3398 results about "Grid energy storage" patented technology

One or more embodiments may include a trip planning system for planning a trip based on the charge of an electric vehicle battery. The trip planning system may include one or more computers located remotely from an electric vehicle which may have one or more battery packs for powering the electric vehicle. The computer(s) may be configured to receive geographic parameters defining a trip and a battery charge status of the one or more electric vehicle battery packs. The computer(s) may be further configured to determine that the trip cannot be completed based on the battery charge status. The computer(s) may additionally be configured to present a battery charge requirement for completing the trip.

The invention relates to methods and systems for the storage and recovery of energy using open-air hydraulic-pneumatic accumulator and intensifier arrangements that combine at least one accumulator and at least one intensifier in communication with a high-pressure gas storage reservoir on a gas-side of the circuits and a combination fluid motor / pump, coupled to a combination electric generator / motor on the fluid side of the circuits.

A method and Apparatus for solar energy storage system uses gas for thermal transport for central tower solar thermal electric power plant to provide high quality, low cost, and continuously electric power generation. The storage contains a number of storage modules that each module can store energy for a given period of time. The thermal energy from central tower charges the modules one by one during the sunny time, while the thermal electric power plant discharge the modules one by one as long as it works. A control and a connection valve system control and connect the charge and discharge modules with the central tower and the power plant according to pre-arranged sequences. Fans at the cool side of the storage system push the circulation gas into the central tower or the thermal storage modules. In the discharge system, the hot gas from storage system is send to the heat exchange system, and to generate steam and to super heat steam for the power plant. In the charge system, the cold gas is pushed into the central receiver thermal exchange unit and to be heated, and the hot gas is then circulated back to storage system to charge up the storage system.

A plurality of power generating assets are connected to a power grid. The grid may, if desired, be a local grid or a utility grid. The power grid is connected to a plurality of loads. The loads may, if desired, be controllable and non-controllable. Distribution of the power to the loads is via a controller that has a program stored therein that optimizes the controllable loads and the power generating assets. The optimization process is via multi-tier benefit construct.

An energy supply and storage system for a rig power supply system is disclosed for a rig power supply system of the type having a power generator coupled to rig loads and motors via a bus. The energy supply and storage device is a power supply in parallel with the rig motors and adapted for receiving energy generated by the generator in excess of demand. The energy storage system is in communication with the power supply for receiving and storing the excess energy, with the power supply being adapted to draw energy from the storage system when the rig motor demand exceeds the capacity of the generator.

The present invention concerns systems for storing energy and using the stored energy to generate electrical energy or drive a propeller (505). In particular, the present invention provides a method of storing energy comprising: providing a gaseous input, producing a cryogen from the gaseous input; storing the cryogen; expanding the cryogen; using the expanded cryogen to drive a turbine (320) and recovering cold energy from the expansion of the cryogen. The present invention also provides a cryogenic energy storage system comprising: a source of cryogen; a cryogen storage facility (370); means for expanding the cryogen; a turbine (320) capable of being driven by the expanding cryogen; and means (340, 350) for recovering cold energy released during expansion of the cryogen.

A system for providing a hybrid vehicle with a practical source of auxiliary power. The system includes two electric motor / generators connected to each other in such a fashion so that when one electric motor / generator functions as a motor, the other becomes a generator with their roles being reversed depending on whether the system is in an auxiliary power mode or energy storage mode. Connected to one motor / generator is the vehicle drive train. Connected to the other motor / generator is a pressure energy storage system, which in the energy storage mode converts the force of rotation into pressurized gas for storage in an energy system and delivered in the form of electric current by the one motor / generator, and in the energy delivery mode converts the stored energy of the energy storage system into electric current for delivery to the one motor / generator which is part of the vehicle drive train to provide auxiliary power for practical hybrid vehicles.

A system and method for controlling a vehicle-based source of uninterruptable power is disclosed. The vehicle-based UPS includes an energy storage system located on-board a vehicle and configured to generate DC power transferable to an external load, and an DC-AC inverter connected to the on-board energy storage system to receive the DC power therefrom and invert the DC power to an AC power useable by the external load. The vehicle-based UPS also includes a charging device located on-board the vehicle and connected to the on-board energy storage system to provide recharging power thereto and a control system. The control system is configured to determine one of a state-of-charge (SOC) and a voltage of the energy storage system and selectively operate the charging device to provide the recharging power to the energy storage system to maintain the SOC or voltage of the energy storage system within a pre-determined range.

