Performance analysis of a novel medium temperature compressed air energy storage system based on inverter-driven compressor pressure regulation

Abstract

In compressed air energy storage systems, throttle valves that are used to stabilize the air storage equipment pressure can cause significant exergy losses, which can be effectively improved by adopting inverter-driven technology. In this paper, a novel scheme for a compressed air energy storage system is proposed to realize pressure regulation by adopting an inverter-driven compressor. The system proposed and a reference system are evaluated through exergy analysis, dynamic characteristics analysis, and various other assessments. A comprehensive performance analysis is conducted based on key parameters such as thermal storage temperature, component isentropic efficiency, and designated discharge pressure. The results show that the novel system achieves a relative improvement of 3.64% in round-trip efficiency, demonstrating its capability to enhance efficiency without significantly increasing system complexity. Therefore, the system proposed offers a viable solution for optimizing compressed air energy storage systems.

Graphical abstract

Keywords

adiabatic compressed air energy storage / throttle valve exergy loss / performance analysis / inverter-driven compressor

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the Key Research and Development Program of Hubei Province, China (No. 2022BAD163) and the Foundation of State Key Laboratory of Coal Combustion, China (No. FSKLCCA2112).

Competing Interests

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Electronic Supplementary Material

Supplementary material is available in the online version of this article at https://doi.org/10.1007/s11708-024-0921-0 and is accessible for authorized users.

Notations

Abbreviations
AA-CAES	Advanced adiabatic compressed air energy storage
AC	Air compressor
AST	Air storage tank
CAES	Compressed air energy storage
EFF	Heat exchanger effectiveness
HEX1, HEX2,…	Heat exchangers
HTS	High-temperature storage
ID	Inverter-driven
ID-AC	Inverter-driven air compressor
ID-CAES	Inverter-driven compressed air energy storage
RTE	Round trip efficiency
TV	Throttle valve
V1, V2,…	Directional valves
Variables
e	Exergy flow rate, kJ/kg
\dot{E}x	Exergy rate, kW
h	Specific enthalpy, kJ/kg
m	Mass flow rate, kg/s
P	Pressure, MPa
s	Specific entropy, kJ/(kg∙°C)
T	Temperature, K or °C
t	Time, s
W	Power, MW
\dot{\tilde{C}}	Thermal capacity ratio, kJ/(s∙°C)
η	Isentropic efficiency, %
κ	Adiabatic index of air
π	Compression ratio
χ	Ratio of thermal capacity ratios
Subscripts
AC	Air compressor
cold	Cold inlet
char	Charging loss
D	Destruction
dischar	Discharging fuel
F	Fuel
in	Inlet
hot	Hot inlet
k	Equipment k
P	Product
max	Maximum
out	Outlet

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