Okay, there are various types of
energy storage technologies, which are mainly classified based on their stored energy forms, working principles, and application scenarios. The following are the main types of energy storage:
Category 1: Mechanical energy storage
Pumped storage:
Principle: Utilize surplus electricity during periods of low power load to pump water from the lower reservoir to the upper reservoir for storage; During peak electricity load, water is released to drive the turbine to generate electricity.
Application: Large scale peak shaving, frequency regulation, and rotating backup at the grid level.
Compressed air energy storage:
Principle: When there is surplus electricity, use electricity to compress and store air in underground caves (such as abandoned salt caverns, mines, aquifers) or large gas storage tanks; When power generation is required, compressed air is released, heated (usually requiring additional fuel), and then the turbine is driven to generate electricity.
Application: Large scale peak shaving and valley filling at the grid level, integration of renewable energy into the grid.
Flywheel energy storage:
Principle: Using an electric motor to drive the flywheel to rotate at high speed (in a vacuum environment, magnetic levitation bearings), converting electrical energy into mechanical kinetic energy for storage; When electric energy needs to be released, the flywheel drives the generator to generate electricity.
Application: Short term high-power applications, such as grid frequency regulation (second/minute level), power quality improvement (voltage sag compensation), rail transit braking energy recovery, UPS uninterruptible power supply.
Gravity energy storage:
Principle: Use gravitational potential energy to store energy. There are mainly two common methods:
Heavy lifting type: using electrical energy to lift heavy objects (such as concrete blocks or sand and gravel) to a high place to store potential energy; When generating electricity, the weight can be lowered to drive the generator.
Mountain train/pulley system type: Use surplus electricity to pull carriages loaded with heavy objects (sand, gravel, water) to a high place on the hillside track; When generating electricity, the carriage slides down to drive the generator.
Application: Potential grid level peak shaving and long-term energy storage (several hours).
Category 2: Electrochemical Energy Storage Systems
Lithium ion battery:
Principle: Charging and discharging rely on the insertion and extraction reactions of lithium ions between positive and negative electrode materials. There are various choices for the positive electrode material system.
Lithium iron phosphate: safe, long lifespan, relatively low cost, medium energy density, mainly used for energy storage and power batteries.
Ternary lithium: High energy density, mainly used for power batteries, partially used for high-end energy storage (with high space requirements).
Lithium titanate: ultra long lifespan, ultra fast charging and discharging, extremely safe, but with low energy density and high cost, used in special scenarios.
Application: Wide coverage: household/industrial and commercial energy storage, grid side energy storage (frequency regulation, peak shaving, black start), new energy supporting energy storage (photovoltaic+energy storage, wind power+energy storage), communication base station backup power supply, electric vehicles, etc.
Lead acid battery:
Principle: This is the oldest rechargeable battery technology that utilizes electrochemical reactions between lead and lead dioxide electrodes and sulfuric acid electrolyte to achieve charging and discharging.
Application: Mainly used in low demand backup power scenarios (such as UPS, emergency lighting, electric bicycles), gradually replaced by lithium batteries in the new energy storage market.
Flow battery:
Principle: The electrolyte is stored in an external storage tank and flows through the stack through a pump for charging and discharging reactions. Electricity is stored in the electrolyte. The main ones are:
The all vanadium flow battery is currently the most mature flow battery technology, and the active materials of its positive and negative electrodes are vanadium ions in different valence states. This type of battery has a long service life and high safety, and its power and capacity can be independently designed. The capacity for storing energy is determined by the size of the storage tank, while the stack determines the power output of the battery.
Zinc bromide flow battery: lower theoretical cost.
Iron chromium flow battery: abundant raw materials, low cost, and great potential.
Application: Large scale long-term energy storage on the grid side, long-term smooth output of renewable energy, peak shaving and valley filling.
Sodium ion battery:
Principle: The working principle is similar to lithium-ion batteries, but using sodium ions as charge carriers. The positive and negative electrode materials do not contain lithium, such as polyanionic compounds, Prussian blue like substances, and hard carbon.
Application: With enormous potential, targeting the large-scale energy storage market (especially for long-term energy storage scenarios that are cost sensitive but do not require extreme energy density), including some low-speed electric vehicles and two wheelers.
