Energy storage systems and power conversion electronics for e-transportation and smart grid

The special issue “Energy Storage Systems and Power Conversion Electronics for E-Transportation and Smart Grid” on MDPI Energies presents 20 accepted papers, with authors from North and South America, Asia, Europe and Africa, related to the emerging trends in energy storage and power conversion electronic circuits and systems, with a specific focus on transportation electrification and on the evolution of the electric grid to a smart grid. An extensive exploitation of renewable energy sources is foreseen for smart grid as well as a close integration with the energy storage and recharging systems of the electrified transportation era. Innovations at both algorithmic and hardware (i.e., power converters, electric drives, electronic control units (ECU), energy storage modules and charging stations) levels are proposed

Energy Storage Technologies for Smoothing Power Fluctuations in Marine Current Turbines

With regard to marine renewable energies, significant electrical power can be extracted from marine tidal current. However, the power harnessed by a marine current turbine varies due to the periodicity of the tidal phenomenon and could be highly fluctuant caused by swell effect. To improve the power quality and make the marine current generation system more reliable, energy storage systems will play a crucial role. In this paper, the power fluctuation phenomenon is described and the state of art of energy storage technologies is presented. Characteristics of various energy storage technologies are analyzed and compared for marine application. The omparison shows that high-energy batteries like sodiumsulphur battery and flow battery are favorable for smoothing the long-period power fluctuation due to the tide phenomenon while supercapacitors and flywheels are suitable for eliminating short-period power disturbances due to swell or turbulence phenomena. It means that hybrid storage technologies are needed for achieving optimal performance in marine current energy systems

A H2 PEM fuel cell and high energy dense battery hybrid energy source for an urban electric vehicle

Electric vehicles are set to play a prominent role in addressing the energy and environmental impact of an increasing road transport population by offering a more energy efficient and less polluting drive-train alternative to conventional internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles. Given the energy (and hence range) and performance limitations of electro-chemical battery storage systems, hybrid systems combining energy and power dense storage technologies have been proposed for vehicle applications. The paper discusses the application of a hydrogen fuel cell as a range extender for an urban electric vehicle for which the primary energy source is provided by a high energy dense battery. A review of fuel cell systems and automotive drive-train application issues are discussed, together with an overview of the battery technology. The prototype fuel cell and battery component simulation models are presented and their performance as a combined energy/power source assessed for typical urban and sub-urban driving scenario

Application of Energy Storage in Power Systems

The purpose of this research is to determine the advantages of using energy storage systems. This study presents a model for energy storage in electric power systems. The model involves methods of reducing the operation cost of a power network and the calculation of capital cost of energy storage systems. Two test systems have been considered, the IEEE six-bus system and the IEEE 118-bus system, to analyze the impact of energy storage on power system economic operation. Properties of energy storage have been considered such as rated power investment cost and rated energy investment cost. Mixed integer programming has been used to formulate the model. A comparison between centralized energy storage system and distributed energy storage system have been proposed. The results show that distributed energy storage system has more impact on reducing total operation cost. Also, an analysis on optimal sizing of energy storage system with fixed investment cost is provided

High-temperature thermal storage systems for advanced solar receivers materials selections

Advanced space power systems that use solar energy and Brayton or Stirling heat engines require thermal energy storage (TES) systems to operate continuously through periods of shade. The receiver storage units, key elements in both Brayton and Stirling systems, are designed to use the latent heat of fusion of phase-change materials (PCMs). The power systems under current consideration for near-future National Aeronautics and Space Administration space missions require working fluid temperatures in the 1100 to 1400 K range. The PCMs under current investigation that gave liquid temperatures within this range are the fluoride family of salts. However, these salts have low thermal conductivity, which causes large temperature gradients in the storage systems. Improvements can be obtained, however, with the use of thermal conductivity enhancements or metallic PCMs. In fact, if suitable containment materials can be found, the use of metallic PCMs would virtually eliminate the orbit associated temperature variations in TES systems. The high thermal conductivity and generally low volume change on melting of germanium and alloys based on silicon make them attractive for storage of thermal energy in space power systems. An approach to solving the containment problem, involving both chemical and physical compatibility, preparation of NiSi/NiSi2, and initial results for containment of germanium and NiSi/NiSi2, are presented

Design proposal of the energy installation system for vehicle’s wind turbine

New inventions is relating to the idea of mounting a wind turbine for power generating system in vehicles. This study will investigate on the existing energy conversion and storage systems used in standard vehicle’s power system.This study involves with a proposed design of a vehicle’s wind turbine system. The energy that has been generated by wind turbine will be stored in the 12 volt battery and will then, be distributed to the entire vehicle for the use of the vehicle components. The optimal design for energy conversion system is created based on the review of the existing energy conversion and storage systems which are used in vehicle’s power system. A simulation study using NI Multisim (National Instrument Software) is conducted on the energy conversion and storage system that. The objectives of this study are to convert a mechanical energy from the blade to electrical energy to generate 12V voltage and to store it in a 12 volt battery. The 12V battery voltage will then be supplied to a high voltage system, up to 200V voltage capacity. From the analysis that has been done, the energy from a turbine has the potential to generate power to car system. The wind energy is possible to integrate with other existing and renewable energy. At this stage, the energy gained does not replace the existing one but it can be considered as a new energy source in the future energy developmen

Control Mechanisms of Energy Storage Devices

The fast acting due to the salient features of energy storage systems leads to using of it in the control applications in power system. The energy storage systems such as superconducting magnetic energy storage (SMES), capacitive energy storage (CES), and the battery of plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV) can storage the energy and contribute the active power and reactive power with the power system to extinguish the rapid change in load demands and the renewable energy sources (RES). This chapter gives an overview about the modeling of energy storage devices and methods of control in them to adjust steady outputs

A review of thermochemical energy storage systems for power grid support

Power systems in the future are expected to be characterized by an increasing penetration of renewable energy sources systems. To achieve the ambitious goals of the "clean energy transition", energy storage is a key factor, needed in power system design and operation as well as power-to-heat, allowing more flexibility linking the power networks and the heating/cooling demands. Thermochemical systems coupled to power-to-heat are receiving an increasing attention due to their better performance in comparison with sensible and latent heat storage technologies, in particular, in terms of storage time dynamics and energy density. In this work, a comprehensive review of the state of art of theoretical, experimental and numerical studies available in literature on thermochemical thermal energy storage systems and their use in power-to-heat applications is presented with a focus on applications with renewable energy sources. The paper shows that a series of advantages such as additional flexibility, load management, power quality, continuous power supply and a better use of variable renewable energy sources could be crucial elements to increase the commercial profitability of these storage systems. Moreover, specific challenges, i.e., life span and stability of storage material and high cost of power-to-heat/thermochemical systems must be taken in consideration to increase the technology readiness level of this emerging concept of energy systems integration