Improvement of a liquid air energy storage system: Investigation of performance analysis for novel ambient air conditioning

Abstract

Liquid air energy storage (LAES) is a grid-scale energy storage technology that utilizes an air liquefaction process to store energy with the potential to solve the limitations of pumped-hydro and compressed air storage. A challenge it faces itself is its high compression work during the charging process. Thus, attempts to increase the performance of the system need to include reducing the compression work. This study investigates the possible performance improvement of a LAES system through inlet air dehumidification and cooling. A simulation is performed on a 40 MW/320 MWhe LAES system which uses a desiccant wheel dehumidifier and a cooling coil for inlet air conditioning. The results show that the system can save 9521 MWhe in compression work annually which will translate to $761,680 annual cost savings in charging the system. The maximum performance improvement achieved during the summer period when the ambient conditions are unfavorable is 11.7%. Financial analysis also shows that the simple payback period of the desiccant wheel dehumidifier modification is 11.5 years and the levelized cost of storage (LCOS) of the LAES system is $237/MWh which is competitive compared to other storage systems.