TRANSIENT ANALYSIS OF A COMPRESSED AIR ENERGY STORAGE SYSTEM

A transient energy analysis was performed in a Compressed Air Energy Storage (CAES) system. The aim is to perform a parametric analysis to determine the efficiency and output energy depending on some design parameters as the number of tanks connected in parallel, the insulation thickness, the storage time and the outflow. Mass and energy balances were carried out on every component of the system, the resulting equations from the analysis were solved numerically using the explicit Euler's method. The system operating for a short storage time presents a higher efficiency (about 42.38%) with insulated tanks, however it is lower (about 23.54%) for long storage time and non-insulated tanks. Nevertheless, when the system with insulated tanks reaches the steady state, i.e., for long storage time, its efficiency is almost half that one with tanks without insulation, 11.5% and 23.54%, respectively. These results indicate that for short storage times is better to insulate the tanks and for longer storage times is more convenient no insulation.