GET 306: Renewable Energy Systems &
Technologies
Energy Storage Technologies
E.Usen
December 2023
Forms of Storage Technologies
Energy storage for bridging power support
The bridging power applications include load following,
spinning reserve and forecast uncertainty , requiring a rapid
response in seconds to minutes and discharge time of up to 1
hr, and ensuring the reliability of power supply to customers. It
has a typical power rating of 1 kW–10 MW. Batteries are the most
commonly used storage technologies under BP support. They are
suitable for BP applications due to less cycling requirements
compared to PQ applications; BES for BP include lead–acid, Ni–
Cd, Ni–MH and Li-ion, and these systems can respond to load
changes within 20 ms; they have a round trip efficiency (RTE)
between 60% and 90% depending on the technology
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Forms of Storage Technologies
Energy storage for Energy Management
support
Some ESSs offer a continuous energy discharge for several
hours; the application of such systems in electrical networks is
referred to as energy management (EM), through which energy
could be shifted over longer timescales. The storage technologies
used for EM include CAES, PHS, TES, High-energy BES (flow
batteries). PHS and CAES are presently employed for applications
with capacity of >100 MW–1GW; NaS batteries are utilized for
applications >10 MW; large-scale batteries, flow batteries
and high-temperature TES, which are also termed ‘medium-scale’
ESSs are used for systems with a storage capacity of 10 to
100 MW systems include the requirement for an underground cavern,
dissipation of heat into the atmosphere, consumption of fossil fuels,
and generation of pollutant emissions from their combustion
processes.
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Chemical Energy Storage Technologies
Batteries: This material focuses on the use of batteries as one of the
major technical solutions to resolving reliability issues in distributed
grid networks. They are the most common kind of energy storage
devices. Lead-acid, nickel-cadmium (Ni-Cd), nickel metal hydride (Ni-
MH), lithium-ion (Li-ion), sodium sulfur (NaS), vanadium redox
(VRB), sodium-nickel chloride (ZEBRA), and zinc bromide (ZnBr) are
some examples. These systems can adapt to changes in electrical
load within 20 milliseconds and have a round-trip efficiency ranging
from 60 to 90%. Furthermore, among the batteries mentioned, NaS,
VRB, ZEBRA, and ZnBr are referred to as high-energy batteries due
to their substantially longer storage length timeframe.
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Chemical Energy Storage Technologies
Lead-acid: This is the most traditional and extensively used type of
rechargeable battery energy storage system. It was created in 1859
by French surgeon Gaston Planté. According to Matteson and
Williams (2015), it generally consists of electrodes (positive and
negative conductors), an electrolyte, and linked cells. In practice,
there are two types of lead-acid battery systems accessible. These
systems are flooded or vented, as well as valve-regulated or sealed.
While the flooded technology is a lead-acid battery that requires
frequent water replacement to keep the battery's electrolyte from
drying out, the valve-regulated technology does not. The valve-
regulated battery is divided into two types of electrolytes: absorbed
and gelled, which are more expensive. The most common energy
source at the moment is lead-acid batteries. It has a life span of 5-
15 years, a cycle life of 2,000–2,500 cycles, and a round-trip
efficiency of 70–90%. Additionally, it only loses 0.1-0.2% of itself
daily. However, due to the creation of hazardous leftovers, this
battery system has a poor cycle capacity and has a detrimental effect
on the environment.
