Segmented Water-Storage Tower for Gravity Energy Storage Pressure Control
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Renewable energy sources like solar and wind power are intermittent and unpredictable, limiting the delivery of electricity to the grid.
Innovation Solution
A gravity-based energy storage tower with upper and lower sections of floors filled with water, utilizing pumps and turbines to store and generate electricity by transferring water between sections under gravity, maintaining a consistent pressure differential between the floors, which can be cylindrical with a cylindrical shape, and a pressure differential between the sections.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Quantity of substance
If water is pumped from lower to upper floors to store energy, then energy storage capacity increases, but water pressure on floor walls increases significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The tower is divided into multiple floors, each capable of independent water storage. By segmenting the water storage into discrete floor-level compartments rather than a continuous vertical column, the pressure on each floor's walls is limited to the height of that specific floor rather than the cumulative height of all floors above it.
Solution Approach 2:
Pipes are introduced as intermediary elements to connect water sources to individual floors and to enable water transfer between floors. These pipes allow water to be delivered to specific floors without requiring the entire vertical column to be filled, thereby controlling pressure at each level while maintaining energy storage capability.
2Quantity of substance
If multiple floors are filled with water for energy storage, then potential energy increases, but structural complexity of the tower increases
Solution Approach 1:
The tower structure is segmented into standardized floor modules, each with identical or similar structural characteristics. This modular segmentation allows for systematic construction and simplifies structural analysis, as each floor can be designed and built using the same structural framework repeated at different heights.
Solution Approach 2:
Each floor is designed as a universal module that can serve multiple functions: structural support, water storage containment, and pressure distribution. This multi-functionality reduces the need for additional specialized components, thereby limiting overall structural complexity despite the multi-floor design.
3Ease of operation
If valves are used to selectively open/close floors for water flow control, then energy generation control improves, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system utilizes the natural force of gravity to drive water flow from upper floors to lower floors during energy generation. This self-service mechanism eliminates the need for complex pump systems or active control mechanisms, as gravity automatically provides the driving force, simplifying the overall device complexity while maintaining operational control through valve management.
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
The system efficiently stores and generates electricity using the potential energy of water, providing predictable energy delivery to the grid.
Implementation Method 1
To store energy (as potential energy), water can be pumped (e.g., by one or more pumps or one or more turbine pumps) from a lower elevation (e.g., a reservoir outside the tower hydraulically connected to the tower, one or more floors in a lower section of the tower) to one or more of the floors in the upper floor section
Implementation Method 2
one or more of the valves can be selectively opened to allow water to flow from said one or more floors in the upper floor section (via the one or more pipes) to the lower elevation under force of gravity, said water flowing past and rotating a turbine or turbine pump to generate electricity via a generator electrically connected to the turbine or turbine pump
Data Source
AI summary
An energy storage tower can include an upper floor section with one or more floors. A pump, a turbine, a turbine-pump, or a plurality of turbine pumps on, below or proximate the ground can be hydraulically connected with each of the floors in the upper floor section. To store energy, water can be pumped from a lower elevation, to one or more of the floors in the upper floor section via one or more pipes, and one or more valves can be selectively closed to store the water. To generate electricity, one of more of the valves can be selectively opened to allow water to flow from the upper floor section to the lower elevation under force of gravity. The water can flow past and rotate a turbine or turbine pump to generate electricity via a generator electrically connected to the turbine or turbine pump.