CAES

Compressed Air Energy Storage

A lva sim P. A
M TA G E E E 0 0 3
S7 EEE
Energy Storage
Energy is stored to use it at a different time
than when it was generated.
Renewable energy is often intermittent (like
wind and sun), and storage allows use at a
convenient time.
Reliable and affordable energy storage is a
prerequisite for using renewable energy.
Energy storage is the most promising
technology currently available to meet the
ever increasing demand for energy.
Importance of Energy Storage
Thrust for Renewable Energy sources.
Managing Grid Peaks and Outage Mitigation.
Energy Buffering.
Importance in the present context.
Types of Energy Storage
Systems
CAES
 Compressed Air Energy Storage
What is CAES?
 Compressed Air Energy Storage (CAES) refers
to the compression of air to be used later as
energy source.
 At utility scale, it can be stored during periods of
low energy demand (off-peak), for use in meeting
periods of higher demand (peak load).
 Alternatively it can be used to power tools, or even
vehicles.
 It is a type of Mechanical Energy Storage.
 Preferable for large scale storage.
 A CAES plant stores electrical energy in the form of
air pressure, then recovers this energy as an
input for future power generation.
Conceptual Representation
 Adiabatically

METHODS
METHODS
FOR
FOR Diabatically
COMPRESSION
COMPRESSION
Isothermally
Adiabatic Compression
Assumes that no energy (heat) is transferred to
or from the gas during the compression
process and all mechanical work is added to
the internal energy of the gas, resulting in
increases of temperature and pressure.
The heat that appears during compression is
also stored, then returned to the air when the
air is expanded.
This is a subject of ongoing study, but no utility
scale plants of this type have been built.
Diabatic Compression
The extra heat is removed from the air and is
dissipated into the atmosphere as waste.
Upon removal from storage, the air must be re-
heated prior to expansion in the turbine to
power a generator.
The system is simpler than the adiabatic one.
The only one which has been implemented
commercially.
Isothermal Compression &
Expansion
Assumes that the compressed gas remains at a
constant temperature throughout the
compression or expansion process.
Isothermal compression and expansion attempt
to maintain operating temperature by
constant heat exchange to the environment.
It is only practical for rather low power levels,
unless very effective heat exchangers can be
incorporated.
Types of CAES systems
Hybrid Systems
 In a hybrid power generation system, the stored
compressed air is mixed with a fuel suitable for
an internal combustion engine.
 For example, natural gas or biogas can be added,
then combusted to heat the compressed air, and
then expanded in a conventional gas turbine,
using the Brayton cycle.
 In addition, Compressed air engines can be used in
conjunction with an electric battery.
 The compressed air engine, drawing its energy
from compressed air tanks, recharge the electric
battery.
 Such a system is called a Pneumatic Plug-in Hybrid
Electric Vehicle-system.
  Existing hybrid  Future hybrid
systems: systems:
A hybrid plant was A proposed hybrid
commissioned in power plant is under
Huntorf (Germany), consideration in
and again in Iowa. Here the wind
McIntosh, Alabama power will be used
(USA). Both systems for air compression.
use off-peak energy Additional facilities
for the air are under
compression. development in
Norton, Ohio and
Iowa Stored Energy
Park (ISEP).

CAES Power Plant at Huntorf
Lake or Ocean Storage
 The need for pressurized vessels or for mining can
be obviated by placing the pressurized air
underwater in flexible containers (e.g. plastic
bags) - at the bottom of deep lakes or off sea
coasts with steep drop-offs.
 Challenges include the limited number of suitable
locations and the need for very-high-pressure
pipelines between shore and depth.
 However, since the containers would be very
inexpensive, the need for great pressure (at great
depth) may not be as important.
 A key benefit of systems built on this concept is
that charge and discharge pressures are always
constant (as determined by depth).

