Compressed air is a very expensive resource and one of the best ways to save energy is to operate the air compressor at the lowest possible discharge pressure.
Compressed air energy storage diagram.
Heat is extracted from the air and kept inside a thermal store preserving the energy for later use.
Figure 1 conversion of atmospheric air into compressed air.
Compressed air energy storage.
The simplest type of a compressed air energy storage caes facility would be an adiabatic pro cess consisting only of a compressor a storage and a turbine compressing air into a container when storing and expanding when producing.
Compressed air is stored in an underground cavern which is kept at constant pressure.
Compressed air energy storage involves converting electrical energy into high pressure compressed air that can be released at a later time to drive a turbine generator to produce electricity.
Compressed air energy storage is the second biggest form of energy storage currently behind pumped storage.
The compressor and turbine sections of the gas turbine.
The hydrostor angas a caes project uses electricity to run a compressor producing heated compressed air.
High temperature hybrid compressed air energy storage system that can efficiently store grid level energy and release that energy when it is required to meet peak demand.
This type of caes would be adiabatic and would if the machines were reversible have a storage efficiency of 100.
Compressed air energy storage caes is a technique for supplying electric power to meet peak load requirements of electric utility systems.
Applying best energy management practices and purchasing energy efficient equipment can lead to significant savings in compressed air systems.
Figure 1 conversion of atmospheric air into compressed air diagram showing 7 cubic units of air being compressed by an air compressor which requires energy and producing 1 cubic unit of compressed air at aproximately 7 times atmospheric pressure plus heat of compression and moisture.
Combining ultra low cost thermal energy storage with efficient compressed air energy storage resulted in higher than normal efficiency system with low cost for electricity costs.
It incorporates a modified state of the art gas turbine and an underground reservoir that may be an aquifer a salt cavity or a mined hardrock cavern.
A facility can save 1 in compressed air energy costs for every 2 psi reduction in the compressor discharge pressure 4.