Thermal Energy Storage

Calliban · 2024-09-19 15:21:30

I have done some back of the envelope screening calculations that tell me that TES is an expensive option if we use it to store electricity that has already been generated. The way to use this is either as: End use energy storage; or (2) To store primary heat prior to generation. The first option is how a water storage heater works. There is lots of heat using equipment that can heat as an end use. An example of the second is TES employed at a solar thermal powerplant to allow continued generation at night.

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Total costs.

1GWe steam plant: Capital cost = $1bn
3GWd(e) (7.5GWd(th)) salt storage: Capital cost = $4.5bn
Marginal annual capital cost: 10% total = $550m/year.
Operating cost = same as marginal capital cost of steam plant ($100m/year).

Power cost. Assume that half of all power generated goes into the store and 40% of what is stored is recovered. Therefore, the store consumes 0.5GWy of electricity and produces 0.2GWy. Power input cost = $0.1/kWh.

Total power consumed = 0.5 x 1000,000kW x 24 x 365.25 = 4,383,000,000kWh
Total cost = $0.1 x 4,383,000,000 = $438,300,000/year

Total cost = $1,088,300,000/year.

Power generated = 2/5 x 4,383,000,000 = 1,753,200,000kWh/year

Cost per kWh= $ 1,088,300,000/1,753,200,000 = $0.6207/kWh

For the 0.7GWy that reach the grid, cost will be:

(0.5 x 0.1 + 0.2 x 0.6207)/0.7 = $0.249/kWh.

That is expensive, considering we started with a power cost of $0.1/kWh. If the heat store can be used to store primary heat gathered from the sun, the economics are a lot more favourable. End use heat storage is better still.

Last edited by Calliban (2024-09-19 15:30:49)

Void · 2024-10-22 08:18:44

This is of interest as it not only stores heat, but also can generate electricity, it seems.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/technolo … 5e88&ei=20
Quote:

New storage solution poised to revolutionize the energy sector with groundbreaking thermal technology: 'Critical to reach net-zero'
Story by Rick Kazmer • 3w • 3 min read

Even the haters of Photovoltaic, and wind, may be satisfied, if then you could perhaps use Solar Thermal with this.

Ending Pending

And this was referenced in the previous referred article: https://www.thecooldown.com/green-tech/ … rage-cool/ Quote:

New technology harnesses power of ice to scale up clean energy storage: '[It] will cost half as much as lithium-ion'
"Have you ever heard of anything safer, cleaner, and more eco-friendly than water or ice?"
by Rick KazmerNovember 8, 2023

So, if I understand it they make ice when intermittant energy is available, and then use the ice for cooling purposes when it is more needed.

Pretty Clever!

Ending Pending

What happens to energy generation if you have both superheated steam from sand, and also cold stored in ice?

Could that be good on Mars?

Ending Pending

Last edited by Void (2024-10-22 08:29:35)

Void · 2024-10-22 19:06:37

From the previous post:

And this was referenced in the previous referred article: https://www.thecooldown.com/green-tech/ … rage-cool/ Quote:
New technology harnesses power of ice to scale up clean energy storage: '[It] will cost half as much as lithium-ion'
"Have you ever heard of anything safer, cleaner, and more eco-friendly than water or ice?"
by Rick KazmerNovember 8, 2023
So, if I understand it they make ice when intermittent energy is available, and then use the ice for cooling purposes when it is more needed.
Pretty Clever!
Ending Pending
What happens to energy generation if you have both superheated steam from sand, and also cold stored in ice?
Could that be good on Mars?
Ending Pending

This brings several things to mind.

Pull a vacuum on water to cool it/freeze it.

Then circulate air though to condense water out of the air.

If you are in a humid area then work with fresh water.

But if you are in an arid area use a brine tank and pull enough water vapor out of it to bring the brine temperature well below the freezing point of fresh water.

Hopefully the heat extracted could be of use to a heat pump that could produce an industrial level heat such as 180 degrees C. But then you are pulling fresh water out of the tank by using a vacuum pump.

In the old days they used to cut ice out of lakes, and store it in barns with sawdust.

Perhaps now an ice cube maker could fill a barn with ice, and then air circulated could give up water to the thaw of the ice.

For instance if you heated buildings by creating ice, then it might be possible to store ice into the summer as they did.

If ice was different, then lakes would freeze solid. If water ice sank in water that is. So, maybe if you create a vast mass of ice in such a manner then the ice mass could last seasonally.

Ending Pending

Last edited by Void (2024-10-22 19:12:50)

Calliban · 2024-10-23 02:58:44

That is a useful technology. It provides a way of using intermittent solar power to provide 24/7 air conditioning and refrigeration. Building up enough ice over winter to cover summer cooling needs might be difficult. Ice stores about 92.7kWh/m3 of latent heat. It might work if you have plenty of space or an old barn as you suggest.

Calculating total cooling load required for air conditioning is complicated. This link provides guidance:
https://aircondlounge.com/cooling-load- … -examples/

The example load for a bedroom is about 3.5kW. So keeping just 1 room in a house cool for 24 hours, will melt through about 1m3 of ice. For a house, you would likely need several m3 per day.

Last edited by Calliban (2024-10-23 03:16:48)

Void · 2024-10-23 08:42:05

Yes, seasonal does seem a stretch. I was just pondering filling an abandoned open pit mine with ice.

Generally I think cold is easier to store than hot, as long as the ground is not heated from geothermal.

I have the interest in a Heat Pump that makes ice to heat something.

I also have an interest in how such a created lump of ice or ice water could condense moisture. At night, rivers humid air may settle into a low area filled with such a coolant and deposit moisture.

A cold bath of that sort could be of brine in a tank, and you could allow or prevent the flow of air from wind to contact the cold fluid. But of course in that case you have to distill the brine to use the captured water.

Here I am thinking to allow some imagination, but before and investment it would be needed to examine the practical/economic issues later.

Ending Pending

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Re: Thermal Energy Storage

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Re: Thermal Energy Storage

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