Sutherland S., Lynch G., Pietsch T.
Kelvin Storage Technologies, Inc, US
Keywords: energy, giga-watt, grid, mega-watt, renewables, storage, thermal
The presentation reviews the design and technical innovations for storing energy as heat in a graphite core at temperatures far above the melting point of steel. The high temperatures reached, over 4000F, enable storing vast amounts of energy, but numerous technical issues must be overcome to make it safe and effective. Energy is recovered by transferring the heat to a turbine generator set. The graphite storage medium is non-toxic, inexpensive, and abundant on the planet. Design methods and challenges overcome will be discussed which enable storage of up to hundreds of gigawatt-hours of energy, including thermal insulation, ceramic structures, and disaster scenario mitigation. Benchtests and prototype construction are under way to validate the designs.
Journal: TechConnect Briefs
Volume: Technical Proceedings of the 2013 Clean Technology Conference and Trade Show
Published: May 12, 2013
Pages: 367 - 370
Industry sector: Energy & Sustainability
Topic: Energy Storage
ISBN: 978-1-4822-0594-7