Analogy Analysis of Height Exergy and Temperature Exergy in Energy Storage System

As a pivotal technology and infrastructure component for modern power systems, energy storage has experienced significant advancement in recent years. A fundamental prerequisite for designing future energy storage facilities lies in the systematic evaluation of energy conversion capabilities across...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Yan Cui, Tong Jiang, Mulin Liu
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2025-07-01
Series:Energies
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/18/14/3675
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:As a pivotal technology and infrastructure component for modern power systems, energy storage has experienced significant advancement in recent years. A fundamental prerequisite for designing future energy storage facilities lies in the systematic evaluation of energy conversion capabilities across diverse storage technologies. This study conducted a comparative analysis between pumped hydroelectric storage (PHS) and compressed air energy storage (CAES), defining the concepts of height exergy and temperature exergy. Height exergy is the maximum work capacity of a liquid due to height differences, while temperature exergy is the maximum work capacity of a gas due to temperature differences. The temperature exergy represents innovation in thermodynamic analysis; it is derived from internal exergy and proven through the Maxwell relation and the decoupling method of internal exergy, offering a more efficient method for calculating energy storage capacity in CAES systems. Mathematical models of height exergy and temperature exergy were established based on their respective forms. A unified calculation formula was derived, and their respective characteristics were analyzed. In order to show the meaning of temperature exergy more clearly and intuitively, a height exergy model of temperature exergy was established through analogy analysis, and it was concluded that the shape of the reservoir was a cone when comparing water volume to heat quantity, intuitively showing that the cold source had a higher energy storage density than the heat source. Finally, a typical hybrid PHS–CAES system was proposed, and a mathematical model was established and verified in specific cases based on height exergy and temperature exergy. It was demonstrated that when the polytropic exponent <i>n</i> = 1.2, the theoretical loss accounted for the largest proportion, which was 2.06%.
ISSN:1996-1073