A Novel Methodology for Comparing Thermal Energy Storage to Chemical and Mechanical Energy Storage Technologies of Electricity

Authors

  • Sameer Hameer The Nelson Mandela African Institution of Science and Technology, Tanzania
  • Johannes L. Van Niekerk Stellenbosch University, South Africa​

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.53555/eee.v1i1.896

Keywords:

round trip efficiency, thermal energy storage, energy storage roadmap, levelized cost of energy, exergy analysis,, molten salt losses, mechanical storage, chemical storage

Abstract

This paper presents a novel methodology for comparing thermal energy storage to electrochemical, chemical, and mechanical energy storage technologies. The emphasis of this paper is placed on the development of a round trip efficiency formulation for molten salt thermal energy storage systems. The charging and discharging processes of compressed air energy storage, flywheel energy storage, fuel cells, and batteries are well understood and defined from a physics standpoint in the context of comparing these systems. However, the challenge lays in comparing the charging process of these systems with the charging process of thermal energy storage systems for concentrating solar power plants (CSP). The source of energy for all these systems is electrical energy except for the CSP plant where the input is thermal energy. In essence, the round trip efficiency for all these systems should be in the form of the ratio of electrical output to electrical input. This paper also presents the thermodynamic modelling equations including the estimation of losses for a CSP plant specifically in terms of the receiver, heat exchanger, storage system, and power block. The round trip efficiency and the levelized cost of energy (LCOE) are the metrics used for comparison purposes. The thermal energy storage system is specifically compared to vanadium redox, sodium sulphur, and compressed air energy storage (CAES) systems from a large scale storage perspective of 100’s of MWh. The estimated round trip efficiency and LCOE of the molten salt storage system using Andasol 3 data was about 86% and 216 $/MWh respectively. The LCOE of molten salt storage system was significantly lower than that of vanadium redox, sodium sulphur, and CAES. The preliminary results of this modelling will serve as a platform for the future generation of a thermal energy storage roadmap integrated in a comprehensive energy storage roadmap from a system of systems perspective.

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Published

2015-01-31

How to Cite

Hameer, S., & Niekerk, J. L. V. (2015). A Novel Methodology for Comparing Thermal Energy Storage to Chemical and Mechanical Energy Storage Technologies of Electricity. International Journal For Research In Electronics & Electrical Engineering, 1(1), 11–23. https://doi.org/10.53555/eee.v1i1.896

Issue

Vol. 1 No. 1 (2015): International Journal For Research In Electronics & Electrical Engineering (ISSN: 2208-2735)

Section

Articles

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