LLNL-TR-763191

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Earth Battery: Storing Energy
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with Compressed Air and

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Heated Brine in Porous Rock:
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Final Technical Report
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XThomas A. Buscheck, Ravi Upadhye
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March 26, 2019

 Earth Battery: Storing Energy with Compressed Air and Heated Brine in Porous Rock: Final Technical Report

Disclaimer
This document was prepared as an account of work sponsored by an agency of the United States
government. Neither the United States government nor Lawrence Livermore National Security,
LLC, nor any of their employees makes any warranty, expressed or implied, or assumes any
legal liability or responsibility for the accuracy, completeness, or usefulness of any information,
apparatus, product, or process disclosed, or represents that its use would not infringe privately
owned rights. Reference herein to any specific commercial product, process, or service by trade
name, trademark, manufacturer, or otherwise does not necessarily constitute or imply its
endorsement, recommendation, or favoring by the United States government or Lawrence
Livermore National Security, LLC. The views and opinions of authors expressed herein do not
necessarily state or reflect those of the United States government or Lawrence Livermore
National Security, LLC, and shall not be used for advertising or product endorsement purposes.
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory is operated by Lawrence Livermore National Security,
LLC, for the U.S. Department of Energy, National Nuclear Security Administration under
Contract DE-AC52-07NA27344.

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 Earth Battery: Storing Energy with Compressed Air and Heated Brine in Porous Rock: Final Technical Report

Abstract
Cost-effective reductions in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions are best achieved when all low-
carbon energy resources are fully utilized. This includes base-load power: nuclear energy (NE)
and fossil energy (FE), integrated with CO2 capture, use, and storage (CCUS), and variable
renewable energy (VRE) (wind and solar); but, current CCUS options don’t justify CO2-capture
costs and existing energy-storage approaches lack the capacity and storage duration needed to fully
utilize all forms of low-carbon energy without curtailment. The Earth Battery is designed to meet
these challenges by synergistically integrating conventional- and renewable-energy resources,
allowing each to contribute more efficiently to the grid than if operated independently.
The Earth Battery stores energy underground as pressure and heat, using compressed air and/or
CO2, together with heated brine. These fluids are stored in either saline aquifers used for CO2 or natural
gas (NG) storage or in oil and gas reservoirs, making deployment possible over much of the U.S. We
can provide enormous energy-storage capacity and duration. The main goal of this study was to assess
the techno-economic feasibility of the versions of the Earth Battery that use compressed air energy
storage (CAES). Current CAES systems use NG turbines and store air in salt caverns, which limits
geographic deployment. Conventional CAES wastes much of the heat of air compression, comprising
half of the compression energy. Our technology addresses these deficiencies by using permeable
sedimentary rock to store air and the heat of compression as heated brine. When electricity is needed,
air and hot brine are produced, with hot brine used to pre-heat air before it is fed into the expanders.
Key factors affecting round-trip efficiency are (1) pressure loss in the air-storage reservoir, which
depends on permeability (> 100 mD being needed for efficient operations) and (2) temperature loss in
the hot-brine storage reservoir, which decreases with time as the storage formation heats up.
We assessed two versions of the CAES Earth Battery: (1) Adiabatic CAES, which requires no
fuel and (2) NG/CAES, where one or more of the expansion stages are NG fueled. We found the
NG/CAES Earth Battery results in (1) higher efficiency, (2) reduced per KW cost, and (3) excess
thermal energy, which is available for seasonal energy storage, an unmet need. To target this market
opportunity, we developed and assessed two additional Earth Battery classes: (1) CCES, which stands
for compressed CO2 energy storage and (2) Thermal Earth Battery, which uses a novel thermal energy
storage (TES) approach. The CCES Earth Battery creates a business case for CCUS. The Thermal
Earth Battery has several advantages: (1) flexibility to be deployed with or without CAES or CCES,
allowing the option of using conventional steam-turbine technology, (2) high (65-85%) round-trip
efficiency, and (3) large storage capacity and long storage duration (seasonal). Earth Battery
technology is protected by three U.S. patents (two issued) and one International Application filed
under the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT).

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 Earth Battery: Storing Energy with Compressed Air and Heated Brine in Porous Rock: Final Technical Report

Table of Contents
1 Executive Summary ................................................................................................................ 6

2 Introduction ............................................................................................................................. 8

3 Process Design ......................................................................................................................... 9

4 Reservoir Analyses ................................................................................................................ 10

4.1 Geographic Deployment Potential ................................................................................................................ 10
4.2 Storage Reservoir Design .............................................................................................................................. 12
4.3 Air-Storage Reservoir Results ....................................................................................................................... 14
4.3.1 Commercial-Scale Plant ...................................................................................................................... 15
4.3.2 Pilot-Scale Plant................................................................................................................................... 16
4.4 Hot-Brine Storage Reservoir Results ............................................................................................................ 18
4.4.1 Commercial-Scale Plant ...................................................................................................................... 18
4.4.2 Pilot-Scale Plant................................................................................................................................... 20

5 Economic Analyses................................................................................................................ 22
5.1 Commercial-Scale Diurnal Storage with Adiabatic CAES and NG/CAES ................................................... 22
5.1.1 Adiabatic CAES with Two Storage Reservoirs ................................................................................... 25
5.1.2 Adiabatic CAES with One Storage Reservoir and Hot Oil Storage in Tanks ...................................... 27
5.1.3 Adiabatic CAES with Two Storage Reservoirs and Supplemental Heat Source.......................................... 28
5.1.4 NG/CAES with Two Storage Reservoirs, Three Expanders, and One NG Turbine ..................................... 29
5.1.5 NG/CAES with Two Storage Reservoirs and Three NG Turbines ...................................................... 29
5.1.6 Pilot-Scale Diurnal Storage with Adiabatic CAES .............................................................................. 30
5.1.7 Minimum-Sized Pilot Plant ................................................................................................................. 30
5.1.8 Optimally-Sized Pilot Plant ................................................................................................................. 30
5.2 Commercial-Scale Seasonal Energy Storage (SES) using the Thermal Earth Battery .................................. 31
5.2.1 Storage of NG Heat of Combustion ..................................................................................................... 35
5.2.2 Storage of NG Heat of Combustion and Solar Thermal Energy .......................................................... 36
5.2.3 Storage of Solar Thermal Energy and NG/CAES Heat of Compression ............................................. 37
5.3 CO2 Earth Battery.......................................................................................................................................... 38
5.3.1 Compressed CO2 Energy Storage (CCES) Earth Battery .................................................................... 38

6 Summary and Conclusions .................................................................................................. 39

6.1 Accomplishments .......................................................................................................................................... 39
6.2 Market Viability ............................................................................................................................................ 40
6.3 Path Forward ................................................................................................................................................. 40

References .................................................................................................................................... 41

7 Appendix: Power-System/Installed-Cost Analysis Spreadsheet....................................... 43

7.1 Main (Adiabatic CAES) Worksheet in UserDrivenSpreadsheet_11172018 ......................................................... 43
7.2 CAES Process Calculations ........................................................................................................................... 45
7.2.1 Pressure Drop Calculations for Air ...................................................................................................... 45
7.2.2 Pressure Drop Calculations for Brine .................................................................................................. 46
7.2.3 Cooling Tower Calculations ................................................................................................................ 46
7.2.4 Capital Cost Estimation ....................................................................................................................... 46
7.2.5 Storing Heat with Hot Oil in Tanks ..................................................................................................... 46

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7.2.6 Using Natural Gas to Boost Air Temperature ...................................................................................... 47

7.2.7 Additional Worksheets ........................................................................................................................ 47
7.3 Thermal Earth Battery Spreadsheet ............................................................................................................... 47
7.3.1 Introduction.......................................................................................................................................... 47
7.3.2 Worksheet 2C2E2BST_Combined Cycle ............................................................................................ 48
7.3.3 Worksheet Brine_NG_Calculation ...................................................................................................... 49
7.3.4 Worksheet NG_Geothermal................................................................................................................. 49
7.3.5 Worksheet NG_Storage ....................................................................................................................... 49
7.3.6 Worksheet PumpedHydroComparison ................................................................................................ 49
7.3.7 Worksheet References ......................................................................................................................... 50
7.3.8 Worksheet SeasonalStorage Worksheet ............................................................................................... 50
7.3.9 Worksheet SteamTables ...................................................................................................................... 50
7.3.10 Worksheet SupSteam Tables ............................................................................................................... 50
7.3.11 Worksheet ThermalEarthBattery ......................................................................................................... 50
7.3.12 VBA Module Names and Descriptions ................................................................................................ 51
7.3.13 VBA Module Templates ...................................................................................................................... 53
7.3.14 Thermal Earth Battery Worksheet References ..................................................................................... 53

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 Earth Battery: Storing Energy with Compressed Air and Heated Brine in Porous Rock: Final Technical Report

1 Executive Summary

Energy storage systems on a large scale are needed when there is a mismatch between
electricity generation and demand rates. The mismatch may be due to a variety of reasons:
1. Generation rates of solar are cyclic and are often out of phase with the demand cycles.
2. Generation rates of wind are unpredictable and can also be out of phase with demand.
Furthermore, high-efficiency, low-carbon power plants (e.g., nuclear) typically have high capital cost
and low operating cost. Such plants are designed for continuous base-load operation and require a
high capacity factor for economic viability (Forsberg, 2017). For these reasons, it is advantageous to
be able to store energy when not needed and use it when needed. We began this project with the
development of the Adiabatic CAES Earth Battery (Figure 1), which accomplishes the task of energy
storage and dispatch with a combination of compressors, expanders, heat exchangers, and subsurface
porous, permeable rock formations. This technology utilizes two issued U.S. Patents (Buscheck,
2017a; 2017b), one filed U.S. Patent Application (Buscheck, 2017c), and one International
Application filed under the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) (Buscheck and Upadhye, 2019).
The Adiabatic CAES Earth Battery stores energy as pressure and heat. In its basic configuration,
it functions in a closed-loop manner, with the necessary heat being entirely generated as a byproduct
of air compression (Figure 1). It can also add heat from other sources: solar, nuclear, geothermal, or
fossil energy. Air is compressed in a series of compressors. The resulting hot, compressed air is cooled
using relatively cool brine, produced from cold-brine production wells. The cool compressed air is
stored underground in a porous rock formation, overlain by an impermeable caprock, as is the hot
brine. When needed, the pressurized cool air and hot brine are produced, and cool air is heated by hot
brine, prior to being sent through a series of expanders, providing work. The now cool brine is returned
to the hot-brine storage reservoir, using cold-brine injection wells that surround the hot-brine wells to
maintain a mass balance of brine and to provide pressure support.
Because a major piece of our concept is an earth system, with its inherent uncertainties, we
identified key performance measures quantifying subsurface energy losses that control the
round-trip efficiency of the Adiabatic CAES Earth Battery, which are:
• Air-mass efficiency: defined as the percentage of injected air that is produced during
discharge, which is affected by fluid loss out of the air-storage reservoir.
• Pressure in the air-storage reservoir: this is affected by reservoir depth and permeability,
as well as the compartment size of the reservoir. Pressure determines how much work
must be performed by the compressors to store air, which influences charging power.
• Pressure loss P in the air-storage reservoir: this is the magnitude of the pressure
oscillations during the charge/discharge cycles, which increases with well flow rate and
decreases with reservoir permeability. Round-trip efficiency is reduced by 1% for every
15 bar of pressure loss, which strongly depends on reservoir permeability.
• Temperature loss T in the hot-brine storage reservoir: is affected by conductive and
convective heat loss. When air-mass efficiency < 100%, heat is left behind, reducing T
with time. Round-trip efficiency is reduced by 1% for every 20 oC of temperature loss.

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 Earth Battery: Storing Energy with Compressed Air and Heated Brine in Porous Rock: Final Technical Report

Figure 1. The schematic for the Adiabatic CAES Earth Battery is shown for two compression stages and two expansion
stages. For this study, we analyzed a design with three compression stages and three or four expansion stages. . The
supplemental brine source can be from a separate reservoir operation.

During this study, we made the following key findings:

• Compressed air can be stored and recovered from a permeable subsurface formation,
even when the overlying caprock is leaky and results in fluid loss from the storage
formation. It is possible to compensate for the loss of stored fluid (and pressure) by
injecting more air during the charging cycle than is produced during the discharge cycle.
Using an appropriate air-mass efficiency sustains pressure in the air-storage reservoir
throughout 60 years of operation.
• Pressurized hot brine can be stored and recovered from a permeable reservoir if care is taken
to manage pressure. This is crucial, since brine is incompressible, and overpressure is a key
factor for induced seismicity. During the charging cycle, this requires relieving reservoir
pressure via brine production wells. During the discharge cycle, this requires pressure support
from a ring of brine injection wells that surround the huff/puff hot brine wells.
• The use of NG to boost the temperature of the compressed air before it enters one or
more of the expansion stages is an efficient means of boosting discharge power, while
substantially improving the economics of the Adiabatic CAES Earth Battery. The NG-
boosted version is called the NG/CAES Earth Battery.

