The Flywheel Energy Storage System (FESS) stores the electric energy into the rotational kinetic energy of the rotor. The FESS uses housing components so that the rotor spins inside the housing where the vacuum is maintained. Thus, the housing component is exposed to the load due to this pressure difference, and designing the housing that can efficiently support this load is crucial. Meanwhile, in the situation wherein the rotor lifting force is blocked, the rotor drops and damages the system. Thus, it is necessary to equip a structure capable of supporting the corresponding impact of the rotor drop. In this study, the design of the housing components is described by considering the structural robustness of the housing components, under the atmospheric pressure and impact of the rotor drop. For the pressure load, structural analysis was conducted following the different housing lid shapes: concave, convex, and flat. For the impact of the rotor drop, the structural analysis was conducted following the different terminal velocities of the rotating rotor. As a result, the designed housing components comprise a concave housing lid and the safety suspension 1 mm beneath the rotor. Considering the results, it operates stably under the conditions stated above.
The importance of environmentally-friendly energy production has been growing globally, and studies on energy storage technologies are underway, to supply produced energy to consumers. Flywheel Energy Storage System (FESS) is physical energy storage technology, that stores generated electric energy into kinetic energy in the rotor. To design the FESS with a high-strength steel rotor, that is inexpensive, recyclable and easy to manufacture, mechanical and electrical components such as a rotor, bearings, etc. are required. Among these, safety of rotor and bearings is critical, because the rotor with high rotating speed may cause axis failure or fracture of the rotating body. Proper size of a rotor for required energy storage and radial, axial forces generated by the spinning rotor was calculated, considering gyroscopic forces acting on the rotating body. Based on the calculation, adequately sustainable angular ball bearings were selected. As a result, by conducting structural, modal and critical speed analysis, safety verification is presented pursuant to the American Petroleum Institute (API) publication 684.
Citations
Citations to this article as recorded by
An Analytical Study on the Design of Housing Components for 10 kWh Flywheel Energy Storage System Deuk Kyu Lee, Beom Soo Kang Journal of the Korean Society for Precision Engineering.2020; 37(1): 59. CrossRef