Compressed air energy storage

V diplomski nalogi se srečamo z enim izmed večjih problemov obnovljivih virov energije – z njihovo neprilagodljivostjo. Želimo imeti prilagodljivo električno omrežje, ki se bo lahko izognilo izklapljanju virov električne energije, ko bo v omrežju presežek le-te. To lahko dosežemo s shranjevanjem energije na več načinov, med drugim s kompresijo zraka. Taki shranjevalniki bi povečali čas učinkovitega delovanja obnovljivih virov energije in tako pripomogli k večjemu deležu z zelenimi viri pridobljene električne energije v omrežju. V raziskovalnem delu naloge smo iskali trenutno aktivne sisteme za shranjevanje energije ter jih primerjali s shranjevanjem energije s kompresijo zraka. Nato smo s simulacijskim orodjem Automation Studio simulirali lasten tak sistem na osnovi tlačnega omrežja na Fakulteti za strojništvo. Izdelali smo tudi delujoči generator, ki lahko v kombinaciji s tlačnim sistemom shranjuje energijo preko kompresije zraka in jo kasneje vrača v obliki električne energije. Ugotovili smo, da so izkoristki našega sistema izredno nizki, tako da so v zaključku podani tudi predlogi za izboljšave in nadaljnje raziskave.In this work, we are confronted with one of the main problems of renewable energy sources – their inflexibility. We want to have a resilient power grid that can avoid shutting down power sources when there is a surplus of power in the grid. This can be achieved by storing energy in various ways, such as air compression. Such storage would increase the effective runtime of renewable energy sources and thus contribute to a higher share of green power in the grid. In the research part of the paper, we searched for currently active energy storage systems and compared them with compressed air storage systems. We then used the Automation Studio simulation tool to simulate our system based on the pressurized grid at the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering. We also developed a working generator that, in combination with a pressurized system, can store energy through air compression and later return it as electricity. We found that the efficiency of our system is extremely low. In the conclusion, we have therefore also made suggestions for improvements and further research