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• If a supplemental source of heat is available, it can boost the discharge power of the
Adiabatic CAES Earth Battery, as well as compensate for heat loss during storage and
improving economic performance.
• Replacing the hot-brine storage reservoir with hot oil stored in insulated tanks is an
option that may improve cost, efficiency, and reliability. This option also enables
consideration of salt caverns and abandoned coal mines for air storage.
• A pilot-scale plant can demonstrate the efficacy of storing compressed air in porous
formations. Because pressurized hot brine will flash before reaching the power plant, it is
not possible to test the efficacy of pilot-scale, reservoir storage of hot brine. Thus, storing
heat as hot oil in insulated tanks is a better option for a pilot test. Another option would
be to use a NG furnace to heat cold brine produced from a reservoir as a surrogate for hot
brine stored in a reservoir.
• Our economic assessments assume off-the-shelf, power-system equipment, and are based
on conservative cost assumptions. Incorporating emerging technology, such as combined
compressor/expander units (Graff, 2012; Kidnay et al., 2011), and less conservative cost
assumptions, will reduce the estimated cost of the Adiabatic CAES Earth Battery.
Preliminary calculations indicate a round-trip energy efficiency of 64% for the process. A rough
estimate of the capital cost for a plant producing 559 MW is 2.39 billion dollars in 2017. Capital cost
is $4342 per KW. When the waste heat of compression is stored as hot oil in insulated tanks, capital
cost increases slightly to 2.46 billion dollars. Because heat loss is less with tank heat storage than
with subsurface heat storage, plant output increases to 578 MW, improving round-trip efficiency to
66%, while reducing capital cost to $4216 per KW. Later, when the hot brine reservoir has heated up,
round-trip efficiency improves to 66%, and capital cost is reduced to $4160 per KW. When NG is
used to boost air temperature to 1200 oK in all three expanders, plant output increases to 1579 KW,
which reduces capital cost to only $1557 per KW. A minimum sized pilot-scale plant has a power
output of 11 MW, with a capital cost of $8636 per KW. An optimally-sized pilot-scale plant has a
power output of 60 MW, with a capital cost of $5717 per KW.

2 Introduction

The initial objective of this study was to evaluate the techno-economic feasibility of the
Adiabatic CAES Earth Battery. To accomplish this, we built a power-system/installed-cost analysis
tool, and a suite of reservoir models, using the NUFT code (Hao et al., 2012). While most of this
effort was directed at commercial-scale deployment, we also analyzed pilot-scale operations.
Because our concept relies heavily on an engineered earth system, with its associated uncertainties,
we made a major effort to identify key performance measures quantifying subsurface energy losses
that control the round-trip efficiency. We designed and conducted a reservoir study that addressed an
adequate range of conditions to evaluate the impact of uncertainty on the subsurface performance
measures. We applied these insights to develop a system design and operational approach that can
manage, and compensate for, subsurface energy losses.

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3 Process Design

The process design for the Adiabatic CAES Earth Battery is based on the following scheme.
Charge cycle (also called recharge cycle):
1. Ambient air is compressed in low-pressure (LP) compressors (Figure 1), thereby raising
its pressure and temperature.
2. The hot, compressed air is cooled in heat exchangers, using cool brine from cold-brine
production wells.
3. The cooled air is again compressed and cooled successively in the second and third
compression stages, using cool brine from cold-brine production wells.
4. The cooled, compressed air is stored underground using huff/puff air wells.
5. The hot brine is stored underground using huff/puff brine wells.
Discharge cycle:
1. High-pressure cool air produced from huff/puff wells is heated in heat exchangers, using
hot brine produced from huff/puff brine wells.
2. The heated air is introduced into high-pressure (HP) expanders, thereby lowering its
pressure and temperature.
3. The cool air is again heated using hot brine and expanded in the second expansion stage.
4. The cool air leaving the second expansion stage is again heated using hot brine before
going through the third (final) expansion stage.
5. The final low-pressure air from the low-pressure expander is released to the atmosphere.
6. The cool brine from the heat exchangers is injected into brine injection wells to provide
pressure support.
The well configurations are specified by the user. The specifications include well depths and
well locations with respect to the processing plant, assumed to be at the center of the wellfield.
Specifically, the following well layouts are used in this analysis, as described in Section 4.2. The
detailed process schematic is found in the power-system/installed-cost analysis Excel spreadsheet.
Air is assumed to be an ideal gas for the compressor/expander calculations. Standard
thermodynamic relationships, such as the ones given in Perry’s Handbook (Perry, 1985) are used to
calculate the work of compression/expansion, and the resulting temperatures, using user-supplied
estimates of compressor/expander efficiencies. Specifically, the following equation is used to
calculate the power input for the compressors or the power output from the expanders:
(Tout/Tin)isentropic = (Pout/Pin)((k-1)/k)
where k is the ratio of specific heats, Cp/Cv
(Tout/Tin)actual = 1 + ((Tout/Tin)isentropic -1)/η
where η is the isentropic efficiency of compression/expansion (ref 6, Eq. 4)
Power = W.Cp_inlet.Tin.{1- (Tout/Tin)isentropic}/η (NASA, 2017)
where W is the mass flow rate of the air (nominally taken to be 1200 kg/sec for the commercial-scale
analyses in this study). All temperatures are in oK.

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In the design of the heat exchangers, the minimum T of approach is specified by the user.
This minimum T is imposed at both ends of the heat exchangers, and the necessary brine flow
rates are calculated based on heat balance. For example, for the LPC-HTX, the heat exchanger
after the low-pressure compressor, the air inlet temperature is 239.55 oC, and the brine inlet
temperature is 35 oC. Using the minimum T of approach of 20 oC, the outlet temperatures of the
air and brine are set to 55 oC and 219.55 oC respectively. Since the Cp values for both air and
brine are known, the flow rate of the brine needed is calculated by heat balance.
Pressure drops due to friction in both the air and brine lines are calculated using the methods
outlined in Perry (1985). Hydrostatic head differences are ignored in both cases. For air, the
contribution of hydrostatic head is marginal considering the high pressures involved. For brine
(treated here as water), since the entire system is closed loop at the specified above-ground
pressure, the effects of hydrostatic head balance out, except for the small difference in the brine
flows in and out of brine wells.
Hot brine pipes are insulated, using the guidelines given in Perry (1985). The other pipelines,
namely, those containing air and cold brine, are not insulated. The maximum heat loss from these
pipes was estimated using the insulation as the only resistance to heat transfer. The corresponding
temperature drop was also calculated. It shows that the heat loss is negligible, resulting in a brine
temperature loss of under 0.05 oC, well below the margin of error in these calculations. The
design of the cooling tower is based on the treatment presented in Towler and Sinott (2013).

4 Reservoir Analyses

The reservoir analyses in this study used the NUFT code (Hao, 2012) and models as in those
used in previous studies of multi-fluid geothermal energy systems (Buscheck et al., 2016a; 2017).

4.1 Geographic Deployment Potential

The Adiabatic CAES and NG/CAES Earth Battery concepts store energy underground with
pressurized, buoyant fluids: compressed air and pressurized hot brine. This requires a porous,
permeable rock formation, such as sandstone, which is overlain by an impermeable caprock,
such as shale. Rock formations with enough permeability and storage capacity to store
compressed air and heated brine may occur over half of the contiguous United States. Geologic
conditions that are suitable for NG storage (Figures 2 and 3) and geologic CO2 sequestration
(Figure 4) will also be suitable for our concept. Natural-gas storage sites include depleted
hydrocarbon reservoirs, salt caverns, and saline aquifers, while CO2 storage reservoirs include
depleted hydrocarbon reservoirs and saline aquifers.

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Figure 3. Map of underground natural-gas storage sites (U.S. EIA, 2017).

Figure 4. Natural-gas storage capacity on a state-by-state basis is shown (U.S. EIA, 2017). Working gas capacity is the
quantity of gas cycled during a storage cycle, which is usually less than the quantity of cushion gas.

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Figure 5. Saline formations where CO2 may be potentially sequestered is shown (NETL, 2015).

4.2 Storage Reservoir Design

An earlier study of the CO2 version of the Earth Battery (Buscheck et al, 2017) used a
concentric-ring well design that locates the hot-brine storage zone outside of the supercritical CO2
storage zone (Figure 6). We began this study by applying this configuration for the storage of
compressed air and heated brine. The large viscosity and density contrast between native brine
and air was found to allow the eventual breakthrough of air at the brine production wells, which
reduces air-mass efficiency. The air-mass efficiency is defined to be the fraction of the injected
air that is available to generate power. To increase air-mass efficiency, we shifted our focus to a
simpler design with compressed air and hot brine stored in separate reservoirs, as discussed below.

Figure 6. Plan view (a) and vertical cross section (b) of the CO2 version of the Earth Battery (Buscheck et al., 2017).

The two-reservoir system analyzed in this study (Figure 7) consists of a 50-m thick, air-storage
reservoir at a depth of 1 km (Figure 8) and a 50-m thick, brine storage reservoir at a depth of 1.2 km

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(Figure 9). We assume each reservoir covers an area of 31,416 km2, which is effectively infinite in
extent. To make the calculations less computationally expensive, we use an axisymmetric model,
which assumes radial symmetry. A total of 96 wells are used (Table 1), with 48 wells in each reservoir.
Note that this is an initial storage-reservoir design concept. In future work, we will develop more
elaborate pressure-management concepts needed for more efficient, higher-capacity, and longer-term
energy storage, which are enabled by embodiments disclosed in Buscheck and Upadhye (2019).
In the air-storage reservoir, 48 huff/puff (injection/production) wells, are evenly spaced over a
10-km2 area. In the hot-brine storage reservoir, 16 huff/puff wells are evenly spaced over a 1.13-km2
area. A ring of 16 cold-brine injection wells, 1.1 km from the power plant, provides pressure support
during discharge. A ring of 16 cold-brine production wells, 5 km from the power plant, provides
cooling fluid for the compressors, and make-up brine for additional pressure support during discharge.
Table 1. Summary of commercial-scale cases considered in this study. Radial distance is from center of power plant.
Storage Huff/puff (injection/production) wells Cold-brine injection Cold-brine production Total
reservoir wells wells wells
Number Spacing Radial distances Number Radial Number Radial Number
(acres) (m) distance (m) distance (m)
Air storage 48 52.4 50, 474, 765, 0 NA 0 NA 48
1061, 1358, 1657
Brine storage 16 17.5 50, 334, 510 16 1125 16 4975 48

Figure 7. Vertical cross-sectional view of the two-reservoir energy-storage system analyzed in this study.

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Figure 8. Plan view of the air-storage reservoir analyzed in this study.

Figure 9. Plan view of the brine storage reservoir analyzed in this study.

4.3 Air-Storage Reservoir Results

For this study, we considered a commercial-scale plant and a pilot-scale plant for a diurnal
storage cycle, including a 12-hr charge period, followed by a 12-hr discharge period. For the
commercial-scale plant, we considered 60 years of operation. For the pilot-scale plant, we
considered 5 years of operation.

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4.3.1 Commercial-Scale Plant

The commercial-scale plant injects at a rate of 1200 kg/sec into a 50-m thick reservoir with
48 huff/puff wells each injecting at a rate of 25 kg/sec. In the year prior to energy storage
operations, an initial charging stage is carried out at a total injection rate of 75 kg/sec, with a rate
of 1.56 kg/sec per well. The purpose is to gradually create an inventory of cushion gas with
which to dampen the pressure oscillations during charge/discharge cycles. The cushion gas
inventory is equivalent to 22.8 days of continuous air storage at a rate of 1200 kg/sec.
Two key factors affect the technical feasibility of storing compressed air in porous rock
• The loss of working fluid, which is influenced by the integrity of the caprock.
• Flow resistance in the storage reservoir, which influences the magnitude of pressure
oscillations and pressure loss during charge/discharge cycles. As discussed later, round-
trip efficiency is reduced by 1% for every 15 bar of pressure loss.
To investigate these issues, we considered a range of caprock permeability: 1, 50, and 100 D,
and two values of reservoir permeability: 100 and 200 mD. The influence of this range of
permeability on pressure at the huff/puff well at the center of the air-storage reservoir is shown in
Figure 10. A caprock permeability of 1 D is a value that is typically assumed in reservoir
studies of geologic CO2 sequestration (e.g., Buscheck et al., 2016b). Caprock permeability values
of 50 and 100 D are quite leaky and are seldom considered in geologic CO2 sequestration
studies. To maintain reservoir pressure for this range of caprock permeability, we adjusted the
air-mass efficiency, which is the percentage of the injected air that is produced during discharge.
That which is not produced is left in storage to compensate for leakage loss from the air-storage
reservoir. If the air-mass efficiency is set to be too large (i.e., not enough air left in storage),
leakage prevents reservoir pressure from being maintained.
For a caprock permeability of 1 D, an air-mass efficiency of 97% maintains reservoir pressure
(Figures 10a and 10b), which means that leaving 3% of the injected air behind is enough to
compensate for fluid leakage loss out of the caprock. When the caprock permeability is increased
from 1 to 50 D, an air-mass efficiency of 95% maintains reservoir pressure (Figures 10c and 10d),
which means an additional 2% of the injected air needs to stay in storage to compensate for the
additional fluid loss. When caprock permeability is increased from 50 to 100 D, an air-mass
efficiency of 93% maintains reservoir pressure (Figures 10e and 10f), which means an additional 2%
of the injected air needs to be left in storage to compensate for the additional fluid loss. Even for a
leaky caprock, the wellfield operators have the option of compensating for the fluid loss from the air-
storage reservoir. Note that most of the fluid leaving the air-storage reservoir is native brine, not air.
Increasing the reservoir permeability by a factor of two (100 to 200 D), reduces the peak pressure
during the recharge cycle, as seen by comparing Figures 10a and 10b, Figures 10c and 10d, and
Figures 10e and 10f. It also reduces pressure at the end of each discharge cycle, but the reduction is
less than occurs during recharge. Doubling the reservoir permeability, reduces pressure oscillations
by a factor of two. Note that these commercial-scale analyses are for a reservoir with an effective
infinite areal extent, not for finite reservoir compartments that would experience greater pressure rise.

