Underground Pumped Hydro Bag With Variable Overburden Control
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional pumped hydro storage technologies are limited by geographical requirements, such as elevation differences found in mountainous terrain, making them unsuitable for flat or environmentally sensitive areas, and there is a need for improved energy storage solutions in these regions.
Innovation Solution
A system comprising a deformable bag filled with fluid, overlaid with a variable composition overburden that can be raised and lowered as the bag fills or empties, allowing for energy storage and retrieval, and incorporating features like irrigation hoses to enhance flowability and prevent freeze-up, along with edge support structures and non-uniform pressure distribution to control filling and emptying patterns.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If conventional pumped hydro storage is used, then energy storage capability is achieved, but geographical limitations requiring elevation differences and mountainous terrain are imposed
Solution Approach 1:
The invention uses a deformable bag that can dynamically change its volume and shape as it fills and empties with water. This dynamic behavior allows the system to adapt to flat terrain without requiring fixed elevation differences, as the bag itself creates the necessary height variation through its expansion and contraction cycles
Solution Approach 2:
The patent employs a flexible deformable bag made of thin film material that can be deployed in locations without mountainous terrain. The flexible nature of the bag allows it to be installed in flat areas and still achieve the required water elevation changes for pumped hydro storage operation
2Device complexity
If uniform overburden is used, then structural simplicity is maintained, but uneven pressure distribution and freeze-up issues occur
Solution Approach 1:
The invention applies local quality by varying the overburden composition and thickness at different locations. The overburden is designed with different particle sizes and compositions in specific regions to address local issues such as freeze-up prevention in upper layers and pressure distribution in lower layers, rather than using a uniform structure throughout
3Quantity of substance
If the bag is filled completely, then energy storage capacity is maximized, but freeze-up of the uppermost portion occurs during cold weather
Solution Approach 1:
The patent addresses freeze-up by creating local quality differences in the overburden structure. The uppermost portion of the overburden is designed with different composition or particle size characteristics compared to lower layers, providing insulation or drainage properties that prevent freeze-up while allowing the bag to remain fully filled for maximum energy storage capacity
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
Enables energy storage and retrieval in non-mountainous areas by utilizing a deformable bag and variable overburden composition, improving the flexibility and efficiency of energy storage systems, and preventing freeze-up and uneven pressure issues.
Implementation Method 1
a bag comprising a deformable boundary defining an interior that can be filled with the fluid and emptied of the fluid as desired, the bag being capable of occupying a less-filled configuration and a more-filled configuration
Implementation Method 2
The variation in the overburden can be such as to discourage freeze-up of the uppermost portion of the overburden during cold weather
Implementation Method 3
an irrigation hose buried within the overburden, wherein the irrigation hose is capable of delivering a liquid to specific locations within the overburden, and wherein the overburden has local flowability properties that are responsive to an amount of the liquid that has been delivered to local places within the overburden
Implementation Method 4
A system comprising a deformable bag filled with fluid, overlaid with a variable composition overburden that can be raised and lowered as the bag fills or empties, allowing for energy storage and retrieval
Data Source
AI summary
An Underground Pumped Hydro Storage system may comprise a substrate, a large water-fillable bag, and an overburden causing pressure in the bag. The overburden may have nonuniformities of composition or dimension. Such nonuniformities may locally make overburden more flowable or gentle to the bag, at regions of relatively high shape change or flow during a cycle. Such nonuniformities may help prevent the overburden from freezing up in cold weather, or may enable a controlled progression of bag shapes. The overburden may have an irrigation hose buried in it.The bag edge joint may have any of various features that provide for a transition of local bending and load distribution near the joint between the bag upper and lower layers. An antechamber may be provided for access to the bag interior for robotic inspection or maintenance. The system may be deployed near a dam on a river.