝒖𝒓𝒓 𝟏𝟏

+ − 𝒖𝒖 + 𝑨𝑨𝑨𝑨 = 𝟎𝟎
𝒅𝒅𝒓𝒓𝟐𝟐 𝒓𝒓 𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅 𝒓𝒓𝟐𝟐 𝒓𝒓
with solutions:

𝑨𝑨𝒓𝒓𝟑𝟑 𝒌𝒌𝟐𝟐
𝒖𝒖𝒓𝒓 = − + 𝒌𝒌𝟏𝟏 𝒓𝒓 + (24)
𝟖𝟖 𝒓𝒓

where k1 and k2 are integration constants.

The stress distribution in the disk is:

𝝆𝝆𝒂𝒂 𝝎𝝎𝟐𝟐 𝒓𝒓𝟐𝟐𝒂𝒂

𝝈𝝈 = 𝝈𝝈𝒓𝒓 = 𝝈𝝈𝜽𝜽 = 𝒉𝒉 (25)
𝟐𝟐𝒍𝒍𝒍𝒍�𝒉𝒉𝟎𝟎 �
𝒂𝒂

And the stress distribution for the rim is:

𝑬𝑬𝒃𝒃 𝑨𝑨𝟐𝟐 𝒓𝒓𝟐𝟐 𝒌𝒌

𝝈𝝈𝒓𝒓 = 𝟐𝟐 �−(𝟑𝟑 + 𝝂𝝂𝒃𝒃 ) + (𝟏𝟏 + 𝝂𝝂𝒃𝒃 )𝒌𝒌𝟏𝟏 − (𝟏𝟏 − 𝝂𝝂𝒃𝒃 ) 𝟐𝟐𝟐𝟐� (26)
𝟏𝟏−𝝂𝝂𝒃𝒃 𝟖𝟖 𝒓𝒓

𝑬𝑬𝒃𝒃 𝑨𝑨𝟐𝟐 𝒓𝒓𝟐𝟐 𝒌𝒌

𝝈𝝈𝜽𝜽 = 𝟐𝟐 �−(𝟑𝟑𝝂𝝂𝒃𝒃 + 𝟏𝟏) + (𝟏𝟏 + 𝝂𝝂𝒃𝒃 )𝒌𝒌𝟏𝟏 − (𝟏𝟏 − 𝝂𝝂𝒃𝒃 ) 𝟐𝟐𝟐𝟐� (27)
𝟏𝟏−𝝂𝝂𝒃𝒃 𝟖𝟖 𝒓𝒓

�𝟏𝟏−𝝂𝝂𝟐𝟐𝒃𝒃 �𝝆𝝆𝒃𝒃 𝝎𝝎𝟐𝟐

Where 𝑨𝑨𝟐𝟐 =
𝑬𝑬𝒃𝒃

For composite materials the calculation of the stress is more complex because the
stress strain relationships are now in matrix form and goes beyond the scope of this
unit.

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Application of Flywheels for Energy Storage
Flywheels have a large variety of application such as: Power, renewable energies,

transportation, space and military.

Flywheels provide a very quick response to the requirement of energy demand from

the grid and they can operate for tens of minutes for reactive power support. In 2007

the addition of 500kW flywheel virtual generator allowed the wind turbines at Coral Bay

Wind power station to provide the 95%of Coral Bay’s supply [7].

In transportation flywheels are used in hybrid and electric vehicle to store energy when

fast acceleration is required or to drive uphill [8]. Energy from regenerative braking

from vehicles can also be stored in flywheel and utilised for acceleration. In rail

applications up to 30% of the total energy can be recovered from regenerative

breaking (trains). One example is VYCON Inc. has installed a FESS for the Los

Angeles Country Metropolitan Transportation Authority (LA Metro) Red line (MRL) [9].

Flywheels are also used in roller coaster launch systems such as the Incredible Hulk

Roller Coaster which has 4500kg flywheels charged at 200kW and discharged at 8MW

[10].

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Since 2000 the utilisation of flywheels have been extend to Formula 1 and to the World

Endurance Championship (WEC) (William, Porsche, Audi) Williams Hybrid Power

(WHP) for Audi made history becoming the first hybrid car to win Le Mans in

2010,2013 and 2014 [11].

In Renewable Energies flywheels are employed to stabilise the power output of wind
turbines or in solar photovoltaic systems in conjunction with batteries to increase
storage. The largest flywheel/batteries storage system will be installed this year in
Sheffield providing fast frequency response. This is part of a large European
Collaboration Project between University of Sheffield Schwungrad Energie and
Adaptive Balancing Power, and product supplier Freqcon [13]. ABB’s PowerStore,
Urenco Power, Beacon Power, and VYCON technology are also examples of
industries around the world which have been implemented flywheels in wind and solar
farms.

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References
[1] https://thepotterywheel.com/how-does-a-pottery-wheel-work/
[2] https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ashton_Frost_engine_flywheel.jpg
[3] M.E.Amiryar and K.R. Pullen A review of Flywheel Energy Storage System
[4] https://www.eevblog.com/forum/chat/more-free-energy-bs-or-is-it-(flywheel-generators)/
Technologies and their applications App. Sci. (2017), 7, 286
[5] https://uu.diva-portal.org/smash/get/diva2:476114/FULLTEXT01.pdf
[6] M. A.Conteh and E.C.Nsofor Composite flywheel material design for high-speed energy
storage https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jart.2016.04.005
[7] https://www.energystorageexchange.org/projects/756
[8] Liu, H.; Jiang, J. Flywheel energy storage—An upswing technology for energy
sustainability. Energy Build. (2007), 39, 599–604.
[9] https://www.calnetix.com/newsroom/press-release/vycon-technology-allows-los-
angeles-metro-be-first-transit-agency-us-using
[10] http://constructtwo.com/portfolio/hulk-roller-coaster/
[11] Cotton, A. Audi R18 (2014). Racecar Engineering, 1 June 2014
[12] https://www.thecheckeredflag.co.uk/2012/06/williams-hybrid-power-the-system-
behind-the-le-mans-hybrid-victory/
[13]
https://www.solarpowerportal.co.uk/news/uk_to_host_europes_largest_battery_flywheel_s
ystem
[14] http://beaconpower.com/stephentown-new-york/
[15] https://www.nextbigfuture.com/2018/10/cnt-bundle-material-for-flywheels-40-times-
better-than-batteries.html
[16] https://doi.org/10.1515/ehs-2013-0010

Further Reading
• Levitation and guidance force relaxations of the single−seeded and multi−seeded
YBCO superconductors https://doi.org/10.1016/j.physc.2017.11.001
• Proposed Design for Superconducting Magnetic Bearing System With High-
Temperature Superconducting Discs
http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/stamp/stamp.jsp?tp=&arnumber=8059814
• Frequency control of a wind turbine generator-flywheel system
http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/0309524X17721996
• Decentralized Low-Cost Flywheel Energy Storage for Photovoltaic Systems
http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/stamp/stamp.jsp?tp=&arnumber=7873565
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