An energy storage system and a method of controlling the same is provided. The energy storage system may directly provide generated DC power or DC power stored in a battery to a DC load without performing a DC / AC conversion or an AC / DC conversion. Furthermore, in the case where a grid operates abnormally (e.g. power interruption) and the energy storage system functions as an uninterruptible power supply (UPS), power stored in a battery may be selectively provided to loads according to power remaining in a battery, and thus stored power may be used stably.

The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for using wind energy to compress air or pressurize a fluid as a means of storing energy. Compressed air or pressurized fluid is generated directly by the wind turbines, thereby avoiding the energy losses that occur when wind power is used first to generate electricity to run an electrically powered air compressor. The compressed air or pressurized fluid is stored by means of expanding a volume at constant or nearly constant pressure. This method avoids energy losses that would otherwise result from compressional heating; while also allowing lower pressures to be employed, reducing the cost of the containment facility and avoiding the need to locate facilities in geographically favored locations where underground storage is available. The invention permits both large and small-scale storage at low cost per unit of energy stored, thereby avoiding the difficulty of using a highly variable and unreliable source of energy such as the wind for electrical power generation. The invention can be used for generation and storage on land, in shallow near-shore waters and in deep-water locations far from shore.

A compressed air pumped hydro energy storage and distribution system includes a first reservoir of water and a second reservoir of air and water. An air pressure source, connected to the second reservoir, develops a pressure head in the second reservoir. A pump / turbine-motor / generator, received by the first reservoir, is connected to a regional energy grid. During peak demand periods, the pressure head forces water through the pump / turbine-motor / generator to generate power, delivered to the grid. During low demand periods, the pump / turbine-motor / generator pumps water back to the second reservoir, regenerating the pressure head. A third air reservoir interconnected with the second reservoir and a gas turbine generator can be used to generate power during peak demand periods. The reservoirs can be tunnels or abandoned mines, reinforced and sealed by pressure grouting and / or an internal liner, maintained well beneath the earth's surface and intersecting the path of the grid.

An apparatus and method for managing consumption of electricity of loads at a site which includes energy storage, a system controller, and load shedding ability. The system controller monitors energy consumption of the site and discharges energy into the site when consumption exceeds a maximum consumption threshold. If energy storage is depleted while consumption remains in excess of the threshold the controller may engage load shedding to prevent consumption from exceeding the maximum threshold. Additionally, the energy storage device may recharge during a peak consumption period due to load shedding reducing consumption below the maximum threshold, and the energy storage device may use this recovered energy to further mitigate the peak; in some embodiments, repetitively. Supplemental and additional load mitigation techniques may also be implemented to increase effectiveness and efficiency of the systems and methods.

An energy storage system includes a converter coupled between an inverter and both a power generator and a battery, thereby reducing the number of devices for circuit implementation and the size of a printed circuit board (PCB). The energy storage system is coupled to an electric power system that generates a system power, and the energy storage system includes a battery for generating a battery power and a converter coupleable to a power generator for generating an electric power and the battery in parallel, wherein the converter is configured to boost or drop a voltage of at least one of the electric power, the battery power, or the system power.

A power generation plant with a compressed air energy storage system comprises a means to reduce the pressure of air extracted from a compressed air storage cavern for the use in a combustion turbine. The means to reduce the air pressure comprises at least one expansion turbine and means to control the size of pressure reduction. Furthermore, the expansion turbine is arranged on a rotor shaft that drives a generator. The means for pressure redact, according to the invention, avoid power losses and provide an increased overall efficiency of the power generation plant.

The invention relates to systems and methods for rapidly and isothermally expanding gas in a cylinder. The cylinder is used in a staged hydraulic-pneumatic energy conversion system and includes a gas chamber (pneumatic side) and a fluid chamber (hydraulic side) and a piston or other mechanism that separates the gas chamber and fluid chamber while allowing the transfer of force / pressure between each opposing chamber. The gas chamber of the cylinder includes ports that are coupled to a heat transfer subassembly that circulates gas from the pneumatic side and exchanges its heat with a counter flow of ambient temperature fluid from a reservoir or other source.