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Figure 10. Pressure history for the huff/puff air well at the center of the commercial-scale air-storage reservoir.

4.3.2 Pilot-Scale Plant

For a pilot-scale plant we considered the influence of reservoir size, including repository
areas of 31,416 km2 (infinite case) and 100 km2 on pressure at the huff/puff air well (Figure 11).
After 1 year of continuous injection at 25 kg/sec, a diurnal 12-hr charge/12-hr discharge cycle is
conducted for 5 years. For air mass efficiencies of 50, 70, and 80%, there is enough air left behind in
storage for injection from a single well to maintain pressure throughout the 5-year pilot test. Note that
the pressure is less than that for the commercial-scale cases we considered (Figure 10).

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Figure 11. Pressure history is plotted for the single huff/puff air well for pilot-scale storage. All cases have a caprock
permeability of 1 D.

Because it is likely that the air-storage reservoir will have a finite compartment size, as found
in geologic CO2 studies (Buscheck et al., 2016b), we considered a reservoir area of 100 km2.
Reducing the reservoir area from 31,416 km2 to 100 km2, increases pressure by nearly 20 bar
(compare Figures 11a and 11b, Figures 11c and 11d, and Figures 11e and 11f). Smaller reservoir
compartments allow the use of a greater air-mass efficiency while sustaining reservoir pressure.

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4.4 Hot-Brine Storage Reservoir Results

For this study, we considered a commercial-scale plant and a pilot-scale plant for a diurnal
storage cycle, including a 12-hr charge period, followed by a 12-hr discharge period. For the
commercial-scale plant, we considered 60 years of operation. For the pilot-scale plant, we
considered 5 years of operation.

4.4.1 Commercial-Scale Plant

The commercial-scale plant injects air at a rate of 1200 kg/sec. Cooling that air requires a brine
flow rate of 865.92 kg/sec, resulting in 262 oC brine being injected into the 16 huff/puff brine wells.
We integrated the operation of the hot-brine storage reservoir with that of the air-storage reservoir
with a caprock having a permeability of 50 mD, which requires an air-mass efficiency of 95% to
maintain pressure throughout 60 years of operation. Heating the air prior to it entering the expanders
requires 95% of the stored hot brine, which corresponds to a flow rate of 826.72 kg/sec out of the
16 huff/puff wells. Thus, 5% of the hot brine remains in storage. Figure 12 shows the pressure and
temperature histories for the huff/puff well at the center of the hot-brine storage reservoir.

Figure 12. Pressure and temperature history are plotted for the huff/puff hot brine well at the center of the hot-brine
storage reservoir for a commercial-scale plant. Both cases have a caprock permeability of 1 D. The ambient (initial)
reservoir pressure is shown in green, and a pressure 50 bar above ambient is shown in red.

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As was observed for compressed air storage, the permeability of the storage reservoir is very
important because it affects the magnitude of pressure oscillation during a recharge/discharge cycle.
Comparing Figure 12a with Figure 12b, shows that doubling the reservoir permeability from 100 to
200 D, cuts the pressure oscillation in half. Most of the pressure reduction occurs during recharge,
not during discharge. Most of this is the result of the wellfield design, and its operation, in the hot-
brine storage reservoir (Figure 9). During discharge, hot brine produced from the huff/puff wells is
returned to the hot-brine storage reservoir, as cold brine, via the ring of 16 cold-brine injection
wells. This reinjection process effectively works like a piston, with pressure reinforcement limiting
pressure drop during discharge. Similarly, during recharge, cold brine needed to cool the air
leaving the compressors is removed from the hot-brine storage reservoir via the cold-brine
production wells, which limits pressure buildup. In future reservoir analyses we will evaluate
whether it is advantageous to remove cold brine from the reservoir via wells that are in closer
proximity to the huff/puff wells and thereby further limiting pressure buildup during recharge.
An important operational requirement for the Adiabatic CAES and NG/CAES Earth Battery is
to prevent flashing of pressurized hot brine to steam. Accordingly, the entire closed loop of hot and
cold brine through the power system and reservoir must constantly be maintained above the
saturation pressure, which is a function of temperature. For a storage temperature of 262 oC, the
pressure of the hot brine must be at least 48.5 bar to prevent flashing. Because of the gravitational
head and frictional losses along the huff/puff borehole, the bottom-hole pressure must be more than
48.5 bar above the ambient (initial) reservoir pressure. The pressure history for a reservoir
permeability of 100 D remains well above the threshold (Figure 12a), while the 200-D case has
a lower margin. Note that during discharge, additional cold brine extracted from the cold-brine
production wells is injected along with the cold brine leaving the expanders. If required, the
quantity of supplemental cold brine can be increased to prevent the flashing of recirculating brine.
An important goal of the Adiabatic CAES and NG/CAES Earth Battery concepts is to
recover as much stored thermal energy as possible. Every 10 oC of temperature loss from the
brine storage reservoir, reduces round-trip efficiency by 1%. Figures 12c and 12d show the
temperature history at the huff/puff well at the center of the brine storage reservoir. The two
sources of thermal loss are
• Heat conduction to the confining units (caprock and bedrock).
• Convective mixing in the hot-brine storage reservoir.
As the storage reservoir and confining units heat up, heat loss gradually declines, so round-trip
efficiency improves with time.
It should be noted that for computational efficiency, a relatively coarse grid was used in the
reservoir models, which results in smearing of the vertical thermal gradient, which increases the
apparent loss of heat in the vertical direction. Future reservoir calculations will be refined to
better represent the vertical heat loss.

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4.4.2 Pilot-Scale Plant

For a pilot-scale plant we considered the influence of reservoir size, including repository areas of
31,416 km2 (infinite case) and 100 km2 on pressure and temperature at the huff/puff brine well
(Figures 13 and 14). The same three cases of air-mass efficiency (50, 70, and 80%) considered for the
pilot-scale air-storage reservoir analyses are considered for the hot-brine storage reservoir.

Figure 13. Pressure history is plotted for the single huff/puff hot brine well for a pilot-scale plant. All cases have a caprock
permeability of 1 D.

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 Earth Battery: Storing Energy with Compressed Air and Heated Brine in Porous Rock: Final Technical Report

Figure 14. Temperature history is plotted for the single huff/puff hot brine well for pilot-scale storage. Al cases have a
caprock permeability of 1 D.

As with the pilot-scale air-storage reservoir, one well is used in the pilot-scale brine storage
reservoir. After 1 year of continuous injection at 27 kg/sec, a diurnal 12-hr charge/12-hr discharge cycle
is conducted for 5 years at the same injection rate, which is half that of each of the 16 huff/puff brine
wells in the commercial-scale case. Because more brine remains in the storage reservoir with decreasing
air mass fraction, repository pressure increases with decreasing air mass fraction (Figure 13). Pressure

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is also greater for the 100 km2 reservoir than for the 34,416 km2 (infinite) reservoir; however, injection
from a single well is unable to sustain that increased pressure. A key conclusion of this study is that
hot-brine storage from a single huff/puff well will not be able to sustain necessary pressures to prevent
the flashing of brine that is produced during the discharge period.
Because the pilot-scale air-storage reservoir results in pressures less than that of the commercial-
scale case, the cold brine used to cool the air leaving the compressors is heated to only 233 oC, rather
than 262 oC (compare Figure 14 with Figures 12c and 12d. Temperature decline during discharge
decreases with decreasing air-mass efficiency because more of the hot brine remains in storage to
maintain temperatures closer to the injection temperature (Figure 14). Repository area has a small effect
on temperature decline (compare Figures 14a and 14b, Figures 14c and 14d, and Figures 14e and 14f).

5 Economic Analyses

The installed capitals cost of all the major equipment, including compressors, expanders, heat
exchangers, piping/insulation, and cooling tower, are calculated. Two main resources used in this analysis
are Towler and Sinott (2013) and Loh et al (2002). Cost curves from Towler and Sinott (2013) were
parameterized, and the fitted parameters were used for calculating the costs. Our methodology is
described below.
First, the purchased cost of each piece of equipment is calculated. These costs are then
converted to installed costs using the detailed methodology presented in Loh et al (2002) to
calculate the installed cost of commonly used equipment based on the purchased cost. As shown
in the spreadsheet, it includes factors such as Setting cost factor, Foundations material factor,
Foundations labor factor, Structural steel material factor, Structural steel labor factor, Building
material factor, Building labor factor, Insulation materials factor, Insulation labor factor,
Instruments material factor, Instruments labor factor, Electrical materials factor, Electrical labor
factor, Piping material factor, Piping labor factor, Painting material factor, Painting labor factor,
Miscellaneous material factor, and Miscellaneous labor factor. All these factors are applied to the
purchased cost of the equipment to arrive at the installed cost.
Installed costs corresponding to a specific reference year are then converted into current costs
in 2017 dollars, based on the PCI index Chemical Engineering Magazine (2017). Tables 2a and 2b
summarize all cases considered in this study. The same information can be found in the workbook
“Case Studies Summary”. The following two subsections provide more details.

5.1 Commercial-Scale Diurnal Storage with Adiabatic CAES and NG/CAES

All commercial-scale cases store air at a rate of 1200 kg/sec with three compression stages. Most
cases use separate storage reservoirs (Figures 7−9) for air and hot-brine storage. We considered an
extension of Adiabatic CAES, called NG/CAES (Figure 15), with one or more NG-fired turbines to
boost air temperature and discharge power. We also considered a case that accepts supplemental heat
and cases that replace the hot-brine storage reservoir with insulated tanks to store heated oil.

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Table 2a. The Adiabatic CAES Earth Battery cases considered in this study.
Pilot Plant Pilot Plant
Adiabatic CAES Adiabatic CAES 25 kg/sec with 1 135 kg/sec with 1
with 2 reservoirs with 1 reservoir + reservoir + hot-oil reservoir + hot oil
Case hot-oil tanks tanks tanks
Air flow rate, kg/s 1200 1200 25 135
Brine flow rate, kg/s 803 N/A N/A N/A
Number of air/brine wells 48/48 48/0 1/0 6/0
Installed cost of wells, M$ $192.00 $96.00 $2.00 $12.00
Cost of heat exchange fluid, M$ $0.00 $160.30 $3.34 $18.04
Installed cost of storage tanks, M$ $0.00 $42.15 $4.13 $11.37
Installed cost of piping, M$ $50.43 $15.20 $2.25 $10.01
Grid charge rate, MW 870 870 18 97
Power lost, MW 317 292 7 36
Power output, MW 553 578 11 61
Round-trip efficiency, % 64% 66% 61% 62%
Installed capital cost, M$ $2,388 $2,460 $95 $343
Capital/KW, $ $4,318 $4,256 $8,636 $5,717
Production cost/KWh, $ $0.12 $0.12 N/A N/A
Table 2b. The thermal boosted Adiabatic CAES and the NG/CAES cases considered in this study. Round-trip
efficiency assumes conversion efficiency of 33% for external heat sources and for long-term heat storage.
Adiabatic CAES NG/CAES with 2 reservoirs NG/CAES
with 2 reservoirs (3 expanders + 1 NG with 2 reservoirs
Case (4 expanders) turbine) (3 NG turbines)
Air flow rate, kg/s 1200 1200 1200
Brine flow rate, kg/s 1041 806 806
NG flow rate, kg/s 0 7.0 33.4
Number of air/brine wells 48/48 48/48 48/48
Installed cost of wells, M$ $192.00 $192.00 $192.00
Installed cost of piping, M$ $50.43 $50.43 $50.43
Grid charge rate, MW 870 870 870
External heat charge rate, MWt 79 0 0
Effective external heat charge rate, MW 26 0 0
NG thermal charge rate, MWt 0 348 1671
Incremental NG charge rate, MW 0 109 1146
Effective total charge rate, MW 896 979 2016
Power lost, MW 310 317 311
Power output, MW 586 637 1579
Thermal power to long-term storage, MWt 0 75 378
Effective long-term thermal storage rate, MW 0 25 126
Effective total power (dispatched + stored), MW 586 662 1705
Round-trip efficiency (discharged + stored), % 65% 68% 84%
Installed Capital Cost, M$ $2,299 $2,310 $2,458
Capital/KW, $ $3,923 $3,489 $1,442
Production cost/KWh, $ $0.11 $0.10 $0.04

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Figure 15. The schematic for the NG/CAES Earth Battery is shown for two compression stages and two NG-fired
expansion stages. For this study, we analyzed a design with three compression stages and three or four expansion
stages, with either one or three of the expansion phases being NG-fired. Booster pumps may be required to increase
the pressure of the cool brine used for cooling to prevent the brine from flashing to steam. The supplemental brine
source can be from a separate reservoir operation, such as a CO2 sequestration reservoir. As described in Buscheck
and Upadhye (2019), the NG/CAES Earth Battery can be deployed as a combined cycle power system, with heat
recuperation being achieved with the use of either steam or CO2 Brayton cycle turbines, or combinations of steam
and CO2 Brayton cycle turbines. To reduce carbon intensity, CO2 generated by NG combustion may be captured
from the flue gas and compressed for geologic storage. Note that the Adiabatic CAES Earth Battery (Figure 1) can
also use multiple stacked storage reservoirs.

