An Efficiency Dependency Study on the Heat Management of the A-CAES Plant with Liquid Heat Medium Loops

Abstract

The simulation results of the heat medium control and management of A-CAES plant (Adiabatic Compressed Air Energy Storage) are presented. For the study, the dynamic model of the A-CAES plant with liquid heat medium as heat storage is constructed in order to analyze charge-discharge cycle efficiency dependency on actual operating conditions. Various heat management systems for a CAES are proposed. Among the systems, heat medium circulating system is the most feasible solution. The heat management and storage is very important for the A-CAES plant, because about half of the energy is recovered through heat insulation and heat management. Dynamic plant efficiency analysis is also crucial because the dynamic properties of the plant influences on the efficiency. The model consists of the heat exchangers, the heat storages, the air storage and an ideal compressor and expander models. The heat transfer characteristics of the heat exchanger are tested by the experimental setup because the heat exchanger performance is the most important factor for the system efficiency. The plant scale and the heat loss influence on the charge-discharge efficiencies are shown through the simulations.