Energy Storage Technology Comparison : A knowledge guide to simplify selection of energy storage technology
Year: 2016
Type: dissertation
Abstract: The purpose of this study has been to increase the understanding of some of the most commonly used energy storage technologies. Also, the work aimed to collect numeric values of a number of common parameters used to analyze energy storage. These numeric values could then be used as basis for a first evaluation of the energy storage technology that is best suited to a given situation. The method was divided into three main phases. The first phase was to gather information on the different technologies and to assess which of the information that was relevant to present in a technical survey called Energy Storage Technology Mapping. This part was done to achieve the goal of increase the insight of different energy storage technologies. The following phase was, on the basis of the numeric values presented in the technical survey, to develop a tool to facilitate the choice of energy storage technologies in different situations. The final phase consisted of a case study that was done to demonstrate the tool’s utility and evaluate its performance. Without comparing the studied technologies with a specific application in mind, the following was stated regarding the four categories of energy storage technologies: Electrochemical: high efficiency, short storage period Mechanical: large capacity and power, high initial investment costs and geographically limited Chemical: very long storage period, low efficiency Thermal: long lifetime and high efficiency, variable depending on the medium studied From the literature study and the results a number of conclusions were drawn. Among other things, it was possible to conclude that environmental-, social- and ethical aspects should be taken into account as well as the geographical- and geological conditions. It was also possible to conclude that the technologies compared were found at different stages in terms of maturity and commercial use, which was reflected in the ability to find more general numeric values relative to the values linked to a specific application.
Author: Johanna Gustavsson
Language: English
Subfield: Energy Engineering and Power Technology
Field: Energy
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W2512951760