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5.1.1 Adiabatic CAES with Two Storage Reservoirs

Table 3 summarizes the reservoir performance measures affecting round-trip efficiency over
60 years of operation for Adiabatic CAES (Table 2a) with air and brine storage reservoirs having a
permeability of 100 mD, while Table 4 summarizes the fluid flow rates and power. The caprock
overlying the air-storage reservoir has a permeability of 50 D and the caprock overlying the hot-
brine storage reservoir has a permeability of 1 D. An air-mass efficiency of 95% is required to
maintain pressure in the air-storage reservoir. We assume a tighter caprock for the brine storage
reservoir because the overlying air-storage reservoir is overpressured and should not allow fluid
leakage out of the brine storage reservoir. Table 5 and Figure 16 summarize the major installed cost
categories, while Figure 17 breaks down the energy balance for early and late time.
Table 3. Summary of reservoir performance measures affecting the round-trip efficiency of Adiabatic CAES with two
storage reservoirs having a permeability of 100 mD. The air-storage and hot-brine storage reservoirs are overlain by
caprocks with permeability values of 50 and 1 D, respectively. Air-mass efficiency is 95%. The key parameters are
pressure P and pressure loss P in the air-storage reservoir and temperature loss T in the brine storage reservoir.

Time (yr) P (bar) P (bar) T (oC) T (oC) Efficiency (%)

1 209.2 41.80 262 21.35 63
5 191.0 31.31 262 24.08 63
10 190.0 28.40 262 21.30 64
15 189.4 26.23 262 16.45 64
20 191.0 25.02 262 12.11 65
30 188.5 24.18 262 9.06 66
40 188.9 23.13 262 8.35 66
50 186.3 22.58 262 8.27 66
60 184.8 22.15 262 7.57 66

Table 4. Summary of fluid flow rates and power for Adiabatic CAES with two storage reservoirs with a permeability
of 100 mD. The air-storage and hot-brine storage reservoirs are overlain by caprocks with permeability values of 50
and 1 D, respectively. Air-mass efficiency is 95%.
Time Qe,in Qe,out Qair,in Qair,out Qhot brine,in Qhot brine,out Qcold brine,in Qcold brine,out Efficiency
(yr) (MW) (MW) (kg/sec) (kg/sec) (kg/sec) (kg/sec) (kg/sec) (kg/sec) (%)
1 898 568 1200 1140 798.21 0.00 0.00 -798.21 63
0.00 -773.53 1148.21 -374.68
5 878 555 1200 1140 802.73 0.00 0.00 -802.73 63
0.00 -778.44 952.73 -174.29
10 877 559 1200 1140 802.99 0.00 0.00 -802.99 64
0.00 -776.97 952.99 -176.02
15 877 565 1200 1140 803.14 0.00 0.00 -803.14 64
0.00 -774.10 953.14 -179.04
20 878 572 1200 1140 802.73 0.00 0.00 -802.73 65
0.00 -770.95 952.73 -181.78
30 879 574 1200 1140 803.38 0.00 0.00 -803.38 66
0.00 -769.42 953.38 -183.96
40 876 576 1200 1140 803.27 0.00 0.00 -803.27 66
0.00 -768.85 953.27 -184.42
50 873 574 1200 1140 803.95 0.00 0.00 -803.95 66
0.00 -769.36 953.95 -184.59
60 871 574 1200 1140 804.33 0.00 0.00 -804.33 66
0.00 -769.21 954.33 -185.12

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Table 5. Summary of major installed cost categories for the Adiabatic

CAES case with two storage reservoirs for 12-hr diurnal cycles.

Item Installed Cost (M$)

Compressors 864.28
Expanders 834.16
HTX + CW Tower 430.39
Pumps/Motors 17.02
Piping + Insulation 50.43
Wells 192.00
Total 2,388.83
Figure 16. Breakdown of major installed cost categories for
the Adiabatic CAES case with two storage reservoirs.

(a) (b)

Figure 17. Energy balance for the Adiabatic CAES case with two storage reservoirs at (a) 10 years and (b) 30 to
60 years. Improved pressure and temperature performance results in higher round-trip efficiency.

Charging power depends on air storage pressure. At early time (1 yr in Table 3), flow resistance
in the air-storage reservoir is relatively high. As the volume of cushion gas increases, the reservoir
becomes more compliant and storage pressure decreases. Accordingly, charging power decreases
from 898 MW to 878 MW at 5 years, and to 871 MW at 60 years (Table 4). As the volume of
cushion gas increases, pressure loss P decreases (Table 3), which increases discharge power and
round-trip efficiency (Table 4). Even more important is the reduction in temperature loss T in the
hot-brine storage reservoir (Table 3), which also increases discharge power and round-trip efficiency
(Table 4). The other key reservoir performance measure is fluid loss, which reduces round-trip
efficiency by 3.5% (Figure 17). Note that we assumed a leaky caprock overlies the air-storage
reservoir. A tighter caprock would have resulted in less fluid loss and higher round-trip efficiency.
The cost breakdown for Adiabatic CAES with two reservoirs shows that the costliest items
are the compressors and expanders, and together with the heat exchangers and cooling tower,

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comprise 89.2% of the total installed costs. The storage-related items (wells, piping + insulation,
and pumps/motors) comprise 10.8% of the total installed costs. For longer-term storage, the cost of
the storage apparatus will not increase significantly with storage duration; thus, on a per unit of
energy (MWh) basis, our concept is likely to have a lower cost than competing energy-storage
technology, such as batteries.

5.1.2 Adiabatic CAES with One Storage Reservoir and Hot Oil Storage in Tanks
We now consider using heat-transfer oil, instead of brine, to heat and cool compressed air
for three charge/discharge cycle scenarios: 12 hours, 5 days, and 50 days. Cold and hot oil are
stored in separate tanks, which eliminates the hot-brine storage reservoir and all associated wells
and pipeline/pump infrastructure. For the three scenarios, the capital costs of the oil and the storage
tanks are: 160.30 M$ and 42.15 M$; 1603.06 M$ and 167.81 M$; and 16030 M$ and 668 M$,
respectively. The net increase in capital cost for the three scenarios are 73 M$, 1.6 B$ and 16.5 B$,
respectively. Because of the cost of heat-transfer oil, this option is unlikely to be economically viable
for longer-term storage, such as seasonal storage. Table 2a summarizes the diurnal storage case.
We assume that heat loss in the hot oil storage tank results in a 5 oC temperature loss, which is
significantly less than the temperature loss in the hot-brine storage reservoir (Table 3). Accordingly,
the round-trip efficiency is improved from 63−64% to 66% (Table 6). At later time when the hot-
brine storage reservoir has heated up, its performance approaches that of hot oil tank storage.
Table 7 and Figure 18 show that the cost breakdown is close to that of the two-reservoir case for
12-hour diurnal cycles. The cost of storage-related items is 13.5% of total installed cost,
compared to 10.8% for the two-reservoir case.

Table 6. Summary of fluid flow rates and power for Adiabatic CAES with an air-storage reservoir and tank storage of hot
oil. The air-storage reservoir overlain by a caprock with 50 D permeability.

Time Qe,in Qe,out Qair,in Qair,out Qhot brine,in Qhot brine,out Scold brine,in cold brine,out Efficiency
(yr) (MW) (MW) (kg/sec) (kg/sec) (kg/sec) (kg/sec) (kg/sec) (kg/sec) (%)
1 898 587 1200 1140 798.21 0.00 0.00 -798.21 65
0.00 -773.53 773.53 0.00
5 878 577 1200 1140 802.73 0.00 0.00 -802.73 66
0.00 -778.44 778.44 0.00
10 877 578 1200 1140 802.99 0.00 0.00 -802.99 66
0.00 -776.97 776.97 0.00
15 877 578 1200 1140 803.14 0.00 0.00 -803.14 66
0.00 -774.10 774.10 0.00
20 878 581 1200 1140 802.73 0.00 0.00 -802.73 66
0.00 -770.95 770.95 0.00
30 879 579 1200 1140 803.38 0.00 0.00 -803.38 66
0.00 -769.42 769.42 0.00
40 876 580 1200 1140 803.27 0.00 0.00 -803.27 66
0.00 -768.85 768.85 0.00
50 873 578 1200 1140 803.95 0.00 0.00 -803.95 66
0.00 -769.36 769.36 0.00
60 871 577 1200 1140 804.33 0.00 0.00 -804.33 66
0.00 -769.21 769.21 0.00

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Table 7. Summary of major installed cost categories for the

Adiabatic CAES case with an air storage reservoir and hot
oil storage in tanks for 12-hr diurnal cycles.

Item Installed Cost (M$)

Compressors 864.28
Expanders 834.16
HTX + CW Tower 430.39
Pumps/Motors 14.05
Piping + Insulation 15.20
Wells 96.00
Tanks + Oil 206.04
Total 2,460.12
Figure 18. Breakdown of major installed cost categories for the
Adiabatic CAES case with an air storage reservoir and hot oil
storage in tanks.

5.1.3 Adiabatic CAES with Two Storage Reservoirs and Supplemental Heat Source
To accommodate the use of a small supplemental heat source, we modified the Adiabatic
CAES base-case to include a fourth expander (Table 2b). The additional expander allows the
compressed air entering the expanders to be pre-heated with more hot brine (1041 kg/sec) than
the Adiabatic CAES case with three expanders (806 kg/sec). The additional brine (235 kg/sec)
delivers 79 MWt of heat, which could be from an external heat source, such as a solar thermal
energy (STE) power plant. The external heat source boosts power output by 33 MW (553 MW to
586 MW), for a power-conversion efficiency of 41.8%, which is more efficient than steam turbines
in typical STE power plants. The additional heat results in a small increase of round-trip efficiency
(64 to 65%), and a small reduction in production cost ($0.11 versus $0.12/KWh) of the entire
CAES system. While the external heat source comprises only 3% of the energy sources, it generates
nearly 6% of the power (Figure 19), indicating that integrating STE may be attractive option.

Figure 19. Energy Budget for Adiabatic CAES with two storage reservoirs and a supplemental heat source,
such as solar thermal energy (STE), including (a) energy sources and (b) energy utilization.

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5.1.4 NG/CAES with Two Storage Reservoirs, Three Expanders, and One NG Turbine
To increase the power output of the Adiabatic CAES Earth Battery, we consider the addition
of NG combustion to boost the air temperature to 1200 oC in one or more of the expanders (Table 2).
We start by adding one NG turbine behind the three expanders used in the Adiabatic CAES base-
case. A NG flowrate of 7 kg/sec increases the heat charge rate by 348 MWt, which increases power
output by 85 MW (553 to 638 MW). Figure 20a shows the budget for the energy sources: 89% is
excess electricity from the grid and 11% is generated by NG combustion. Figure 20b shows how that
energy is utilized, with 11% of total power coming from NG, 21% from compressed air, 33% from
hot brine containing the heat of compression, and 32% is lost. Because not all stored hot brine is
needed to pre-heat the air entering the expanders, 3% of the total energy budget remains in storage,
which can be applied to seasonal energy storage (SES) purposes, as discussed in Section 5.2. The
addition of NG combustion increases round-trip efficiency from 64% to 68%, which reduces
capital and production cost on a per KW and per KWh basis, respectively.

Figure 20. Energy Budget for NG/CAES with two storage reservoirs, three expanders and one NG turbine,
including (a) energy sources and (b) energy utilization. SES stands for seasonal energy storage.

5.1.5 NG/CAES with Two Storage Reservoirs and Three NG Turbines

To further boost power output, we now consider NG/CAES with all three expanders being
NG turbines (Figure 21). A NG flowrate of 33.4 kg/sec results in a thermal charge rate of 1671 MWt
and boosts power to 1579 MW. The exhaust gas from the three NG turbines is too hot for the stored
hot brine to be needed to pre-heat the air entering the second and third expanders. Consequently,
74% of the hot brine containing the heat of compression (7% of the energy budget) remains in
storage for SES. The thermal power of unused hot brine is 378 MWt, with an effective power of 126
MW. Thus, the effective total (dispatched diurnal plus long-term) power is 1705 MW, 1152 MW
more than the corresponding Adiabatic CAES case. The effective power-conversion efficiency of
1671 MWt of NG is 73%, which increases round-trip efficiency of the storage system to 84%, while
reducing capital cost ($1442/KW) and production cost ($0.04/KWh), compared to Adiabatic CAES.
Another advantage is that total (dispatched diurnal plus long-term) power is tripled, compared to

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Adiabatic CAES, with no additional well-field infrastructure being required. Compared to a

conventional NG turbine peaker plant, NG/CAES can deliver much more power when peak power
is required by the grid, because the air-compression load is not synchronous with power discharge.

Figure 21. Energy Budget for NGCAES with two storage reservoirs and three NG turbines, including (a) energy
sources and (b) energy utilization. SES stands for seasonal energy storage.

5.1.6 Pilot-Scale Diurnal Storage with Adiabatic CAES

Two specific designs for pilot plants are investigated, shown in the worksheets “Pilot Plant
25 kg” and “Pilot Plant 135 kg”. We consider a minimum-sized pilot plant with one huff/puff air
well, which matches up with a small compressor and expander. We also consider a pilot plant
that is optimally sized with six huff/puff air wells that match up with a large, cost-effective
compressor and expander. In subsection 4.2.2 of this report we determined because of the
relatively small quantities of hot brine associated with pilot-scale storage, it will not be possible
to prevent flashing of some of that brine before it reaches the power plant. Thus, we decided to
store heat as hot oil in tanks for both pilot-scale storage cases.

