18.

0 Energy Storage

Frank R. Leslie,
B. S. E. E., M. S. Space Technology, LS IEEE
3/26/2010, Rev. 2.0
fleslie @fit.edu; (321) 674-7377
www.fit.edu/~fleslie

Crude oil $81 on 3/26/10

In Other News . . .
Texas-Size Battery
The hoped-for remedy is a battery, a Texas-size
battery, which could eventually end up playing an
important role in wider use of green power generation
such as solar and wind. The U.S. $25 million system,
which is now charging and is set to be dedicated April
8, will be the largest use of this energy storage
technology in the United States.
The four-megawatt sodium-sulfur (NaS) battery
system consists of 80 modules, 8,000 pounds (3,600
kilograms) each, constructed by the Japanese firm
NGK-Locke. They were shipped to Long Beach,
California, in December and transported to Texas
aboard 24 trucks.
The cost of the battery system includes $10 million
just to construct the building in which it will be housed
and the new substation it requires.
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2010/03/100325-presidio-texas-battery/
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18 Overview: Energy Storage

Energy is stored to use it at a different time than when
it was generated
The process of converting the energy to storable form
means that some energy is lost due to inefficiency and
heat
Additional energy is lost when the energy is released or
recovered due to a second inefficiency
Ideally, storage is avoided to have a more efficient
process
Time-of-day metering is likely in the future as metering
becomes electronic and inexpensive (like a thermostat)
Shifting the energy from usage peaks to low-use times
helps the utility, and customers would be rewarded by
lower charges
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18.0 About This Presentation

18.1 General
18.2 History
18.3 Flywheels
18.4 Ultracapacitors
18.5 Pumped Hydro
18.6 Compressed Gas Storage; H2
18.7 Superconductors
18.8 Ice Storage
18.9 Financial Storage
18.10 Renewable Energy Funding
18.11 Issues and Trends
18.0 Conclusion
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18.1 Energy Storage

Renewable energy is often intermittent (like wind
and sun), and storage allows use at a convenient
time
Compressed air, flywheels, weight-shifting (pumped
water storage) are developing technologies
Batteries are traditional for small systems and
electric vehicles; grid storage is a financial
alternative
Energy may be stored financially as credits
in the electrical grid
Net metering provides the same cost as
sale dollars to the supplier; 37 states law;
new law needed in Florida
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www.strawbilt.org/systems/ details.solar_electric.html

18.2 Battery History

Alessandro Volta made primary batteries of dissimilar metals
(silver, zinc, and a salt water wet paper between them) about
1800 (try touching a dime and a nickel in contact to your
tongue)
They were piled up, and became known as a voltaic pile
(from whence came the atomic pile)
Johann Ritter developed a rechargeable (secondary) cell about
1802, but there was no generator to recharge them yet
George Leclanche wet cells used carbon rods and zinc
He made a wet paste that could be sealed into the cell, thus
making a convenient portable energy source; no spilling
In 1860, the secondary or rechargeable battery was further
developed by Raymond Gaston Plant (lead sheets & acid)
A lead paste on the plates provided more active surface area
and allowed longer discharge life in 1881 (Faure)
Germans made the gel-cell with a sealed case in 1960
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18.2 Electrochemical Batteries

Batteries (groups; from artillery guns) of cells are used
separately or in a case containing several cells; a 12V
car battery has six 2V cells inside the case
Large batteries are often use separate 2V cells placed
next to each other in a rectangle
Various cell chemistries are used
Lead-acid; Nickel-cadmium; Lithium
Nickel-metal hydride
Zinc-air
Best suited to storage periods of 1 second to 60 days
Self-discharge and sulphation occur with time
Desulphator circuits can reduce sulfates for longer life

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18.2 Flow Batteries

Flow batteries use pumped electrolytes that
move outside of the battery case
Polysulfide Bromide (PSB), Vanadium Redox
(VRB), Zinc Bromine (ZnBr), and Hydrogen
Bromine (H-Br) batteries are examples
A filling station could exchange spent
electrolyte for new charged electrolyte
The power and energy ratings are thus
independent since the power is from the battery
electrodes while the electrolyte may be replaced
periodically

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18.3 Flywheels
Flywheels store energy as angular momentum
Best suited to storage periods of 1 second to 10
minutes
High temperature superconducting bearings reduce
bearing friction to 2% of speed drop per day
Ball bearings are so inexpensive that the performance
gains of magnetic bearings are irrelevant
The flywheel case is designed with a shield to contain
a failed rotor and its pieces if it shatters and blows up
Batteries are much cheaper than flywheel systems
Test buses used flywheels that were spun up by
electricity at bus stops; no wires along streets

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http://www.et.anl.gov/sections/te/research/flywheel.html

