IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/energy/v329y2025ics0360544225024028.html

Carnot battery with steam accumulator and pebble bed thermal energy storage

Author

Listed:
  • Stevanovic, Vladimir D.
  • Nord, Lars O.
  • Lazarevic, Milos A.
  • Milivojevic, Sanja
  • Petrovic, Milan M.
  • Stevanovic, Nevena

Abstract

Carnot batteries can store excess electricity from intermittent renewable solar or wind sources and generate power in periods of peak consumption. A novel design of the Carnot battery is proposed based on thermal energy storage by the combination of a steam accumulator and a pebble bed in a series configuration. During the Carnot battery charging, steam is generated by high temperature heat pumps with CO2 compression cycles, pressurized and superheated by electrically driven steam compressors. The obtained superheated steam flows through the pebble bed porous structure and transfers heat to alumina balls in direct contact. Steam from the pebble bed inflows the steam accumulator. During the Carnot battery discharging phase, the steam outflows the steam accumulator, superheats in the pebble bed and expands through the steam turbine, which is connected to the electric generator for power production. The advantages of the studied Carnot battery are a simple design and operation of the steam accumulator as the thermal energy storage unit, the accumulated steam directly serves as working fluid in the steam turbine and the coupling of the pebble bed with the steam accumulator enables steam superheating that is required for an increased steam turbine efficiency in power generation. Water is low-cost and more convenient in respect to safety, plant engineering and operational aspects in comparison with other working fluids. In addition, there is no need for additional heat exchangers for the heat transfer between the working fluid and the storage medium. Maximum temperature and pressure of the thermal storage medium are 303 °C and 0.7 MPa, respectively. The temperature and low-pressure values enable application of mature technology and lower investment costs, where the capacity specific cost of 471 €/kWhe is reached. The presented Carnot battery design is supported with numerical simulations of thermal energy charging and discharging transients in the pebble bed and the steam accumulator with own original and validated modelling approaches. The obtained Carnot battery charging electric power is 9.5 MWe for 6.9 h, while discharging power is 2.3 MWe for 9.4 h, which is suitable for the electric grid power control on a daily period.

Suggested Citation

  • Stevanovic, Vladimir D. & Nord, Lars O. & Lazarevic, Milos A. & Milivojevic, Sanja & Petrovic, Milan M. & Stevanovic, Nevena, 2025. "Carnot battery with steam accumulator and pebble bed thermal energy storage," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 329(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:energy:v:329:y:2025:i:c:s0360544225024028
    DOI: 10.1016/j.energy.2025.136760
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0360544225024028
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.energy.2025.136760?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to