An energy supply system has a number of DC choppers for converting the input voltages applied in each case into output voltages, and a number of energy storages for providing the input voltages, an energy storage being assigned to each DC chopper. An output voltage of at least one of the number of DC choppers is settable as a function of a setpoint input in order to expose the energy storage assigned to the at least one DC chopper to a load individually.

A battery load leveling system for an electrically powered system in which a battery is subject to intermittent high current loading, the system including a first battery, a second battery, and a load coupled to the batteries. The system includes a passive storage device, a unidirectional conducting apparatus coupled in series electrical circuit with the passive storage device and poled to conduct current from the passive storage device to the load, the series electrical circuit coupled in parallel with the battery such that the passive storage device provides current to the load when the battery terminal voltage is less than voltage on the passive storage device, and a battery switching circuit that connects the first and second batteries in either a lower voltage parallel arrangement or a higher voltage series arrangement.

The invention provides a method and apparatus for an energy storage system to participate in power grid frequency control. The method comprises the steps of monitoring power grid frequency and charged states of an energy storage system in real time; if a power grid frequency offset exceeds a maximum frequency deviation, determining the energy storage system to participate into power grid primary frequency modulation according to deviation directions and the charged states; when a primary frequency modulation starting condition is satisfied, calculating virtual inertia response, a primary variable sagging control power adjustment value and a primary frequency modulation active control instruction; according to the primary frequency modulation active control instruction, carrying out primary adjusting of active power output of the energy storage system; starting secondary frequency modulation after time delay to determine a secondary frequency modulation instruction; according to the virtual inertia response, the primary variable sagging control power adjustment value and the secondary frequency modulation instruction, determining a secondary frequency modulation active control instruction; and according to the secondary frequency modulation active control instruction, carrying out secondary adjusting of the active output power of the energy storage system. Through adoption of the method and apparatus of the invention, coordination and cooperation between the energy storage system and other machine sets in aspects of primary frequency modulation and secondary frequency modulation can be well solved.

A compressed-air energy storage system according to embodiments of the present invention comprises a reversible mechanism to compress and expand air, one or more compressed air storage tanks, a control system, one or more heat exchangers, and, in certain embodiments of the invention, a motor-generator. The reversible air compressor-expander uses mechanical power to compress air (when it is acting as a compressor) and converts the energy stored in compressed air to mechanical power (when it is acting as an expander). In certain embodiments, the compressor-expander comprises one or more stages, each stage consisting of pressure vessel (the “pressure cell”) partially filled with water or other liquid. In some embodiments, the pressure vessel communicates with one or more cylinder devices to exchange air and liquid with the cylinder chamber(s) thereof. Suitable valving allows air to enter and leave the pressure cell and cylinder device, if present, under electronic control.

A grid-connected energy storage system and a method of controlling the energy storage system. In the energy storage system, a normal operation of the energy storage system and the UPS function due to electrical failure may be stably performed even if electrical failure occurs. The energy storage system includes: a maximum power point tracking (MPPT) converter outputting converted power to a first node; a battery storing power; a bi-directional inverter converting power and outputting the converted power to the load, the grid or the first node; a bi-directional converter converting and storing power in the battery and outputting the power stored in the battery to the first node; and an integrated controller controlling the MPPT converter, the bi-directional inverter and the bi-directional converter.

Systems and methods for supplying power (both active and reactive) at a medium voltage from a DCSTATCOM to an IT load without using a transformer are disclosed. The DCSTATCOM includes an energy storage device, a two-stage DC-DC converter, and a multi-level inverter, each of which are electrically coupled to a common negative bus. The DC-DC converter may include two stages in a bidirectional configuration. One stage of the DC-DC converter uses a flying capacitor topology. The voltages across the capacitors of the flying capacitor topology are balanced and switching losses are minimized by fixed duty cycle operation. The DC-DC converter generates a high DC voltage from a low or high voltage energy storage device such as batteries and / or ultra-capacitors. The multi-level, neutral point, diode-clamped inverter converts the high DC voltage into a medium AC voltage using a space vector pulse width modulation (SVPWM) technique.