18.3 Flywheels & Trains

This trackside flywheel system
provides stabilization of voltages on
the track system by being both motor
and generator
Similar types are used to stabilize
renewable energy outputs
Buses have been operated that use
flywheels charged by electricity at the
bus stops, thus avoiding the cost of
overhead trolley wires
http://www.uptenergy.com/

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http://www.uptenergy.com/en/traction/casestudy2.htm

http://www.et.anl.gov/sections/te/research/flywheel.html

18.4 Ultracapacitors
Ultracapacitors are very high capacitance units
Best suited to storage periods of 0.1 second to 10
seconds
Stored energy is 0.5 C V2
Capacitances now reach 2.7 kF (kilofarad)
Carbon electrode surface areas 1000m2 to 2000m2
per gram provide high capacitance
Electrolytes are sulfuric acid or potassium
hydroxide

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http://aries.www.media.mit.edu/people/aries/portable-power/

18.5 Hydro Pumped Storage

Special turbines can run either to spin an
alternator or to act as a pump
This reversibility allows excess electrical energy
to be used to pump water to a higher storage
reservoir to be used as an energy source later
Since 2.31 ft of elevation has a bottom pressure
of one pound per square inch (psi), a head height
of 200 ft is equivalent to 86 psi
Japan built a 30MW seawater pumped hydro
system at Yanbaru in 1999
Worldwide, pumped hydro is about 90GW, ~3%
of total storage, the most widespread highenergy storage technique
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18.5 San Luis, California

Each of the eight
pumping-generating
units has a capacity of
63,000 horsepower [47
MW] as a motor and
53,000 kilowatts as a
generator. As a pumping
station to fill San Luis
Reservoir, each unit lifts
1,375 cubic feet per
second at 290 feet total
head. As a generating
plant, each unit passes
1,640 cubic feet per
second at the same
head.
Bureau of Reclamation

http://www.usbr.gov/power/data/sites/sanluis/sanluis.htm

Note the disparity between motor and

generator!?! Perhaps stream flow into storage?

18.5.1 Hydro Examples

Pumped hydro
systems are installed
world wide, but there
are limited locations
where new dams may
be installed
Opposition to dams is
increasing, thus
political rather than
technical factors are
restricting the new
installations
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http://www.mwhglobal.com/

18.6 Compressed Air Pumped Storage

"The world's first compressed air energy storage plant
was in Germany," Lee Davis (plant manager for the
Compressed Air Energy Storage (CAES) Power Plant in
McIntosh, Alabama). "The Alabama CAES plant was the
first in the United States when it opened in 1991.
Electrical motors compress air to 1078 psi within
underground salt caverns (100 MW); heat is lost in the
cavern
On release, natural gas is burned to heat the air again,
which then passes through a turbine, spinning an
alternator (326 MWe)
The Norton Energy Company plans a similar site using
an abandoned limestone mine 35 miles south of
Cleveland, Ohio
http://www.acfnewsource.org/science/energy_mine.html
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http://www.caes.net/mcintosh.html

http://unisci.com/stories/20013/0802016.htm

18.6.1 Compressed Air Energy Storage

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http://www.sandia.gov/media/NewsRel/NR2001/norton.htm

18.6.2 Compressed H2 and NG Storage

Hydrogen is normally
stored in 8-inch tubes and
tanks
H2 pressures range
from 2000 to 10,000
psi
Nickel-metal hydride is
a solid pellet or powder
storage
CNG or compressed
natural gas is stored at
3000 psi
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http://tbn0.google.com/images?q=tbn:wNbQtldsA8JF3M:http://cache.viewimages.com

18.6.3 Liquid Air Energy Storage

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries is developing LASE
(Liquid Air Storage Energy)
The system makes liquid air at nights and
weekends for vaporization and electricity
generation
The turbine is based upon a rocket motor pump
This load-shifting provides the economic
incentive to use the system
Could also be done with liquid nitrogen storage

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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liquid_nitrogen_economy

18.7 Superconductors
Since a superconductor has essentially zero
resistance, a current once started will flow
forever
At a later time, energy could be extracted from
the superconductor
Since the superconductors must be kept far
below usual air temperature (~20K to 80K),
energy must be used to compress the gas and
make it liquefy
Newer superconductors are being investigated to
find ones with a higher critical temperature near
room temperature

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http://www.accel.de/pages/2_mj_superconducting_magnetic_energy_storage_smes.html

18.7.1 Superconductor Example

A current is induced in the superconductor toroid by inserting a

magnet briefly
Once replaced in the liquid nitrogen, the current circulation can be
detected by a compass
Current decay is on the order of 50% in 1020 years
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http://www.imagesco.com/articles/supercond/08.html

18.8 Ice Thermal Energy Storage

Air conditioning systems have a high afternoon
load to offset the sun heating of the building and
the higher outside temperature
Freezing ice during the night provides a latent
heat absorber at lower energy prices, assuming
demand charges or time-of-use rates are imposed
During the day, the ice is melted as the
refrigerant is condensed as it passes through
pipes in the ice
The overall process thus provides air conditioning
at a lower cost
Bayside High School in Palm Bay FL uses this
method
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18.9 Financial Storage