    for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Michael Krüger & Selman Muslubas & Eren Çam & Daniel Lehmann & Sabine Polenz & Volker Dreißigacker & Freerk Klasing & Philipp Knödler, 2022. "Technical Development and Economic Evaluation of the Integration of Thermal Energy Storage in Steam Power Plants," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(9), pages 1-34, May.
    2. Laterre, Antoine & Dumont, Olivier & Lemort, Vincent & Contino, Francesco, 2024. "Extended mapping and systematic optimisation of the Carnot battery trilemma for sub-critical cycles with thermal integration," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 304(C).
    3. Vaclav Novotny & Vit Basta & Petr Smola & Jan Spale, 2022. "Review of Carnot Battery Technology Commercial Development," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(2), pages 1-33, January.
    4. Morandin, Matteo & Maréchal, François & Mercangöz, Mehmet & Buchter, Florian, 2012. "Conceptual design of a thermo-electrical energy storage system based on heat integration of thermodynamic cycles – Part B: Alternative system configurations," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 45(1), pages 386-396.
    5. Jockenhöfer, Henning & Steinmann, Wolf-Dieter & Bauer, Dan, 2018. "Detailed numerical investigation of a pumped thermal energy storage with low temperature heat integration," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 145(C), pages 665-676.
    6. 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).
    7. Morandin, Matteo & Maréchal, François & Mercangöz, Mehmet & Buchter, Florian, 2012. "Conceptual design of a thermo-electrical energy storage system based on heat integration of thermodynamic cycles – Part A: Methodology and base case," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 45(1), pages 375-385.
    8. Olabi, A.G. & Onumaegbu, C. & Wilberforce, Tabbi & Ramadan, Mohamad & Abdelkareem, Mohammad Ali & Al – Alami, Abdul Hai, 2021. "Critical review of energy storage systems," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 214(C).
    9. Anderson, Ryan & Shiri, Samira & Bindra, Hitesh & Morris, Jeffrey F., 2014. "Experimental results and modeling of energy storage and recovery in a packed bed of alumina particles," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 119(C), pages 521-529.
    10. Ferreira, Helder Lopes & Garde, Raquel & Fulli, Gianluca & Kling, Wil & Lopes, Joao Pecas, 2013. "Characterisation of electrical energy storage technologies," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 53(C), pages 288-298.
    11. Steinmann, W.D., 2014. "The CHEST (Compressed Heat Energy STorage) concept for facility scale thermo mechanical energy storage," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 69(C), pages 543-552.
    12. Yu, Qiang & Fu, Peng & Yang, Yihui & Qiao, Jiafei & Wang, Zhifeng & Zhang, Qiangqiang, 2020. "Modeling and parametric study of molten salt receiver of concentrating solar power tower plant," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 200(C).
    13. Högnabba, Kim & Tveit, Tor-Martin & Vittor, Stefano & Zevenhoven, Ron, 2024. "Economic and environmental considerations for the deployment of industrial very high temperature heat pumps in European markets," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 309(C).
    14. Liang, Ting & Vecchi, Andrea & Knobloch, Kai & Sciacovelli, Adriano & Engelbrecht, Kurt & Li, Yongliang & Ding, Yulong, 2022. "Key components for Carnot Battery: Technology review, technical barriers and selection criteria," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 163(C).
    15. Abdul Ghani Olabi & Tabbi Wilberforce & Mohammad Ali Abdelkareem & Mohamad Ramadan, 2021. "Critical Review of Flywheel Energy Storage System," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(8), pages 1-33, April.
    16. Morandin, Matteo & Mercangöz, Mehmet & Hemrle, Jaroslav & Maréchal, François & Favrat, Daniel, 2013. "Thermoeconomic design optimization of a thermo-electric energy storage system based on transcritical CO2 cycles," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 58(C), pages 571-587.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Zhao, Yongliang & Song, Jian & Liu, Ming & Zhao, Yao & Olympios, Andreas V. & Sapin, Paul & Yan, Junjie & Markides, Christos N., 2022. "Thermo-economic assessments of pumped-thermal electricity storage systems employing sensible heat storage materials," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 186(C), pages 431-456.
    2. Guccione, Salvatore & Guedez, Rafael, 2024. "Techno-economic analysis of power-to-heat-to-power plants: Mapping optimal combinations of thermal energy storage and power cycles," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 312(C).
    3. Guido Francesco Frate & Lorenzo Ferrari & Umberto Desideri, 2020. "Rankine Carnot Batteries with the Integration of Thermal Energy Sources: A Review," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(18), pages 1-28, September.
    4. Frate, Guido Francesco & Ferrari, Lorenzo & Desideri, Umberto, 2021. "Energy storage for grid-scale applications: Technology review and economic feasibility analysis," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 163(C), pages 1754-1772.
    5. Ai, Wei & Wang, Liang & Lin, Xipeng & Bai, Yakai & Huang, Jingjian & Hu, Jiexiang & Chen, Haisheng, 2024. "Dynamic characteristics of pumped thermal-liquid air energy storage system: Modeling, analysis, and optimization," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 313(C).
    6. 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).
    7. Wang, Liang & Lin, Xipeng & Chai, Lei & Peng, Long & Yu, Dong & Chen, Haisheng, 2019. "Cyclic transient behavior of the Joule–Brayton based pumped heat electricity storage: Modeling and analysis," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 111(C), pages 523-534.
    8. Frate, Guido Francesco & Baccioli, Andrea & Bernardini, Leonardo & Ferrari, Lorenzo, 2022. "Assessment of the off-design performance of a solar thermally-integrated pumped-thermal energy storage," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 201(P1), pages 636-650.
    9. Blanquiceth, J. & Cardemil, J.M. & Henríquez, M. & Escobar, R., 2023. "Thermodynamic evaluation of a pumped thermal electricity storage system integrated with large-scale thermal power plants," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 175(C).
    10. Liang, Ting & Vecchi, Andrea & Knobloch, Kai & Sciacovelli, Adriano & Engelbrecht, Kurt & Li, Yongliang & Ding, Yulong, 2022. "Key components for Carnot Battery: Technology review, technical barriers and selection criteria," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 163(C).
    11. Carro, A. & Ortiz, C. & Unger, S. & Stoikos, A. & Kyriakides, A.-S. & Tsimpanogiannis, I.N. & Becerra, J.A. & Voutetakis, S. & Hampel, U. & Chacartegui, R., 2025. "Surface processes optimisation in a novel CO2-based electrothermal energy and geological storage trigeneration system," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 395(C).
    12. Steinmann, Wolf-Dieter, 2017. "Thermo-mechanical concepts for bulk energy storage," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 75(C), pages 205-219.
    13. 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).
    14. Baik, Young-Jin & Heo, Jaehyeok & Koo, Junemo & Kim, Minsung, 2014. "The effect of storage temperature on the performance of a thermo-electric energy storage using a transcritical CO2 cycle," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 75(C), pages 204-215.
    15. Jockenhöfer, Henning & Steinmann, Wolf-Dieter & Bauer, Dan, 2018. "Detailed numerical investigation of a pumped thermal energy storage with low temperature heat integration," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 145(C), pages 665-676.
    16. 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).
    17. Leonel J. R. Nunes, 2025. "Carnot Batteries for Grid-Scale Energy Storage: Technologies and the Potential Valorization of Biomass Ash as Thermal Storage Media," Energies, MDPI, vol. 18(16), pages 1-32, August.
    18. Kyriakopoulos, Grigorios L. & Arabatzis, Garyfallos, 2016. "Electrical energy storage systems in electricity generation: Energy policies, innovative technologies, and regulatory regimes," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 56(C), pages 1044-1067.
    19. Steinmann, Wolf-Dieter & Bauer, Dan & Jockenhöfer, Henning & Johnson, Maike, 2019. "Pumped thermal energy storage (PTES) as smart sector-coupling technology for heat and electricity," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 183(C), pages 185-190.
    20. Chen, Kaijie & Lu, Mingjian & Shen, Xiajie & Zhang, Yuan & Chen, Qi, 2025. "Performance analysis of Carnot battery and its coupled seawater desalination system based on Kalina cycle discharge process," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 336(C).

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:energy:v:329:y:2025:i:c:s0360544225024028. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.journals.elsevier.com/energy .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.