5.1.7 Minimum-Sized Pilot Plant

For the minimum-sized pilot-scale case, the total air flow rate is 25 kg/sec. It uses only one
huff/puff air well in the air-storage reservoir. Heat is stored as hot oil in tanks. For this pilot
plant, the charging power is 18 MW and the discharge power is 11 MW. The installed capital
cost is 95 M$, and the capital cost is $8636 per KW. Because of the small flow rate, the expander
and compressor are small, resulting in a high unit cost.

5.1.8 Optimally-Sized Pilot Plant

The second pilot-scale case sets the air flow rate at 135 kg/sec. This value was chosen so that a
large cost-effective compressor and a large cost-effective expander could be used. In this scenario,
we need 6 huff/puff air wells in the air-storage reservoir. As in the minimum-sized pilot plant case,
heat is stored as hot oil in tanks. For this pilot plant, the charging power is 99 MW and the discharging
power is 60 MW. The installed capital cost is 343 M$, and the capital cost is $5717 per KW.

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5.2 Commercial-Scale Seasonal Energy Storage (SES) using the Thermal

Earth Battery
As discussed above, the addition of NG combustion to the Adiabatic CAES Earth Battery
improves round-trip efficiency, while substantially reduces capital and production costs. It also
results in large quantities of stored heat, available for long-term energy storage. There are at least
three important advantages to storing energy as hot brine. First, if the source of heat is solar thermal
energy (STE) or excess heat from a base-load thermal-electric power plant when that heat is not
needed to generate, it delays the conversion of that heat to electricity until power is needed. Thus, it
avoids inefficiencies inherent to multiple energy-conversion steps. Second, when large quantities of
heat are stored underground, the rate of energy degradation is much slower than that of battery or
pressure storage, such as CAES. Third, the energy-storage density is high, compared to technologies,
such as pumped hydro storage. Compared to the Helms Pumped Storage Plant, with an overall head
difference of 495 m, water with initial and final temperatures of 220 and 270 oC, respectively
(operating range we typically apply to the Thermal Earth Battery), contains 99 times the energy per
unit of water. The Thermal Earth Battery (Figures 22 and 23) uses conventional steam turbines to
convert stored heat to electricity. When combined with the CAES Earth Battery, it becomes a
combined-cycle power system.

Figure 22. High-level schematic of the Thermal Earth Battery.

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Figure 23. Process diagram of the charge and discharge systems of the Thermal Earth Battery. The supplemental
brine source can be from a separate reservoir operation. To reduce carbon intensity, CO2 generated by NG
combustion may be captured from the flue gas and compressed for geologic storage.

The advantages of the thermal energy storage (TES) of the Thermal Earth Battery are:
• Vast storage capacity and insulative properties of the Earth, resulting in slower degradation
rates than other technologies, such as batteries, and the ability to provide SES.
• Greater energy-storage density than pumped hydro storage.
• Low fabrication cost, primarily consisting of the cost of the wells.
• Flexibility to integrate various combinations of nuclear, fossil, and renewable energy.
• Thermal energy resources are sequenced (low to high), getting greatest value out of each
(Figure 22). Fossil energy (FE) is used as a topping cycle to maximize power-conversion
efficiency and minimize CO2 intensity.
• Ability to repurpose mature hydrocarbon reservoirs to reduce cost and risk.
• Minimal above-ground footprint broadens deployment opportunities.
• Hot recirculating brine (in and out of subsurface storage) does not enter the turbines in
the power-generation system (Figure 22). Rather, heat from the brine is transferred to the
working fluids that enter the turbines in the power-generation systems. This binary-cycle
process avoids scale and corrosion issues in the turbines.

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The TES approach used in the Thermal Earth Battery (Buscheck and Upadhye, 2019)
converts hot brine to power efficiently and with less pressure oscillations by using three zones
shown in Figure 3: (1) inner zone of hot, high-pressure brine, (2) intermediate zone of medium-
hot, medium-high pressure brine, and (3) outer zone of warm, ambient brine. Before steady-state
charge/discharge occurs, the system is charged by storing heat in two stages. The multiple steps
in the TES process, shown in Figures 22 and 23, are described below:
1. Pre-steady-state Stage 1 charging: Warm ambient geothermal brine is produced from Zone
3, pressurized to medium-high pressure brine, heated to medium-hot brine (e.g., 200 oC), and
injected into the center of Zone 1. Warm ambient brine is heated, using heat exchangers and a
combination of heat sources (combustion of FE, STE, and excess heat from thermo-electric
power plants). Also, during charging, warm ambient brine can be produced from Zone 3 and
fed into low-temperature pre-heaters to pre-heat cool air to warm air, which is used as inlet
combustion air in FE combustors. Collectively, the FE combustors can use one or more FE
sources, such as pulverized coal (PC), bio-fuel, or NG. If STE is available either directly or
from above-ground storage, it can be fed into high-temperature pre-heaters to heat warm air to
hot air, which is used as inlet combustion air in the FE combustors. Hot flue gas leaving the
FE combustors is fed into heat exchangers to heat warm ambient brine produced from Zone 3
to hot brine, which is injected into the center of Zone 1.
2. Pre-steady-state Stage 2 charging: Step 1 is repeated with the change that warm geothermal
brine is produced from Zone 3, pressurized to high-pressure brine, heated to hot brine (e.g.,
250 oC), and injected into the center of Zone 1. The brine is heated, using heat exchangers and
a combination of heat sources, as in Step 1. Also, during charging, warm ambient brine can be
produced from Zone 3 and fed into low-temperature pre-heaters to pre-heat cool air to warm
air, which is used as inlet combustion air in the FE combustors. Collectively, the FE combustors
can use one or more FE sources, such as PC, bio-fuel, or NG. If STE is available either directly
or from above-ground storage, it can be fed into high-temperature pre-heaters to heat warm air
to hot air, which is used as inlet combustion air in the FE combustors. Hot flue gas leaving the
FE combustors can be fed into heat exchangers to heat warm ambient brine produced from
Zone 3 to hot brine, which is injected into the center of Zone 1. The high-pressure, hot brine
injected into the center of Zone 1 displaces the medium-hot brine radially outward, so that
medium-hot brine occupies Zone 2, with Zone 1 being fully occupied with high-pressure, hot
brine (Figure 22). After Zones 1 and 2 are charged with enough hot and medium-hot brine,
respectively, the subsurface TES system is ready for steady-state charge/discharge operations.
3. Steady-state charging: Medium-high pressure, medium-hot brine is produced from Zone 2,
pressurized to high-pressure brine, heated to hot brine (e.g., 250 oC), using heat exchangers and a
combination of heat sources, as in Steps 1 and 2, and injected into the center of Zone 1. Also,
during charging, warm ambient brine can be produced from Zone 3 and fed into low-temperature
pre-heaters to pre-heat cool air to warm air, which is used as inlet combustion air in the FE
combustors. Collectively, the FE combustors can use one or more FE sources, such as PC, bio-
fuel, or NG. When STE is available either directly or from above-ground storage, it can be fed
into high-temperature pre-heaters to heat warm air to hot air, which is used as inlet combustion air
in the FE combustors. Hot flue gas leaving the FE combustors can be fed into heat exchangers
to heat medium-hot brine to hot brine, which is injected into the center of Zone 1.

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4. Steady-state discharging: The discharge process can involve either one or two parallel
power-generating systems. The first power system is a low-pressure (LP) steam-turbine system,
which is primarily heated with hot brine produced from Zone 1. It can also be heated with STE,
either directly when STE is available, or indirectly with STE taken from above-ground storage.
The second power system is a multi-stage, steam-turbine system with LP steam turbines and
high-pressure (HP) steam turbines, and possibly medium-high pressure (MP) turbines. The
multi-stage LP-/HP-turbine power system is heated primarily by FE combustion. It can also
be heated by STE, either directly when STE is available, or indirectly with STE taken from
above-ground storage. Collectively, the FE combustors can use one or more FE sources, such
as PC, bio-fuel, or NG. Both the LP-turbine power system and multi-stage LP-/HP-turbine
power system can utilize warm ambient brine produced from Zone 3 for pre-heating purposes.
Warm ambient brine produced from Zone 3 can be fed into low-temperature pre-heaters to
heat initially cool BFW (that has exited the condensers) to warm BFW. Warm BFW is fed to
pre-heaters, where it is heated to hot BFW, using either hot brine produced from Zone 1 or hot
flue gas from FE combustors. Hot BFW is fed to boilers, heated by either hot brine or by very
hot flue gas from FE combustors. For the LP-turbine power system, hot brine produced from
Zone 1 is used to heat hot BFW so that it becomes LP steam, which is fed to a LP steam turbine
where it generates electricity. LP steam leaves the LP turbine as exhaust steam, which is sent
to the condensers, where it is cooled to become cool BFW. After hot brine leaves the pre-heater,
it has become medium-hot brine, which is pressurized to medium-high pressure, medium-hot
brine and injected into Zone 2. For the LP-/HP-turbine power system, hot BFW enters the
boiler to become HP steam, which is fed to a HP steam turbine where it generates electricity.
HP steam exits the HP steam turbines as LP steam, which is fed to LP steam turbines where it
generates electricity. Exhaust steam leaving the LP turbine is sent to a condenser, where it
cools and becomes cool BFW. The multi-stage LP-/HP-turbine power system can use warm
ambient brine to pre-heat inlet combustion air for the FE combustors. Warm ambient brine is
produced from Zone 3 and sent to low-temperature pre-heaters to heat cool air to warm air,
which is sent to the FE combustors. When STE is directly available, or when STE is taken
from above-ground storage, it can be sent to high-temperature pre-heaters where it is used to
heat warm air to hot air, which is fed to the FE combustors. The LP-turbine power system can
also use STE. When STE is directly available, or when STE is taken from above-ground
storage, it can be sent to heat exchangers to heat medium-hot brine, which has exited the pre-
heaters. This results in the medium-hot brine becoming hot brine, which is sent to the boiler to
heat hot BFW to LP steam, which is sent to LP steam turbines to generate electricity.
Our TES approach with three storage zones can be operated as a zero-net-injection, closed-
loop process with Zones 1 and 2 interacting as in a piston. An important outcome of this approach
is that by limiting pressure oscillations, the risk of induced seismicity is reduced.
The Thermal Earth Battery can provide SES by flexibly storing thermal energy from a wide
combination of thermal resources. We considered three examples (Table 8), which each having a
100/100-day charge/discharge cycle: (1) 100% of the heat is generated by NG, (2) 50% of the heat
is generated by NG and 50% is generated by solar thermal energy (STE), and (3) 50% of the heat
is excess heat of compression from a NG/CAES Earth Battery and 50% is from STE.

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Table 8. The Thermal Earth Battery cases considered in this study. Note that the charge rate applies to both the
charge and discharge periods, while power output only occurs during the recharge period.
NG-fired NG-fired NG/CAES waste
Case + STE heat + STE
Brine flow rate, kg/s 1707 3595 3776
Zone 1 brine storage temperature, oC 270 270 270
Zone 2 brine storage temperature, oC 220 220 220
NG flow rate, kg/s 9.37 9.37 0.0
Number of brine wells 60 130 130
Installed cost of wells, M$ $120.00 $260.00 $260.00
NG/CAES waste-heat thermal charge rate, MWt 0.0 468.5 468.5
STE thermal charge rate, MWt 0.0 0.0 468.5
NG thermal charge rate, MWt 468.5 468.5 0.0
Total thermal charge rate, MWt 468.5 937.0 937.0
Geothermal recovery rate, MWt 67.3 136.9 139.2
Power contribution from geothermal heat, MW 10.7 21.0 16.0
Power output without seasonal storage, MW 328.0 512.2 368.5
Power output, MW 213.2 359.7 293.0
Power lost, MW 114.8 152.5 75.5
Round-trip efficiency, % 65.0% 70.2% 79.5%

5.2.1 Storage of NG Heat of Combustion

We start with a case where 100% of the stored energy is generated by NG. This could pertain
to a region, such as the Permian Basin in west Texas and eastern New Mexico, where oil fields co-
produce NG that does not have a market due to price and/or remoteness from NG consumers.
Such oilfields also co-produce large quantities of brine. If allowed, this co-produced NG is often
flared to avoid the cost of reinjection. If enough NG is co-produced in the vicinity of a Thermal
Earth Battery facility, the flared NG could be used to heat co-produced brine for storage. This NG
could come from the oilfield where the Earth Battery Facility is located or from nearby oilfields.

Figure 24. Energy Budget for a Thermal Earth Battery storing the NG heat of combustion for a 100/100-day
charge/discharge cycle, including (a) energy sources and (b) energy utilization.

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During both the charge and discharge periods, NG is combusted continuously at a rate of
9.37 kg/sec (40 Mscfd), generating a thermal charge rate of 468.5 MWt (Figure 24). During the
charge period, 220 oC brine is produced from Zone 2, heated to 270 oC, and is injected into Zone 1
for storage. During the discharge period, the stored hot brine is produced, fed to a boiler and pre-
heater (Figure 22), which generates steam that is fed to a low-pressure (LP) turbine. Ambient
geothermal brine, which is assumed to be 100 oC in this example, is fed to a low-temperature pre-
heater to boost the temperature of the boiler feedwater (BFW). The NG produced during the
discharge period is sent to combustors to generate flue gas that is sent to boiler and pre-heater.
Ambient geothermal brine is fed to a low-temperature pre-heater to boost BFW temperature. The
high exhaust-gas temperature from the combustors requires LP and HP steam turbines. Power
output for the brine-fed and NG-fired power cycles is 49.2 and 164 MW, respectively, with a total
output of 213.2 MW. Had all NG been used directly for power generation (with no storage),
power output would be 328 MW. Thus, power loss due to energy storage is 114.8 MW, with a
round-trip efficiency of 65%. Although 35% of the energy is lost, it is still a gain compared to a
case where all NG would have been flared with no benefit. Furthermore, if CO2 generated by NG
combustion were captured, it would be a valuable commodity in regions like the Permian Basin
where there is a large market for CO2 for enhanced oil recovery (EOR).
Geothermal energy from 268.4 kg/sec of 100 oC brine (67.3 MWt) that fed the BFW pre-
heaters, contributed 10.7 MW (4%) to the total power output. This represents a power-conversion
efficiency of 15.9%, much greater than in conventional, low-grade geothermal power systems.