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Chemical Energy Storage Technologies
Lithium-ion: A lithium-ion battery, as the name implies, is a type of
rechargeable battery that stores and discharges energy by the
motion or movement of lithium ions between two electrodes with
opposite polarity called the cathode and the anode through an
electrolyte. This continuous movement of lithium ions from the anode
to the cathode and vice versa is critical to the function of a lithium-
ion battery anode, also known as the negatively charged electrode,
which discharges lithium ions into the electrolyte. In order to be
absorbed, the discharged ions are then transported to the cathode,
which is also known as the positively charged electrode . This is the
process of energy release in LIBs. Similar to this, when the battery is
being charged, lithium ions gradually go from the cathode to the
anode through the electrolyte. Due to their increased energy density,
high durability or lifetime, and eco-friendliness, lithium-ion batteries
(LIBs) have recently attracted a lot of attention in the research and
technological development fields as one of the most appealing
energy storage devices in contemporary society
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Chemical Energy Storage Technologies
Nickel-cadmium: The nickel electrode material is used in five
different battery systems. Nickel-zinc (Ni-Zn), nickel hydride (Ni-H2),
nickel cadmium (Ni-Cd), nickel metal hydride (Ni-MH), and nickel-
iron (NiFe) are the technologies involved. While Ni-Cd and Ni-MH
technologies are more commonly utilized than the other alloys, Ni-Cd
has been identified as the industry's most widely used nickel-
electrode battery technology. It has a life expectancy of 10 to 20
years.The disadvantages of Ni-Cd technology include limited cycling
(2,000-2,500) and the negative environmental impact of cadmium
generation. It has slightly larger self-discharge losses than lead-acid
batteries, ranging from 0.2 to 0.6%.
Metal-air: This battery system is a type of fuel cell technology that
uses metal as fuel and air as an oxidizing agent. It is environmentally
benign and has the potential to provide cost-effective energy storage
in the future. However, it has a low round trip efficiency (often less
than 50%) and a limited charging capacity. Despite having relatively
low self-discharge losses, its cycling capacity ranges between 100
and 300.
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Chemical Energy Storage Technologies
VRB: The main parts of a VRFB are an electrolyte, membrane, electrode,
bipolar plate, gasket, collector plate, storage tank, and pump. The RFB
technology that has received the greatest attention, research, and
development is the vanadium redox flow battery (VRFB). Redox flow
batteries store the electrolytes in exterior tanks apart from the battery
core, which is a substantial difference from more conventional
electrochemical batteries (Zhang et al., 2021). Two of these tanks are
commonly used in VRFBs to store vanadium ions in their various
oxidation states (V2+, V3+, VO2+ [otherwise V4+], and VO2+
[otherwise V5+]), so that each tank has its redox pair. In this work,
"positive side" refers to the electrode and electrolyte that have V4+ or
V5+. According to research, the negative electrolyte and electrode
function in the opposite manner.The electrolytes are fed into the battery
via separate half-cells and then returned to storage tanks for
recirculation. Each reactor half-cell consists of an electrode and a bipolar
plate; two half-cells are separated by a membrane to allow selective ion
exchange while preventing electrolyte cross-contamination. This is a
single cell, and adjacent cells create a stack by sharing a bipolar plate.
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Chemical Energy Storage Technologies
In a flow battery, the interaction between two electrolytes creates the
electrical potential These electrolytes consist of an active redox species
and a supporting electrolyte (solvent and supporting salt). The same
active species is used in both electrolytes in a VRFB, which prevents
capacity loss from electrolyte cross-contamination and results in an
output voltage of 1.26V. Depending on the concentration, VRFBs can
typically store between 20 and 30 Wh/L of electrolyte. The following
vanadium compounds were first assessed for use in a range of supportive
electrolytes: In addition to hydrochloric acid (HCl), sodium hydroxide
(NaOH), and sulfuric acid (H2SO4), vanadium trichloride (VCl3),
vanadium pentoxide (V2O5), and vanadyl sulfate (VOSO4) were also
taken into consideration. VCl3 and HCl were excluded to prevent possible
chlorine gas generation, and V2O5 was excluded due to its low solubility
in the acids. VOSO4 and H2SO4 were thus initially selected, though
shortly after, methods for creating electrolytes with V2O5 were developed.
As of now, research groups use V2O5 when aiming to reduce the cost of
the electrolyte, and VOSO4 when the vanadium concentration is intended
to be easily altered.
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Chemical Energy Storage Technologies
ZnBr: This is a high-energy technology as well. It performs better than
conventional lead acid batteries in comparison. It has a lifespan of five to
ten years, a cycle capacity of more than two thousand, a round-trip
efficiency of between 72 and 85%, and a negligible daily self-discharge
loss.