Storage of energy as a credit from the utility company can be
the most efficient method
No batteries are required with grid intertie, but might be used
to provide backup power
In net metering states, a single electrical energy meter is used
Energy flow moves the meter higher for purchased energy
and lower for energy sold from the local site
The utility company can avoid meter-reading costs by
reading the meter once a year
Since the values are only in accounting books, there is no
energy loss (likely used by the neighbors)
However, ~16 states have yet to regulate the charges, and
some utilities may pay $0.023/kWh but charge $0.07 or higher
The nonnet-metering system should be designed to reduce the
bill to nearly zero but never sell energy into the utility system

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18.10 Renewable Energy Funding

President Clinton served from 1992 through 2000
During 1992-1999, the Dept. of Energy Renewable Energy
budget varied from $388M to $488M, reaching its low of
$363M in 1997
The 1999 DOE RE budget shows these top areas:
Electric Energy Systems
$38M
Geothermal
$33M
Hydrogen Research
$24M
Hydropower
$4M
Solar Energy was separated out at $112M to $87M in 1997
to $ 116M in 1999
The major budget item in 1999 was biofuels $89M,
followed by PV at $79M
Budget at 4/2007 at ~$307M vs. ~$200M
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18.11 Issues and Trends

Energy storage provides energy at a different time
than when it was generated (time-shifting)
Conventional storage systems such as batteries and
pumped hydro continue to dominate due to cost
Short-term storage or energy-smoothing devices like
flywheels and ultracapacitors work well in the 10second time range
Unneeded generators are often kept in spinning
reserve, motoring without load to act as generators
if additional power is required (air and bearing losses)
This also stores reactive power (v.a.r.s or vars)
Energy storage will smooth peaks and valleys of
availability, but load shifting by the users is more
useful
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18 Conclusion: Energy Storage

Energy storage is to be avoided due to the losses,
but may be economic when load time-shifting is
possible
Energy must be stored in vehicles since they
cannot obtain sufficient power from wind or sun on
the vehicle
Special student SunRayce PV cars are fragile
and light, and cannot be used in normal
highway traffic without a significant death rate
Protected by team cars travelling with them
Newer technologies may increase energy storage
density at a lower cost; both are needed for a
viable product
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Olin Engineering Complex 4.7 kW Solar PV Roof Array

Questions?

080116

References: Books
Boyle, Godfrey. Renewable Energy, Second Edition. Oxford: Oxford
University Press, 2004, ISBN 0-19-26178-4. (my preferred text)
Brower, Michael. Cool Energy. Cambridge MA: The MIT Press, 1992. 0-26202349-0, TJ807.9.U6B76, 333.7940973.
Duffie, John and William A. Beckman. Solar Engineering of Thermal
Processes. NY: John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 920 pp., 1991
Gipe, Paul. Wind Energy for Home & Business. White River Junction, VT:
Chelsea Green Pub. Co., 1993. 0-930031-64-4, TJ820.G57, 621.45
Patel, Mukund R. Wind and Solar Power Systems. Boca Raton: CRC Press,
1999, 351 pp. ISBN 0-8493-1605-7, TK1541.P38 1999, 621.312136
Srensen, Bent. Renewable Energy, Second Edition. San Diego: Academic
Press, 2000, 911 pp. ISBN 0-12-656152-4.
Texter, [MIT]

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References: Websites, etc.

http://www.mhi.co.jp/tech/htm/8353t/e835305t.htm liquid air energy storage
http://unisci.com/stories/20013/0802016.htm on compressed air storage
http://www.aip.org/isns/reports/2001/025.html on compressed air storage
http://www.sandia.gov/media/NewsRel/NR2001/norton.htm on compressed air storage
http://www.eere.energy.gov/der/compressed_air.html
http://www.hepi.com/basics/history.htm batteries
http://www.et.anl.gov/sections/te/research/flywheel.html flywheels
http://www.aspes.ch/faq.html
http://www.netl.doe.gov/publications/proceedings/01/hybrids/Hybrid%20Workshop%20Group%203%20Breakout
%20NREL.pdf
http://www.netl.doe.gov/publications/proceedings/01/hybrids/
http://www.electricitystorage.org/sitemap.htm
http://www.uptenergy.com/en/traction/casestudy2.htm on electric Chinese bus
http://www.acfnewsource.org/science/energy_mine.html

______________________________________________________________________________
www.dieoff.org. Site devoted to the decline of energy and effects upon population
www.ferc.gov/ Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
www.google.com/search?q=%22renewable+energy+course%22
solstice.crest.org/
dataweb.usbr.gov/html/powerplant_selection.html

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