5.2.2 Storage of NG Heat of Combustion and Solar Thermal Energy

Our second Thermal Earth Battery case is an extension of the first case that stores the NG
heat of combustion by adding heat storage from a solar thermal energy (STE) facility (Table 8).
For this case, 50% of the heat stored is from FE and 50% is from STE. When the contribution
from ambient geothermal brine is accounted for (Figure 25), it turns out that this system relies
more on renewable energy than on FE. This Thermal Earth Battery system is deployed in a manner
like that described above with the one change. Because the STE operation generates a temperature
of 270 oC, all STE heat is fed into the LP steam power cycle. Thus, the size of the LP steam power
cycle is triple that of the one used in the NG-combustion Thermal Earth Battery system. Power
output for the brine-fed and NG-fired power cycles is 195.7 and 164 MW, respectively, with a
total output of 359.7 MW. Had all NG been used directly for power generation (with no storage),
power output would be 512.2 MW. Thus, power loss due to energy storage is 152.5 MW, with a
round-trip efficiency of 70.2%. Geothermal energy contributes 21.0 MW (4%) of the total power
output, with an effective power-conversion efficiency of 15.3%.

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Figure 25. Energy Budget for a Thermal Earth Battery storing solar thermal energy (STE) and the NG heat of
combustion for a 100/100-day charge/discharge cycle, including (a) energy sources and (b) energy utilization.

5.2.3 Storage of Solar Thermal Energy and NG/CAES Heat of Compression

We now consider a third Thermal Earth Battery case that can be entirely used to store
renewable energy (Table 8 and Figure 26). In this example, 50% of the stored heat is excess heat
of compression that comes from the NG/CAES Earth Battery discussed in Section 5.1.5. The other
50% is from STE, as is discussed in Section 5.2.2. We assume the NG/CAES Earth Battery system
operates throughout the year for diurnal storage purposes. Because all heat generated by the STE and
NG/CAES systems is at a temperature of 270 oC, it only requires the LP steam power cycle, which
generates 293.0 MW of power (Figure 22). Had all NG been used directly for power generation
(with no storage), power output would be 368.5 MW. Thus, power loss due to energy storage is

Figure 26. Energy Budget for a Thermal Earth Battery storing solar thermal energy (STE) and the NG/CAES
heat of compression for a 100/100-day charge/discharge cycle, including (a) energy sources and (b) energy
utilization.

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75.5 MW, with a round-trip efficiency of 79.5%. Geothermal energy contributes 16.0 MW (4%) of
the total power output, with an effective power-conversion efficiency of 11.5%. Because this
Thermal Earth Battery example integrates NG/CAES with a steam turbine system that leverages
excess energy from the NG turbines, it is a combined cycle power system.

5.3 CO2 Earth Battery

Although not part of the original work scope of this project, we developed intellectual
property for versions of the CO2 Earth Battery (Buscheck and Upadhye, 2019).

5.3.1 Compressed CO2 Energy Storage (CCES) Earth Battery

The CCES Earth Battery (Figure 27), which has been developed to be integrates with CO2
Plume Geothermal (CPG) (Saar et al., 2012-2015) and LLNL multi-fluid geo-energy system
technology (Buscheck, 2017a; 2017b; Buscheck and Upadhye, 2019).

Figure 27. Process diagram of the charge and discharge systems of the CO2 Earth Battery. The supplemental brine
source can be from a separate reservoir operation. As described in Buscheck and Upadhye (2019), the CO2 Earth Battery
can be deployed as a combined cycle power system, with heat recuperation being achieved with the use of steam
turbines. To reduce carbon intensity, CO2 generated by NG combustion may be captured from the flue gas and
compressed for geologic storage.

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6 Summary and Conclusions

6.1 Accomplishments
We analyzed the techno-economic feasibility of using huff/puff wells to store compressed air
and the waste heat of compression as heated brine in two porous, permeable storage formations,
with each overlain by an impermeable caprock that contains the pressurized buoyant fluids. During
this study, we developed the necessary power-system, economic-assessment tools, along with a
suite of reservoir models that use the NUFT code. We applied these tools to develop and refine a
base-case energy-storage system design, including above ground and below ground components to
manage flow rates and pressures that can sustain energy storage operations for at least 60 years.
We identified the key performance measures that influence the round-trip efficiency of the
Adiabatic CAES and NG/CAES Earth Battery: (1) air-mass efficiency, (2) pressure in the air-
storage reservoir, (3) pressure loss P in the air-storage reservoir, and (4) temperature loss T in
the hot-brine storage reservoir. Of these measures, air-mass efficiency and temperature loss are
the most important. Because pressure loss in the air-storage reservoir decreases with increasing
reservoir permeability, a minimum of 100 mD (preferably 200 mD) is needed for efficient
operations. The same requirement applies to the hot-brine storage reservoir, because it reduces
pressure oscillations during charge/discharge cycles. Pressure oscillations can be reduced if more
huff/puff wells are used. The impact of fluid, pressure, and heat loss, and pressure oscillations,
can be managed and reduced in the design and operation of the wellfield.
For the designs we assessed for the Adiabatic CAES Earth Battery, we estimate a round-trip
efficiency of 64 to 66%. For the designs we assessed for the NG/CAES Earth Battery, we estimate
a round-trip efficiency of 68 to 84%, with the upper value applying to designs where all expanders
are NG turbines. Capital and production costs for the NG/CAES Earth Battery with three NG
turbines appear to be competitive compared to current energy storage technologies. Based on
experience in oil and gas fields, we expect an operating lifetime of at least 60 years, which
exceeds that of battery technology and will likely match that of pumped hydro storage.
To address the unmet (market) need for seasonal energy storage, we developed the Thermal
Earth Battery, which uses a novel thermal energy storage (TES) approach for storing hot brine and
using conventional steam turbine technology for power conversion. The Thermal Earth Battery
takes advantage of the very high storage density of TES. Compared to the Helms Pumped Storage
Plant, with an overall head difference of 495 m, water with initial and final temperatures of 220 and
270 oC, respectively, contains 99 times the energy per unit of water. This kind of storage density

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enables the Thermal Earth Battery to be a unique player in the area of seasonal energy storage.
We conducted energy-system analyses for the Thermal Earth Battery, with a 100-/100-day
charge/discharge cycle, for various combinations of heat sources: (1) heat of FE combustion,
(2) excess heat of compression from NG/CAES, and (3) solar thermal energy (STE). For a case
where all heat is from NG combustion, we estimate a round-trip efficiency of 65% For a case
where half of the heat is from NG combustion and half is from STE, we estimate a round-trip
efficiency of 70%. For a case where half of the heat is from the excess heat of compression from
NG/CAES and half of the heat is from STE, we estimate a round-trip efficiency of 80%.

6.2 Market Viability

At the inception of our project, we had high visibility, as evidenced by our commercialization
team being a Semi-Finalist in the NRG COSIA Carbon XPRIZE. By the end of this Topic 1
project, our proposed Earth Battery CRADA teammate, TerraCOH, Inc. has been selected for the
Final Selection Round for Cohort 1 of Shell GameChanger Accelerator Powered by NREL
(GCxN), which assists startups de-risk and accelerate their technologies on their path to market.
Our techno-economic analyses of the Earth Battery indicate that may be competitive in the
grid-scale, energy-storage market. Round-trip efficiency of the Adiabatic CAES and NG/CAES
Earth Battery concepts is estimated to range from 64 to 85%, and the estimated range of
levelized cost of storage is $0.04 to $0.12 per KWh. Round-trip efficiency of the Thermal Earth
Battery is estimated to range from 65 to 80%. Its slow energy-degradation rate and high storage
density make the Thermal Earth Battery a unique player in the area of seasonal energy storage.
Based on experience in oil and gas field operations, we expect an operational lifetime of at least
60 years, greater than most competing technologies. Our portfolio of Earth Battery concepts
enables it to be tailored to site-specific conditions and opportunities, which will accelerate the
process of finding early adopters. Geographic surveys show deployment potential across much of
North America.

6.3 Path Forward

We have assembled project partners, including TerraCOH, Inc., Echogen Power Systems,
Inc., Enviro Ambient, Inc., and the University of Minnesota. Future work will include:
1. Long-term, thermal energy storage (TES), using either steam-turbine technology, such as
that used in the geothermal industry, or emerging CO2 power-system technology. We will
refine and assess our Thermal Earth Battery approach to efficiently using geothermal
resources, including low-grade resources.
2. Hybrid-power systems that reduce heating rate and carbon intensity, while enabling full
utilization of existing and emerging FE power systems: gas turbines, steam turbines, and
CO2 turbines. We will refine and assess the most promising system designs and seek out a
pilot-demonstration project opportunity for commercialization.
3. Identify sites for which a pilot-demonstration/staged-commercialization plan will be
developed, including those involving saline aquifers and mature hydrocarbon fields.

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processing, 2nd edition, CRC Press, ISBN 9781420085198 – CAT# 85190.
Kim, Y.M., Shin, D.G., and Kim, C.G. (2014), Optimization of design pressure ratio of positive
displacement expander for vehicle engine waste heat recovery, Energies, 7(9), 6105-
6117; doi:10.3390/en7096105
Loh, H.P., Lyons, J., and White III, C.W. (2002), Process Equipment Cost Estimation, DOE
Report DOW/NETL-2002/1169, National Energy Technology Laboratory.
NASA (2017), Isentropic Compression (or expansion), National Aeronautics and Space
Administration, https://www.grc.nasa.gov/www/k-12/airplane/compexp.html
NETL (2015), Carbon Storage Atlas – Fifth Edition (Atlas V), National Energy Technology
Laboratory, https://www.netl.doe.gov/research/coal/carbon-storage/natcarb-atlas
Ninova (20170, Ninova ITU e Learning System, ninova.itu.edu.tr/tr/dersler/ucak-uzay-
fakultesi/965/uck-421/ekkaynaklar?g96162 air_cp_plot-Ninova.pdf
NIST (2017), NIST Chemical WebBook, SRD 69, National Institute of Standards and
Technology, U.S. Dept. of Commerce,
http://webbook.nist.gov/cgi/cbook.cgi?ID=C7732185&Type=JANAFL&Plot=on
Perry, R.H. and Green, D. (1985), Perry’s Chemical Engineers’ Handbook, 6th Edition, McGraw-Hill.
PSU (2017), Pennsylvania State University,
http://www.personal.psu.edu/faculty/c/w/cwf/cs201/insul.htm
Rathi, A. (2018), A radical U.S. startup has fired up its zero-emissions fossil-fuel power plant,
https://qz.com/1292891/net-powers-has-successfully-fired-up-its-zero-emissions-fossil-
fuel-power-plant/
Saar, M.O., Randolph, J.B., Kuehn, T.H. (2012-2015), Carbon Dioxide-based geothermal energy
generation systems and methods related thereto, US Patent No. 8,316,955 (issued Nov.
27, 2012), Canada Patent No. 2.753.393 (issued Sep. 3, 2013), Europe Patent No.
2406562 (issued 2014); Australia Patent No. 2010223059 (issued 2015).
SNL (2017), DOE Global Energy Storage Database, McIntosh Plant, Office of Electricity Delivery &
Energy Reliability, Sandia National Laboratory,
https://www.energystorageexchange.org/projects/136
Torrent (2017), Torrent Engineering and Equipment, http://www.torrentee.com/
Towler, G. and Sinott, R. (2013), Chemical Engineering Design, 2nd Edition, Elsevier.
Upadhye, R. S., “UserDrivenSpreadsheet_11162018”, 2018. The discussion in Appendix 7.1 and
7.2 refers to this spreadsheet.
Upadhye, R. S., “ThermalEarthBattery_11162018”, 2018. The discussion in Appendix 7.3 refers
to this spreadsheet.
U.S. EIA (2017), Underground Natural Gas Working Storage Capacity, U.S. Energy Information
Administration, https://www.eia.gov/naturalgas/storagecapacity/#tabs-map1
Wikinvest (2017), Plains All American Pipeline, L.P. (PAA),
http://www.wikinvest.com/stock/Plains_All_American_Pipeline,_L.P._(PAA)/New_Cru
de_Oil_Storage_Facilities_Construction_Development
Wikipedia (2017), Vapor pressure of water,
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vapour_pressure_of_water
Wikipedia (2017), Brayton cycle, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brayton_cycle

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7 Appendix: Power-System/Installed-Cost Analysis Spreadsheet

The following description applies to the Excel spreadsheet that was developed for power-
system analyses and installed cost estimates for all major components, above and below ground.

