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System and component development for long-duration energy storage using particle thermal energy storage

Journal Article · · Applied Thermal Engineering
 [1];  [2];  [1];  [2];  [1];  [1];  [3];  [3];  [4];  [5]
  1. National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)
  2. National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Colorado School of Mines, Golden, CO (United States)
  3. Purdue Univ., West Lafayette, IN (United States)
  4. Allied Mineral Products, Inc., Columbus, OH (United States)
  5. Colorado School of Mines, Golden, CO (United States)
+ Show Author Affiliations
Energy storage, at various scales, will be required to maintain reliable power supply from variable renewable resources, and improve grid resilience. Long-duration energy storage (10-100 h) can substitute baseload coal power generation and increase levels of renewable power supply. Thermal energy storage (TES) has siting flexibility and the ability to store a large capacity of energy, and thus it has the potential to meet the needs of long-duration energy storage. Here, a novel TES system was developed by using solid particles as storage media and charging/discharging electricity from renewable power connected via the electric grid. The particle TES uses low-cost silica sand at 30-40$/Ton that is stable at high temperatures of >1,000 degrees C. Thus, the particle TES system has an overall low storage cost and high thermal-power efficiency. Key components of the system were conceptually designed and modeled for their performance. Conversion of electricity to thermal energy using electric heating can achieve a >98% charging efficiency, and the conversion of thermal energy back to electricity uses an air-Brayton combined power cycle with >52% thermal-to-electricity efficiency at >1,170 degrees C to achieve a >50% roundtrip efficiency after subtracting estimated plant parasitic losses. Laboratory-scale prototypes were fabricated and tested to verify their design approaches and operations relevant to product-scale components.
Research Organization:
National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Advanced Research Projects Agency - Energy (ARPA-E)
Grant/Contract Number:
AC36-08GO28308
OSTI ID:
1902648
Alternate ID(s):
OSTI ID: 1881048
Report Number(s):
NREL/JA-5700-81476; MainId:82249; UUID:79295c31-893f-44d9-8129-842439ed1ef8; MainAdminID:68190
Journal Information:
Applied Thermal Engineering, Journal Name: Applied Thermal Engineering Vol. 216; ISSN 1359-4311
Publisher:
ElsevierCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

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Figures / Tables (22)

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Related Subjects

25 ENERGY STORAGE
42 ENGINEERING
grid resilience
long duration energy storage
renewable energy
solid particles
thermal energy storage