An energy storage system for charging / discharging power of a plurality of battery packs connected between a grid and a variable power source, the energy storage system including an inverter connected between the grid, the plurality of battery packs, and the variable power source, the inverter inverting an AC power into a DC power and inverting a DC power into an AC power according to charge / discharge, a plurality of converters connected between the battery pack, the variable power source, and the grid, the converters being connected to the battery packs in a one-to-one relationship to convert a charge / discharge power of the battery packs, respectively, a plurality of battery switching devices, the battery switching devices being respectively connected between the converters and the battery packs, and a controller connected to the inverter and the converter to control driving, the controller controlling a turn-on / off operation of the battery switching devices.

A compressed air energy storage system comprises a cavern (1) for stored compressed air and a system for providing the compressed air to a power train (3, 5), this system including a recuperator (7) and a first valve arrangement (8) that controls the flow of the compressed air from the recuperator and to the power train (3, 5). A system for warm-keeping of the power train (3, 5) during stand-by operation of the compressed air energy storage system comprises the recuperator (2) and / or an auxiliary electrical air heater (11) and a second valve arrangement (10, 13) for controlling the airflow for warm-keeping. The system for warm-keeping of the power train allows improved temperature control and avoids disadvantages associated with a warm-keeping system having a combustor.

A solar energy storage and utilization device comprises a metal inner container, a collecting lens, an energy storage tank and a water storage tank. A transparent vacuum tube is arranged outside the metal inner container; the bottom of the water storage tank and the bottom of the metal inner container are communicated through a water pipe I, the upper portion in the metal inner container and the bottom of the water storage tank are connected through a steam pipe I, and an exhaust pipe and a water supplementing pipe are arranged on the energy storage tank. According to the solar energy storage and utilization device, the transparent vacuum tube layer is arranged outside the metal inner container, received solar energy is stopped from being lost and thus the utilization rate of solar energy is substantially increased; meanwhile, the water storage tank and the energy storage tank are arranged so that solar energy received in good weather is stored in the energy storage tank in the form of high temperature and high pressure water and utilized in bad weather, the situation that an existing solar energy utilization device depends a lot on weather conditions is eliminated, and the application range of the solar energy utilization device is widened.

An energy storage device for powering a downhole tool may be heated to an effective temperature to improve the operability of the energy storage device. The energy storage device may comprise, for example, a primary battery, a secondary battery, a fuel cell, a capacitor, or combinations thereof. The effective temperature to which the energy storage device is heated may be greater than an ambient temperature in the wellbore near the energy storage device. The energy storage device may be heated using various heat sources such as an ohmic resistive heater, a heat pump, an exothermic reaction, a power generator, a heat transfer medium, the energy storage device itself, a downhole tool, or combinations thereof. A thermal conductor may extend between the heat source and the energy storage device. Further, a thermal insulator may at least partially surround the heat source and the energy storage device.

A kinetic energy system which transfers the kinetic landing into recoverable electric energy for an aircraft. The system incorporates at least one wheel supporting the aircraft for landing and takeoff coupled with a dynamic functioning motor / generator mounted to and operated by rotation of the wheel to create electrical energy from kinetic energy. An induction shoe structurally connected to the aircraft and electrically connected to the motor / generator, which shoe draws the converted energy from the generator which supplies the load created by the inductively coupled induction shoe to the an ancillary load provided by the resistive heat sink on by the capacitor storage bank. This provides the generator circuit for conversion of the rotational energy of the wheel to electrical energy and creates braking drag. In exemplary embodiments, the system employs an energy storage system acting as the load to store electrical potential energy created by the generator. Additionally, the generator is employable as a motor, receiving energy from the storage system for traction power to the associated aircraft wheel. An induction grid or a surface mounted conductive layer mounted into or onto a runway is employed for transferring energy to and from the motor / generator.

A downhole power system is provided that includes an energy storage adapted to operate at high temperatures, and a modular signal interface device that serves to control the energy storage component as well as offer a means of data logging at high temperatures. The controller is fabricated from pre-assembled components that may be selected for various combinations to provide desired functionality. The energy storage may include at least one ultracapacitor.