7.1 Main (Adiabatic CAES) Worksheet in UserDrivenSpreadsheet_11172018

In the Excel spreadsheet, the main worksheet is titled “Main”, which is also the summary
section of the worksheet. The top of the Main worksheet (Rows 1−40) shows the schematic of the
process design. The following labels are used in the Excel spreadsheet schematic and in the
“process calculation” section of that spreadsheet.
LPC Low-pressure compressor
MPC Medium-pressure compressor
HPC High-pressure compressor
LPE Low-pressure expander
MPE Medium-pressure expander
HPE High-pressure expander
HTX Heat exchanger
LPC-HTX Heat exchanger for the low-pressure compressor
The most important specifications and results of the calculations are shown in the process
flow diagram. These include all temperatures, pressures and flow rates for process streams (air
and brine). For the compressors and expanders, the total power inputs/outputs are shown beside
the corresponding equipment. For the heat exchangers, the total heat duty and total area are
shown. Please note that these numbers refer to the total power and area. In all cases, the power
and area required is much larger than what the largest available equipment can deliver.
Therefore, multiple pieces of equipment are used in parallel to satisfy the process requirements.
For example, 9 compressors with the power rating of 30 MW each are used in lieu of the low-
pressure compressor (LPC) requiring 265 MW power input. Finally, for all the pieces of
equipment shown on the diagram, the corresponding purchased and installed costs are shown
beside the equipment.
All user inputs are shown in Rows 41−65. These are the only user inputs, with a few
exceptions:
• Correction factors that convert a straight pipe length to one with bends, elbows, and
valves (cells B155 and H155).
• Value for cycles of concentration used for cooling-tower calculations (cell B233).
All user inputs are clearly marked in light green highlight. These are the ONLY user inputs.
Changing anything else in the spreadsheet has the potential of overwriting valuable information
and invalidating the spreadsheet. Most of the entries are self-evident, except for the entry labeled
“Efficiency of Expander HTX”, cell B53, which needs the following explanation.

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In the base case, the hot brine stored underground is used to heat the stored cold high-pressure
air before it is introduced into the expanders. If this parameter is set to one, all the recoverable heat
from the brine is used to heat the air. If it is set to 0, no heat is recovered. Intermediate values
recover the fraction of the heat corresponding to the value of the parameter. For example, a value
of 0.65 means 65% of the recoverable heat is recovered and put into storage.
The input “Hot brine temperature drop” is the user’s estimate of how much heat is lost to the
ground during hot-brine storage, resulting in the specified temperature drop. If external heat is
available, such as waste heat at suitable temperature from some other source, then this parameter
can be set to a negative value, resulting in higher hot brine temperature, thereby producing more
work out of the expanders. The user may use the reservoir analyses of the hot-brine storage reservoir
to determine the temperature drop during storage.
The cells highlighted in light blue in Rows 41−54 show the results of the process calculations.
The cells highlighted in light blue in Rows 66−89 show the results of capital cost estimation.
Under the heading Results in Rows 41−54 are the key results of the process calculations.
Columns E-N show the temperatures, pressures and power (input or output) for the compressors
and expanders, along with the overall round-trip efficiency of the process. Please note that the
total work input/output takes account of the work of the brine pumps, even though it is perhaps
smaller than the error of these calculations.
Columns P-V show the calculated results for the heat exchangers. The value shown under
“Net heat added”, cell R51, is the difference of the heat added to the hot-brine storage and the
heat withdrawn from the hot-brine storage. Since the mass of the air withdrawn is generally
smaller than that of the air injected (per the specification “Air-mass efficiency, B52), the brine
flow required to heat the air is correspondingly smaller, resulting in a negative value for R51. In
practical terms, this means that over time, more and more heat will be added to hot-brine storage.
Accordingly, the reservoir-model analyses of hot-brine storage showed the hot brine temperature
drop declining with time, as discussed later (Table 3).
The quantity Ext Q in the box “External Heat Sink or Source” shows, in cell Y42, the net
heat lost or gained in brine storage. This quantity will be generally negative, consistent with the
specification “Hot brine temperature drop”, cell B46. However, if external heat source is
available, it can be easily accommodated by setting this term to a negative number, resulting in
the temperature of the withdrawn brine being higher than that of the stored hot brine. In such a
case, the cell Y42 will show a positive number.
The cells N53 and N54 show overall round-trip efficiency of the process. So long as there is
no external heat input (cell Y42 is zero or negative), these two numbers will be the same. In case of
external heat input, the number in cell N54 will be different from N53, as the value in N54 takes
account of the external heat and adds the work that would have been obtained from the external
heat (at 33% efficiency) to the work input in cell N51, resulting in a lower overall efficiency.

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The results of the economic analysis, shown in the cells highlighted by light blue in Rows
66−89, are summarized in a pie chart shown beside the tables. The transition from the summary
section to the detailed calculations section is clearly marked by a solid red line in Row 91. No
changes should be made to any cell below Row 91.
The next section, Rows 92−100, shows the property parameters and correlations used in the
spreadsheet. The sources of the values and correlations used are clearly shown. In addition to
property values at fixed conditions, such as the viscosity of air at 55 oC, several correlations are
used for temperature-dependent properties. These include water density, viscosity, specific heat,
and vapor pressure, and air specific heat. The equations are clearly shown in each section, along
with the reference for the correlation.

7.2 CAES Process Calculations

The section covers the detailed process calculations. Rows 104−110 show the flow rates,
temperatures and pressures of all the process streams shown in the schematic in the Summary
Section. Many of the values shown here are based on the calculations performed in the section
“Work Calculations”, in Rows 113−135, columns B-G.
Columns I-U show the design of heat exchangers. There are 6 groups of heat exchangers in the
system, one for each compressor and expander. The input temperature of the cold brine to the heat
exchanger is specified by the user in the input section. The minimum T for each heat exchanger is
also specified by the user in the input section. These two numbers are used to calculate the
temperatures of the outgoing air and brine. Since the air flow rate is specified by the user, the brine
flow for each heat exchanger is calculated by heat balance. The areas of the heat exchangers are
calculated based on the overall heat transfer coefficient found in engineeringpage.com (2017).

7.2.1 Pressure Drop Calculations for Air

This subsection calculates the pressure drop for the given flow in a pipe. The total air flow
specified by the user is divided equally among the specified number of wells. The calculations
for the pressure drop in the air and brine lines are based on the treatment given in Perry (1985).
Specifically, equation 5−90 is used to estimate the outlet pressure of air flowing through a pipe.
Pin2-Pout2 = f.L.G2RT/gc.RH.M
Where Pin and Pout are the air pressures at the entrance and exit of the pipe, f is the friction factor,
L is the pipe length, G is the mass flow rate, R is the gas constant, T is the inlet air temperature, gc
is the dimensional constant (numerically equal to 1 in the metric system), RH is the pipe radius,
and M is the molecular weight.
The friction factor f is calculated by using the approximate (and conservative) equation 5-66
from Perry (1985):
F = 0.04/Re0.16
where Re is the Reynold’s number.

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Since the flow rate, temperature and pressure are different for charge and discharge cycles,
two sets of calculations are shown, one for each cycle.

7.2.2 Pressure Drop Calculations for Brine

This subsection covers the pressure drop calculations for brine, along with an estimate of
heat loss from the lines containing hot brine. The same equation for the friction factor is used for
the brine. Equation 5-57 is used to get the F-factor, and the pressure drop is calculated by
ΔP = F.ρ
where ρ is the brine density.
All hot brine pipes are insulated. These include the pipes from the plant center to huff/puff
wells (during the charge cycle), and from the huff/puff wells to the plant center (during the
discharge cycle). Following the recommendation from Perry (1985), the insulation thickness is
set to 2”. This is a user-specified parameter. The amount of insulation needed is shown below the
pressure drop calculations.

7.2.3 Cooling Tower Calculations

This subsection is based on the treatment in Towler and Sinott (2013). The cooling tower duty
is based on the amount of cooling needed to cool the cool brine to its desired temperature, nominally
specified at 35 oC (this number is user-specified). The amount of water lost is calculated by adding
up the evaporative loss, the drift loss, and the loss due to purge. The value of purge is based on the
user-specified number for the cycles of concentration, currently set at 5, following the
recommendation in Towler and Sinott (2013).

7.2.4 Capital Cost Estimation

This subsection estimates the cost of all major identifiable equipment. These include: compressors,
expanders, heat exchangers, pumps/motors, piping, and wells. The two main references for the cost
estimation are Towler and Sinott (2013) and Loh et al (2002). PCI data have been obtained from
Chemical Engineering Magazine (2017). Several curves from Towler and Sinott (2013) were
parameterized using curve fit. The fitted parameters are shown in the worksheet References. Insulation
material costs are determined from PSU (2017).
The sizes of the compressors, expanders, and heat exchangers are much larger than what is
commercially available. Therefore, a large enough number of the largest size units are used to
satisfy the process needs. The capital cost calculations are based on the largest sizes.

7.2.5 Storing Heat with Hot Oil in Tanks

This subsection covers a simplified analysis of using heat-transfer oil, instead of brine stored
underground, to heat and cool the air for three different charge/discharge cycles: 12 hours, 5 days,
and 50 days. Cold and hot oil is stored in separate tanks, which eliminates the hot-brine storage
reservoir and all associated wells and insulated pipelines and pumps. For each cycle, the capital
costs of the oil and the storage tanks are: 139.87 M$ and 42.15 M$; 1398.75 M$ and 167.81 M$;

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and 13987 M$ and 668 M$. The net capital cost increases for these three different cycles are 49 M$,
1.4 B$ and 14.5 B$, respectively. Because of the cost of heat-transfer oil, this option may not be
economically viable for seasonal storage.

7.2.6 Using Natural Gas to Boost Air Temperature

This subsection covers the result of using natural gas (NG) to heat the air to the expanders to
1200 oK. This option is close to how conventional CAES is currently deployed, which is to
reduce the heating rate of the gas turbines while in dispatch mode. In our NG-boosted concept,
the heat of compression is utilized as a bottoming cycle, which reduces the heating rate more
than in conventional CAES.

7.2.7 Additional Worksheets

In addition to the worksheet titled Main, there are six more worksheets included in the
spreadsheet:
• Pilot Plant 25 kg: This is a pilot plant for a compressed air flow rate of 25 kg/sec
• Pilot Plant 135 kg: This is an optimally-sized pilot-scale plant for a compressed air flow
rate of 135 kg/sec
• What if scratchpad: This is a copy of the main spreadsheet. If the user wishes to make
any changes other than the user inputs, it is strongly recommended that the user make the
changes here, rather than in worksheet Main.
• Case Studies Summary: This includes a summary of all cases considered in this
feasibility study.
• References: All references used in the Excel spreadsheet are listed here, along with the
correlations developed during this study.
• Notes: This worksheet includes a few explanatory notes. Most of the material here is
covered in previous sections discussed above.

7.3 Thermal Earth Battery Spreadsheet

7.3.1 Introduction
As the economy shifts more and more towards renewable energy production, the need and
urgency for seasonal energy storage gets stronger. Since renewables such as solar and wind are
intermittent, there is often a mismatch between supply and demand. The seasonal energy storage
technology being developed at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory attempts to address
this mismatch by storing energy when not needed and withdrawing it from storage when needed.
The Thermal Earth Battery spreadsheet is a collection of worksheets, designed to address
specific questions in connection with energy storage. The various worksheets are described
below, including the specific technologies underlying the worksheet, and the user inputs and
outputs associated with the worksheet. In general, all the user inputs are shaded in green.

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7.3.2 Worksheet 2C2E2BST_Combined Cycle

This worksheet simulates the diurnal operation of a natural gas assisted CAES (compressed
air energy storage) system. The process flow diagram for the system is shown in the worksheet.
During the charge period, when excess electricity generation capacity is available, ambient
air is compressed in two compressors (LPC and HPC) in series. Cold brine from Cold Brine
Storage is used to cool the exhaust of each compressor in heat exchangers LPC-HTX and HPC-
HTX, respectively, thereby cooling the air and heating the brine. Both the hot brine and
compressed air are sent to Hot Brine Storage and Air Storage.
During the discharge period, the cold compressed air and stored hot brine are withdrawn
from Air Storage and Hot Brine Storage. The brine is used to heat the cold air in the heat
exchanger HPE-HTX to a temperature subject to the limitations imposed by the minimum delta
T, specified by the user. The heated air is further heated in the waste heat exchanger WHTX,
which functions as a recuperator by exchanging heat with the exhaust of the low-pressure expander
(LPE, described later). The hot air is then fed to a burner, along with natural gas stream NGH in
Burner 1. The burner output is sent to the high-pressure expander (HPE), where the air is expanded
to a lower pressure, and power is withdrawn from the expander. The HPE exhaust is again mixed
with additional natural gas stream NGL, and sent to a second combustion unit, Burner 2. The
output of Burner 2 is sent to the LPE, where the hot pressurized air is expanded to near-ambient
pressure, and power is withdrawn from the LPE. The exhaust of the LPE exchanges heat with
incoming warm air in the waste heat exchanger WHTX. The ambient-pressure hot air is then sent
to a boiler (Boiler 1) where steam is generated.
Since the output temperature of the HPE is hotter than the temperature of the stored brine,
excess hot brine is available in Hot Brine Storage, which is used to make steam in Boiler 2.
Excess hot brine can be extracted from Hot Brine Storage whenever power is needed, either on a
diurnal or seasonal basis. An advantage of storing energy in the form of hot brine is that rate of
thermal degradation for Hot Brine Storage is slower than that of pressure loss for Air Storage.
Therefore, hot brine is a useful fluid for seasonal storage. In the current design, the steam
products of Boiler 1 and Boiler 2 are mixed and sent to a steam turbine where power is generated.
A possible modification is to employ different sets of steam turbines and use each steam stream
in its own dedicated set of steam turbines, rather than mixing the two steam streams.
All the inputs and outputs are shown in the worksheet. All the major equipment used in the
process is sized.
Based on the equipment sizes and piping layout, all the installed capital costs for equipment,
piping and wells are estimated. Operating expenses for the operation of the plant are estimated,
based on assumed purchase and selling costs of electricity during charge and discharge periods.
A preliminary economic analysis leading to discounted cash flow return on investment is also
shown in the worksheet.