Sodium sulfur battery:
Principle: Using molten liquid sulfur as the positive electrode and molten liquid sodium as the negative electrode, working at a high temperature of 300-350 ° C, with solid β - alumina ceramic as the electrolyte and separator.
Application: Mainly used in specific regions (such as Japan) for grid level energy storage (peak shaving and valley filling, renewable energy grid connection), with limited application scale.
The third category: electromagnetic energy storage
Supercapacitors:
Principle: Energy storage based on the double layer effect (EDLC) or partial pseudocapacitive effect at the electrode/electrolyte interface.
Application: Applications that require instantaneous high-power charging and discharging: energy recovery for electric vehicle start stop/braking, transient stability control of power system (voltage support), power quality regulation (voltage sag compensation), and use in conjunction with batteries (providing peak power and reducing battery burden).
Superconducting magnetic energy storage:
Principle: Use the magnetic field generated by the direct current flowing in a superconducting coil (with zero resistance at ultra-low temperatures) to store energy.
Application: Very specialized fields: instantaneous (second level) stability control of power systems, pulse power technology, precision instrument power supply, scientific research.
Fourth category: Chemical energy storage
Hydrogen energy storage:
Principle: Utilize surplus electricity to produce hydrogen through electrolysis of water (electricity ->chemical energy); Storage of gaseous hydrogen (high pressure) or liquid hydrogen (cryogenic); When needed, fuel cells can be used to generate electricity (chemical energy ->electricity+heat) or directly burned for utilization.
Application: Large scale, long-term (cross seasonal) energy storage; Renewable energy consumption and cross regional transportation; Industrial raw materials/fuels; Transportation (hydrogen fuel cell vehicles).
Synthetic fuel energy storage:
Principle: Utilize surplus electricity to produce hydrogen, which is then catalytically synthesized with captured CO2 to produce methane, methanol, ammonia, liquid fuels, etc.
Application: Deep decarbonization scenario: Fuel substitution in difficult to reduce emissions areas (heavy transportation, aviation, shipping, chemical industry); Large scale energy storage across seasons.
Fifth category: Thermal energy storage
Sensible heat storage:
Principle: By heating/cooling the thermal storage medium (such as water, sand and gravel, molten salt, thermal oil, concrete, etc.), thermal energy is stored by utilizing the temperature changes of the medium.
Applications: solar thermal power generation, industrial waste heat recovery and utilization, regional heating/cooling, building energy conservation (cold/heat storage).
Latent heat storage/phase change heat storage:
Principle: When a material undergoes a phase change process (such as the transition from solid to liquid), it can absorb or release a large amount of latent heat (i.e. phase change heat), thereby achieving the purpose of storing and releasing thermal energy.
Application: Building insulation/temperature control (walls, floors), electronic equipment thermal management, solar thermal utilization (hot water, heating), cold chain transportation, waste heat recovery.
Thermochemical thermal storage:
Principle: Thermal energy is stored through reversible chemical reactions such as adsorption and desorption, hydration and dehydration, and reduction and oxidation of metal oxides.
Application: In the research and demonstration stage, the goal is ultra-high density, long-period thermal storage (such as seasonal thermal storage), and high-temperature industrial processes.
summary
Large scale, long-term grid level energy storage: pumped storage, compressed air storage, flow batteries, hydrogen storage.
Short term, distributed energy storage (power grid, industrial and commercial, household): lithium-ion batteries (dominant), lead-acid batteries (gradually being replaced), sodium ion batteries (emerging).
High power, fast response applications: flywheel energy storage, supercapacitors, superconducting magnetic energy storage (special scenarios).
Thermal energy management: sensible heat storage, phase change heat storage (latent heat), thermochemical heat storage (under development).
Cross seasonal, energy carriers: hydrogen energy storage, synthetic fuel energy storage (PtX).
Each energy storage technology has its unique advantages and limitations, and the choice of technology depends on specific application requirements (such as required power, energy, response time, duration, cost constraints, safety requirements, space limitations, environmental factors, etc.). The future energy storage market will be characterized by the coexistence and complementary development of multiple technologies.
For more information, please follow:
http://www.zhaofdj.com/