Structure optimization and operation characteristics of metal gas storage device based on compressed air energy storage system

Abstract

Compressed air energy storage (CAES) is a key technology for promoting the replacement of fossil fuels with renewable energy. Currently, CAES systems typically require an underground salt cavern, which is limited by geological and geographical conditions. To promote the rapid popularization of CAES, there is an urgent need to develop new gas storage devices with flexible layouts. Metal pressure vessel as a gas storage device is concerned with the benefits of high storage pressure and reliable operation. Considering both strength and fatigue, this study conducted a structural optimization of Tank-D2000 and Pipe-D400 to achieve the design operating life with the minimal quality. Furthermore, the optimized structure was used to study the operating characteristics of the gas storage device by the multi-domain fluid–solid thermal coupling method and the real gas model. The results indicated that the internal convective heat transfer coefficient of the gas storage device was a linear function of time during operation, whereas the external natural convective heat transfer coefficient almost remained constant. The pressure distribution was uniform; however, the temperature difference was large, particularly for D400. Analysis and prediction based on the theory of the polytropic process showed that the polytropic index of D400 was lower than that of D2000, so the heat transfer of D400 was more adequate and the effective capacity of gas storage device under the designed operating pressure range was larger. With an increase in flow, polytropic index increased and was lower at energy storage than at energy release. The pressure prediction error was basically within the range of ±4 %, and the temperature prediction error was within the range of ±3 %.