Article | REF: D4030 V2

Energy's inertial confinement

Authors: Juliette KAUV, Jean BONAL, Pierre ODRU

Publication date: May 10, 2012

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ABSTRACT

Although the storage of energy from fossil fuels is correctly mastered, this is not the case for electricity. However, this choice represents an interesting solution for the future notably in order to absorb important variations in the transportation, housing and industry sectors. The inertia wheel is a storage component which is able to store and return electric energy in the form of kinetic energy. This application presents many advantages i.e. little sensitiveness to variations in temperature as well as a significant autonomy and life-cycle. However its technology remains rather complex which is aggravated by explosion hazards during use.

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AUTHORS

  • Juliette KAUV: Doctor of Science - Research engineer at the French Institute for Transport, Planning and Networks (IFSTTAR)

  • Jean BONAL: ESE engineer - Doctor of Engineering - Lecturer at É cole Spéciale des Travaux Publics ESTP

  • Pierre ODRU: Senior Research Engineer - IFP Énergies nouvelles

 INTRODUCTION

At the start of the new millennium, fossil fuels account for 80% of the world's energy consumption, but it is clear that humanity's future energy needs cannot be met solely by these energies, which have been stored in the surface layers of our planet during previous geological eras.

Energy storage through the use of fossil fuels is easy. The same cannot be said of electricity, which is destined to play an increasingly important role as a substitute energy source. Electricity cannot be stored directly, but must pass through reversible transformations (gravitational, electrochemical, kinetic potential, etc.).

In the future, the storage function would itself become a "dynamic" source of power, in the sense that it would have to be capable of supplying and accepting the transient power peaks demanded by user loads. The "main" source, on the other hand, would be limited to supplying the average power demanded by these loads.

Such decoupling would make it possible to reduce the sizing power of the main source, which should lead to savings in terms of investment, raw materials and operating costs, as well as gains in the overall efficiency of the various energy systems. Such developments are already taking shape in transport vehicles (hybrid cars – public transport network...) and in electrical or thermal energy distribution networks.

The current challenge facing researchers and engineers is to develop storage solutions adapted to the varied demands of different economic sectors (transport, housing, industry, etc.).

Energy storage can address a number of issues:

  • it can compensate for a shortfall due to a discrepancy between supply and demand, or a phase shift between energy production and consumption; this is particularly the case when using renewable photovoltaic or wind energy. The size of the storage element must be adapted to the parameters of the source and the consumer;

  • it can compensate for an accidental interruption in the energy supply; this is particularly the case in safety power supply applications where a break in the energy chain cannot be tolerated without irreparable damage, e.g. operating theatres, control rooms for certain industrial processes or strategic decision-making centers;

  • it can lead to a reduction in energy consumption in all cyclic-type applications where it is necessary to expend energy to set vehicles in motion, and where part of this energy can be recovered in the vehicle's deceleration phase.

In this dossier, we present an electrical energy storage component, the flywheel, which is a symmetrical device rotating around...

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