Energy Storage in Submerged,
Open Bottomed, Anchored
Caissons
This is energy storage by the displacement of
water by compressed air.
To recover the energy compressed air is an
intermediate energy carrier.
One possibility is to sink the type of caisson
used.
Structures could be constructed and floated
into much deeper water, sunk and anchored
to the bottom using rock anchors.
A flexible air pipe could be brought to the
surface, to say a wind turbine base, housing
an air compressor and an air turbine
generator set.
 By pumping compressed air down to the caisson,
water would be ejected lowering the internal
water surface to the bottom of the caissons.
 To recover the stored energy the air valve would be
opened and the energy recovered via the air
turbine as the water re enters and air is forced
out.
 Because the container is open bottomed, there is
no internal or external pressure force.
 However there will be massive buoyancy forces to
be restrained.
 90% of the energy will be in the displaced water
and only 10% in the compressed air itself.

 Conventional Gas- Compressed Air Energy
Vs
 

Turbine Storage

 The air that drives the  Needs less gas to

turbine is compressed produce power during
and heated using periods of peak
natural gas. demand because it
 Nearly two-thirds of the uses air that has
natural gas is already been
consumed by a typical compressed and
natural gas turbine stored underground.
because the gas is  Uses low-cost heated
used to drive the compressed air to
machine's power the turbines
compressor.  and create off-peak
 Both compression and electricity, conserving
generation are on a some natural gas. 
single shaft and must  Compression and
work in unison. generation units are
Economics of CAES
CAES is the only other commercially available
technology (besides pumped-hydro) able to
provide the very-large system energy storage
deliverability (above 100MW in single unit
sizes).
Since CAES facilities have no need for air
compressors tied to the turbines, they can
produce two to three times as much power as
conventional gas turbines for the same
amount of fuel.
Safety
As with most technologies, compressed air has
safety concerns, mainly the catastrophic
rupture of the tank.
Highly conservative safety codes make this a
rare occurrence at the tradeoff of higher
weight.
Codes may limit the legal working pressure to
less than 40% of the rupture pressure for
steel bottles, and less than 20% for fiber-
wound bottles.
High pressure bottles are fairly strong so that
they generally do not rupture in crashes.
Uses
Propulsion
Compressed Air Cars
 No roadside emissions
 Low cost technology
Power Generation
Advantages
With gas prices estimated to be in the $5-6 per
million BTU range in the short to medium
term, an investment in underground storage
could pay for itself over time.
If the nation develops an energy policy that
pushes renewable power sources, the idea
may catch on. 
Wind and solar energy, for example, can be
stored whenever it is generated and then
released on demand—helping to negate the
argument that those power sources are
intermittent and therefore unreliable.
Disadvantages
Energy is lost when it is “pumped” into the
cavern and then re-extracted as compressed
air. 
Building underground storage can be
expensive, which might make some
prospective projects infeasible. 
Conclusion
It's a cost effective solution, developers add,
because it would replace expensive “peaking”
units that provide power during the hottest
summer days or the coldest winter nights.
Air is stored in the form of compressed air
energy during off peak hours and then
released during the periods of highest
demand, which will also lower the prices that
consumers pay for power.
At the same time, compressed air energy
storage units can reduce the stress on base
load plants that would otherwise have to
ramp up and down.
In the long run, this is cheaper than building a
coal or natural gas plant.
By extension, compressed air energy storage
plants would minimize the release of harmful
emissions created by fossil fuel-fired
generators.
By utilizing CAES, the energy from a variety of
sources (including wind, solar and the grid
itself) can be temporarily stored to be
recovered at a later time, presumably when it
is more needed and, perhaps, more valuable.
Sources
http://www.wikipedia.org
http://www.CompressedAirEnergyStorage.com
http://www.cogeneration.net
http://pepei.pennnet.com
http://jcwinnie.biz/wordpress/?p=2115
http://www.epri.com
http://www.energysolutionscenter.org
http://www.caes.net

Thanks for your attention!
Alvasim P. A
MTAGEEE003
S7 EEE
Together… Shaping the Future of
Electricity