Overview of dynamic operation strategies for advanced compressed air energy storage

Abstract

Compressed air energy storage (CAES) is an effective solution to make renewable energy controllable, and balance mismatch of renewable generation and customer load, which facilitate the penetration of renewable generations. Thus, CAES is considered as a major solution for the sustainable development to achieve carbon neutrality. Two traditional CAES plants (Huntorf, McIntosh) utilize fossil fuel to preheat compressed air when discharging, which produce emissions to environment. Advanced CAES technology which eliminates the using of fossil fuel is considered as a clean energy technology, and has been studied and developed intensively in the past decade. These advanced CAES includes adiabatic CAES (ACAES), isothermal CAES (ICAES), liquid air energy storage (LAES), supercritical CAES (SC-CAES), underwater CAES (UWCAES), and CAES coupled with other power systems. Some MW scale demonstrations of these advanced CAES technologies are constructed and operated.The CAES system has to be operated dynamically to manage the imbalance between renewable generations and electricity demand. Moreover, the compressed air is usually stored in the isochoric vessel or carven. Thus, the power output and operation pressure have to be adjusted and controlled accordingly. These technologies that adjust and regulate the air flow are reviewed and summarized, which are throttling valve control, ejector, guided vane adjustment, switching expansion reducing and some others. The characteristics and effect to the CAES system are also discussed.This paper presents a comprehensive reference for adjusting novel CAES systems to realize dynamic operation with high performance. This study helps to facilitate the integrating and planning of different types of CAES and their dynamic control strategies in energy systems for various applications.