Performance comparison of different combined heat and compressed air energy storage systems integrated with organic Rankine cycle

Abstract

Summary Compressed air energy storage (CAES) is promising to enable large‐scale penetration of renewable energies (REs). However, conventional diabatic CAES (D‐CAES) depends largely on fossil fuels, while adiabatic CAES (A‐CAES) is limited in output power. To conquer these disadvantages, concept of combined heat and CAES (CH‐CAES) is proposed in this paper. The proposed system couples an electric heater with conventional A‐CAES. During charging, electricity storage transforms from pure compression to partly relying on Joule heating. The stored heat in an electric heater will be used to boost turbine inlet temperature during discharging. Consequently, system charge/discharge capacity can be improved without enlarging cavern size, raising cavern pressure, and producing greenhouse gases. This paper discusses three types of CH‐CAES systems with different electric heater installation positions. Off‐design performance analysis for each system is conducted on the basis of turbomachinery (compressors, turbines, and the pump) characteristic maps and heat exchangers off‐design models. Performance comparison is conducted between these three CH‐CAES systems (called Mode II, III, and IV for simplification) and the conventional A‐CAES system (Mode I). Control strategies are also given in this paper. Results show that the EVR (energy generated per unit volume of storage) increases with participation of an electric heater, while the RTE (system roundtrip efficiency) slightly decreases. Mode I has the highest RTE. The largest EVR appears in Mode III where the electrical heater is in series with the intercooler and after cooler. Mode II is a compromise solution to achieve both relatively high RET and EVR when the electrical heater is installed in series only with the intercooler. Mode IV with a paralleling electrical heater has great flexibility to adapt different user demands. The integration of the ORC has a positive effect on system RTE and EVR.

An innovative s olar‐powered natural g as‐based compressed air energy storage system integrated with a liquefied air power cycle

“…Both energy and exergy round-trip efficiencies are evaluated as 58% for their proposed system [24]. In another study, Wang et al [25] investigated the integration of ORC with an adiabatic CAES system to produce power, heating, and cooling. Four different configurations of CAES systems were proposed and analyzed in their study.…”

Dynamic characteristics and operation strategy of the discharge process in compressed air energy storage systems for applications in power systems

“…Some CAES demonstration power stations purposed with peak shaving in grids were gradually built 17 . To date, two large‐scale CAES power stations have been put into commercial operation in the world 18‐20 . One is the Huntorf power station built in Germany in 1978.…”

“…The second CAES power station is the McIntosh plant, built in the USA in 1991, with an installed capacity was 110 MW, providing electricity for 26 hours at its rated capacity 11,23 . Both plants work similar to gas turbines, wherein they operate based on the concept of the Brayton cycle 19 . There are many studies on AA‐CAES, 1 which have developed rapidly in recent years.…”

Thermo‐environmental investigation of solar parabolic dish‐assisted multi‐generation plant using different working fluids

“…The system showed the optimum performance in terms of cooling and power generation, had two absorption chillers installed in series with utility fuel ratio of 45 325.50 kJ/kg. Wang et al 36 proposed an idea of combined heat and compressed air energy storage system (CH‐CAES). The system integrated an electric heater at three different installation positions with a conventional compressed air energy storage.…”