NaS: According to studies, this technology has a high power and energy
density that is four times that of lead-acid battery systems. One of the
battery system's primary shortcomings is that it operates at
temperatures ranging from 300 to 350 C . This is because an external
heating arrangement is required for its optimal operation. It has a cycling
capacity of about 2,500 and a life period of 10 to 25 years, with
significantly greater self-discharge losses of about 20%.
ZEBRA: It is yet another high-energy battery technology with a high
operating temperature of 300 C. It uses nickel chloride and liquid sodium
as electrodes (cathode and anode conductors). It has over 2,500 cycles
and self-discharge losses of 15% each day. (Akinyele & Rayudu, 2014).
Furthermore, when compared to NaS battery systems, this technology
has a lower energy and power density. It has a life span of 10 to 14
years. One of the environmental advantages of ZEBRA batteries is their
ability to be recycled and transformed into new batteries.
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Chemical Energy Storage Technologies
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Chemical Energy Storage Technologies
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Thermal Energy Storage Technologies
Thermal energy storage (TES) is a widely used technique in which
materials that can be stored at high or low temperatures in insulated
containers are used. The energy stored as heat is recovered when the
cold or hot material is returned to normal conditions and used to
generate electricity utilizing heat engine devices. Because the energy
input in this system involves electrical resistance during heating or
cooling, the overall efficiency of TES ranges from 30 to 60%, which
appears to be low. Depending on the environment, the heat cycle is more
efficient (70%-90%).TES systems can be classified as either low-
temperature or high-temperature in comparison to room temperature.
Some researchers defined TES as industrial cooling (below 18ºC),
building cooling (between 0º and 12ºC), building heating (between 25ºC
and 50ºC), and industrial heat storage (beyond 175ºC). Various
materials are employed in the TES system to store energy, which
determines the device's storage capacity. Because of its constant melting
temperature (in the range of 55-60 C with a variance of 6.5%),
recognized polyethylene glycol (PEG) material as having a high potential
for usage as a TES material. However, the latent heat of fusion rapidly
decreases as the number of thermal cycles rises.
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Thermal Energy Storage Technologies
The polyethylene glycol (PEG) composition was stable during the peaks
of several FT-IR heat cycles, as shown by the absence of any alterations.
However, the investigation of the applicability of PEG continues. The
thermochemical testing and techno-economic analyses demonstrated
PEG 6000's dependability created and tested MF-3 (a microencapsulated
phase change material) for solar energy storage in a hot water storage
system. In comparison to other materials, they had the highest energy
storage capacity of 126 kJ/kg and an efficiency of 97.4%. The higher
energy storage density indicated that MF-3 was thermally effective. Even
though this material required a lower physical footprint than a water-
based system, its energy storage value was approximately double that of
many storage units. In addition, metallurgical slags performed best in
vertical TES with axial flow direction. A 6.5 MWh capacity TES unit
developed and tested on a pilot scale in Morocco was successful. Then,
an industrial-scale (100 MWh) TES unit for a solar power plant was built
using a computer model. Building energy management can benefit from
the use of thermal energy storage. It might save expenses, improve
interior comfort, and lessen greenhouse gas emissions all at the same
time. TES can successfully handle and control the current surge in
heating and cooling building demands.
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Thermal Energy Storage Technologies
It assisted in lowering electricity swings and adapting to shifting
needs throughout the day and year. TES has a negligible thermal
inertia. This method makes it possible to regulate the indoor
temperature well even when the heat pump is turned off for a while.
The many adaptable options are based on the most well-known TES
technologies, such as phase change materials (PCM), molten salts
(MS), and steam accumulators. Steam accumulators are the best
option for storage times of less than 6 hours, while the combination
system based on PCM-MS has an evident benefit for storage times of
6 or more. This technology can provide low-carbon, high-
performance electricity to buildings. However, research is expected to
uncover efficient, stable, and less expensive storage materials. TES,
on the other hand, has limited energy storage capability.
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Thermal Energy Storage Technologies
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Thank you
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