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Technical and economic analysis of Brayton-cycle-based pumped thermal electricity storage systems with direct and indirect thermal energy storage

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  • Zhang, Han
  • Wang, Liang
  • Lin, Xipeng
  • Chen, Haisheng

Abstract

Pumped thermal electricity storage (PTES) systems have attracted increasing attention, owing to high energy density, low cost, flexible adjustable energy storage duration, and lack of geographical restrictions. At present, theoretical research for PTES is relatively deep. Further reduction of investment costs is of great value to its development and application. This paper proposes a 10-MW PTES system with indirect thermal energy storage (TES) (I-PTES). The I-PTES and a PTES system with direct TES (D-PTES) are analyzed and compared in terms of their technical and economic performances. The results show that the I-PTES is advantageous owing to its low installation cost when its electricity storage duration exceeds 6 h, despite bearing some loss in round-trip efficiency. For longer-duration electricity storage, the energy capital cost of I-PTES can be lower than 200 $/kWh, i.e., 40% lower than that of D-PTES, whereas the penalty for its round-trip efficiency can be less than 5% after optimization. For a 10-MW I-PTES system, the optimum round-trip efficiency and energy density can reach approximately 65% and 26 kWh/m3, respectively. This research provides a more economical choice for the long-duration electricity storage, and a theoretical basis for the design and optimization of high-efficiency and low-capital-cost PTES systems.

Suggested Citation

  • Zhang, Han & Wang, Liang & Lin, Xipeng & Chen, Haisheng, 2022. "Technical and economic analysis of Brayton-cycle-based pumped thermal electricity storage systems with direct and indirect thermal energy storage," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 239(PC).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:energy:v:239:y:2022:i:pc:s0360544221022143
    DOI: 10.1016/j.energy.2021.121966
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    7. Yang, D.L. & Tang, G.H. & Sheng, Q. & Li, X.L. & Fan, Y.H. & He, Y.L. & Luo, K.H., 2023. "Effects of multiple insufficient charging and discharging on compressed carbon dioxide energy storage," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 278(PA).
    8. Zhang, Han & Wang, Liang & Lin, Xipeng & Chen, Haisheng, 2023. "Parametric optimisation and thermo-economic analysis of Joule–Brayton cycle-based pumped thermal electricity storage system under various charging–discharging periods," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 263(PE).
    9. Ameen, Muhammad Tahir & Ma, Zhiwei & Smallbone, Andrew & Norman, Rose & Roskilly, Anthony Paul, 2023. "Demonstration system of pumped heat energy storage (PHES) and its round-trip efficiency," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 333(C).
    10. Zhao, Yao & Huang, Jiaxing & Song, Jian & Ding, Yulong, 2024. "Thermodynamic investigation of a Carnot battery based multi-energy system with cascaded latent thermal (heat and cold) energy stores," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 296(C).
    11. Yong, Qingqing & Jin, Kaiyuan & Li, Xiaobo & Yang, Ronggui, 2023. "Thermo-economic analysis for a novel grid-scale pumped thermal electricity storage system coupled with a coal-fired power plant," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 280(C).
    12. Chen, Yanqi & Bao, Aorigele & Wu, Ding & Huang, Xiaohui & Huang, Sheng & Zhang, Ji, 2025. "Experimental study of discharge performance of pumped thermal energy storage system based on organic Rankine cycle," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 340(C).
    13. Guido Francesco Frate & Lorenzo Ferrari & Umberto Desideri, 2022. "Techno-Economic Comparison of Brayton Pumped Thermal Electricity Storage (PTES) Systems Based on Solid and Liquid Sensible Heat Storage," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(24), pages 1-28, December.
    14. Lu, Pei & Liu, Bo & Zhu, Haole & Wu, Rongjun & Luo, Xianglong & Liang, Zheng & Liang, Yingzong & Yang, Zhi & Chen, Jianyong & Chen, Ying, 2025. "Thermo-economic investigation on a novel zeotropic Carnot battery using cascaded phase change material for thermal energy storage," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 338(C).
    15. Alberto Benato & Francesco De Vanna & Anna Stoppato, 2022. "Levelling the Photovoltaic Power Profile with the Integrated Energy Storage System," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(24), pages 1-21, December.
    16. Shi, Xingping & He, Qing & Lu, Chang & Wang, Tingting & Cui, Shuangshuang & Du, Dongmei, 2023. "Variable load modes and operation characteristics of closed Brayton cycle pumped thermal electricity storage system with liquid-phase storage," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 203(C), pages 715-730.
    17. Wu, Ding & Ma, Bo & Zhang, Ji & Chen, Yanqi & Shen, Feifan & Chen, Xun & Wen, Chuang & Yang, Yan, 2024. "Working fluid pair selection of thermally integrated pumped thermal electricity storage system for waste heat recovery and energy storage," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 371(C).
    18. Li, Binghui & Qian, Wen & Du, Xiaoze, 2025. "Study on the retrofit of coupled Carnot battery in retired coal-fired power units for grid energy storage transformation," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 401(PC).

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