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7.3.3 Worksheet Brine_NG_Calculation

The main purpose of this worksheet is to answer three questions:
- How much brine can be produced from a given flow rate of natural gas, is input and
output temperatures of the brine are specified?
- How much natural gas is needed for a given production rate of brine, where the input and
output temperatures of the brine are specified?
- What is the output temperature of a brine at a given flow rate and given initial
temperature, if heated by natural gas at a given flow rate?
All the calculations are shown in the worksheet.

7.3.4 Worksheet NG_Geothermal

This worksheet simulates the charge-discharge cycle of a thermal energy storage system
wherein the energy of an excess natural gas stream is stored as thermal energy of hot brine
during the charge period, which is then used during the discharge period.
During the charge period, excess available natural gas (the flow rate of which is specified by
the user) is combusted and the heat is used to heat brine from Cold Brine Storage, which is
pumped back into Hot Brine Storage.
During the discharge period, the excess natural gas and additions natural gas (the flow rates
of which are specified by the user) is used to make steam at the temperature and pressure
specified by the user. The steam is fed to steam turbines to make power.
The hot brine, previously stored, is withdrawn during the discharge period to make low-
pressure saturated steam (at the pressure specified by the user), which is then fed to a steam
turbine to make power.
If a low-temperature heat source is available (e.g., brine at 100 oC), it is used to preheat the
boiler feed water to a temperature delta_T degrees lower than the source temperature (e.g., to 80 oC
in this case).
If an additional thermal source hot enough to heat combustion air is available (e.g.,
concentrated solar), it is used to heat the combustion air fed to the natural gas combustor.
The workbook keeps track of the inventory of hot brine, and maintains the correct mass
balance, so that the amount of brine withdrawn during the discharge period is less than or equal
to that stored during the charge period. The worksheet ThermalEarthBattery has superseded this
worksheet, since it is more general.

7.3.5 Worksheet NG_Storage

This worksheet calculates the power required to compress 1 kg/s of natural gas at 25 oC from
1 to 200 bar, using 1-, 2-, 3- and 4-stage compressors. It is assumed that the intercoolers between
the stages cool the hot natural gas to 25 oC before it is sent to the next stage.

7.3.6 Worksheet PumpedHydroComparison

This worksheet compares the energy storage characteristics of pumped hydro system vs.
thermal energy system. The calculations show that for a given mass of water at 25 oC, one

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Celsius degree temperature change is equivalent to raising the same mass of water to a height of
about 425 meters.

7.3.7 Worksheet References

References are provided for all the data used in this spreadsheet in this worksheet. There is
no user input in this worksheet.

7.3.8 Worksheet SeasonalStorage Worksheet

The main idea behind this worksheet is the existence of a thermoelectric power plant
generating a specific baseload of power. As an example, it is set at 500 MW, but can be reset by
the user to any reasonable value. The scenario imagined here is one where the monthly demand
changes and set by the user. The excess energy is stored in the form of heated brine at a
temperature defined by the user (270 °C in the default case). In addition, if there is any excess
natural gas available, it can also be input in the units of kg/s. Furthermore, the thermal efficiency
of the power plant, the temperature loss in Hot Brine Storage and the minimum temperature
difference in heat exchangers is also set by the user.
Once all this information is input by the user, the program proceeds with performing a
month-to-month accounting of excess energy going to the storage in the form of hot brine and
withdrawal of the hot brine when needed to produce energy. The final product of this worksheet
is a month-to-month accounting of excess or shortfall in electrical energy.

7.3.9 Worksheet SteamTables

Properties of saturated steam are presented in a tabular form in this worksheet. The data are
based on the steam tables published by NIST, as compiled by Michigan State University (ref 35).
The VBA modules HF_T, HFG_T, HG_T, SF_T, SFG_T, and SG_T are based on liners
interpolation between table values. There are no user inputs for this worksheet.

7.3.10 Worksheet SupSteam Tables

Properties of saturated steam are presented in a tabular form in this worksheet. The data are
based on the steam tables published by NIST (ref 36). The VBA modules SuperHG and SuperSG
are based on liners interpolation between table values. There are no user inputs for this worksheet.

7.3.11 Worksheet ThermalEarthBattery

This worksheet implements the more general model described in the figure below. Extensive
use has been made of the VBA modules described later.
During the charge period, warm brine is withdrawn from storage, heated to a specified
temperature using the specified flow rate of NG, and returned to Hot Brine Storage. Any excess
hot brine produced during the diurnal operation is also sent to Hot Brine Storage.
During the discharge period, the specified flow rate of NG is used to make high-pressure
steam at conditions specified by the user. The high-pressure steam is used to produce power in
high-pressure and low-pressure steam turbines.

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Simultaneously during the discharge period, the stored hot brine is withdrawn from Hot
Brine Storage and used to make low-pressure steam which is then sent to a low-pressure steam
turbine to produce power.
The excess hot brine from diurnal operation is similarly used to make low-pressure steam to
produce power.
If low-level heat sources are available, they are used to heat combustion air and boiler feed
water. These sources are specified by the user.

7.3.12 VBA Module Names and Descriptions

Several VBA modules have been developed during the course of this work. They are
described below. The following notes are common to all the modules:
- All input/output temperatures are in ◦C.
- All input pressures are in KPa.
- Energy unit is KJ, power unit is MW.
- All Cp (specific heat at constant pressure) values are in KJ/kg/ oK.
- All mass is in kg, and volume is in cubic meters.
- All arrays are column arrays.
1. Function Air4NG, a scalar function, calculates the mass flow of air required to burn 1 kg
of natural gas at the given excess air rate in percent of stoichiometric air.
2. Function “compcalc”, an array function, calculates the work needed to compress a given
mass of gas from pin to pout. Note that in pout is less than pin, the output is the work
produced.
Its input is an array of the following variables, in order: pin (input pressure), pout (output
pressure), TCin (input temperature), k value (ratio of Cp/Cv for the given gas), eta
(isentropic efficiency, expressed as a fraction), cpin (Cp of the gas at TCin), and
massflow (mass flow of the gas in kg/s).
The output array gives the calculated values of the following variables: Tout-isentropic
(output temperature of the gas at eta of 1), Tout_actual (output temperature of the gas for
the given eta), work_isentropic (work required or produced for eta of 1), and work_actual
(actual work required or produced for the given eta).
3. Function Cp_X, a group of scalar functions, calculate the Cp of X (where X is replaced
by Air, CH4, CO2, N2, O2, Steam or Water) given its temperature.
4. Function Density_Gas, a scalar function, calculates the density of any gas in Kg/m3 given
its pressure, temperature and molecular weight.
5. Function DH_Air, a scalar function, calculates the heat required to raise the temperature
of air from T1 to T2.
6. Function DH_Gas, a scalar function, calculates the heat required to raise the temperature
of any gas from T1 to T2. The inputs are T1, T2 and mole fractions of components CH4,
O2, N2, CO2 and H2O.

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7. Functions HF_T, HFG_T and HG_T are scalar functions that return the enthalpy of
saturated water, latent heat of evaporation, and enthalpy of saturated steam, respectively,
given the saturation temperature.
8. Function Brine2Steam is an array function that calculates the mass of saturated steam a
given pressure per Kg of hot brine at a given temperature. The input is in the form of an
array in the order: Temperature of input hot brine, temperature of input boiler feed water,
pressure of the desired saturated steam, and minimum delta_T for the boiler. The output
is an array in the order: Temperature of the brine leaving the boiler, temperature of the
brine leaving the preheater, mass of steam produced, rate of heat transfer in the boiler,
and rate of heat transfer in the preheater.
9. Function LinInterp is a scalar function that returns the y value at the given x value, given
the arrays xv and yv, using linear interpolation.
10. Function NG2Brine, an array function, calculates the mass of brine at a given
temperature per Kg of natural gas, given the following input array: LHV of the natural
gas (normally taken as 50 MJ/kg), percent excess air used for combustion, temperature of
the air fed to the combustor, delta_T, the minimum delta T in the heat exchanger,
temperature of the input brine, and the desired temperature of the output brine. The
output of this function is an array: kg moles of input air, mass of input air, kg moles of
flue gas, mass of flue gas, moles fractions of CH4, O2, N2, CO2 and H2O in the flue gas,
maximum temperature reached by the flue gas, output temperature of the flue gas, and
mass of hot brine produced.
11. Function NG2Steam, an array function, calculates the mass of steam at a given
temperature and pressure per Kg of natural gas, given the following input array: LHV of
the natural gas (normally taken as 50 MJ/kg), percent excess air used for combustion,
temperature of the air fed to the combustor, temperature of the boiler feed water,
temperature of the output flue gas, and pressure and temperature of the desired steam.
The output of this function is an array: kg moles of input air, mass of input air, kg moles
of flue gas, mass of flue gas, moles fractions of CH4, O2, N2, CO2 and H2O in the flue
gas, maximum temperature reached by the flue gas, and mass of the steam produced.
12. Function Psat returns he saturation vapor pressure of water at the given temperature.
13. Sub set_DeltaT is a macro that adjusts the boiler feed water feed rate to obtain the given
minimum delta T in the boiler. This function is now used in the new version of the
spreadsheet.
14. Functions SF_T, SFG_T, and SG_T are scalar functions that return the entropy of
saturated water, entropy of evaporation, and entropy of saturated steam, respectively,
given the saturation temperature.
15. Function Steam_Turbine, an array function, calculates the power output of a steam
turbine for 1 kg/s steam flow of a given pressure and temperature. The input is an array:
pin, the input pressure of the steam, Tin, the input temperature of the steam, eta, the

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isentropic efficiency of the turbine as a fraction, and pout, the output pressure of the turbine.
The output is an array: temperature of saturated steam at pout, actual temperature of the
output steam, ideal and actual power output, and the vapor fraction of the output steam.
16. Function StmProp, a scalar function, returns the y value corresponding to the give x
value, given arrays of x and y from the saturated steam table.
17. Functions SuperHG and SuperSG are scalar functions that return the values of enthalpy
and entropy, respectively, for superheater steam, given the temperature and pressure of
the superheated steam.
18. Function TfromDH_Air, a scalar function, returns the temperature of the output air when
heat equivalent to DH is provided to air at 25 oC.
19. Function TfromDH_Gas, a scalar function, returns the temperature of output gas of a
given composition when heat equivalent to DH is provided to the gas at the temperature
of Tin. The input is an array: heat input per kg of gas, input temperature of the gas, and
the mole fractions of CH4, O2, N2, CO2 and H2O in the gas.
20. Function T_HF is a scalar function that calculates the temperature of saturated water,
given its specific enthalpy.
21. Function Tsat calculates the saturation temperature of steam given its pressure.
22. Function visc_water calculates the viscosity of liquid water in Pa. s at the given
temperature.

7.3.13 VBA Module Templates

All the array functions mentioned earlier need their input in a specific order. Likewise, all
the array outputs are in a specific order. As an aid to the use of these functions, corresponding
input/output arrays have been created and stored in this worksheet. To use the array functions, do
the following:
- Highlight the output cells.
- Enter the function as = FunctionName (highlight the input array).
- Press ctrl+shift+enter.
The output array will be filled with the calculated values.

7.3.14 Thermal Earth Battery Worksheet References

The following references, also listed in the worksheet References, are used in both the
UserDrivenSpreadsheet_11162018 and ThermalEarthBattery_11162018 spreadsheets.
1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brayton_cycle.
2. Kim, Y. M., et al., “Optimization of Design Pressure Ratio of Positive Displacement
Expander for Vehicle Engine Waste Heat Recovery”, Energies, 2014, 7, 6105-6117
(ISSN 1996-1073, www.mdpi.com/journal/energies).
3. Towler and Sinott, “Chemical Engineering Design”, second edition, Elsevier, 2013

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4. Loh, H.P., et al., “Process Equipment Cost Estimation Final Report”, DOE/NETL-
2002/1169, January 2002.
5. http://www.engineeringpage.com/technology/thermal/transfer.html
6. http://www.jmcampbell.com/tip-of-the-month/2015/07/how-to-estimate-compressor-
efficiency/.
7. Air Cp vs. T, available on-line at ninova.itu.edu.tr/tr/dersler/ucak-uzay-fakultesi/965/uck-
421/ekkaynaklar?g96162.
8. https://www.google.com/search?q=specific+heat+of+air+vs+temperature+equation&oq=
Cp+of+air+vs+temperature&aqs=chrome.4.69i57j0l5.14635j0j7&sourceid=chrome&ie=
UTF-8.
9. http://www.engineeringtoolbox.com/dry-air-properties-d_973.html.
10. http://www.engineersedge.com/pipe_schedules.htm.
11. http://ddbonline.ddbst.de/DIPPR105DensityCalculation/DIPPR105CalculationCGI.exe?c
omponent=Water.
12. http://ddbonline.ddbst.de/VogelCalculation/VogelCalculationCGI.exe?component=Water.
13. Perry’s Chemical Engineer’s Handbook, sixth edition, McGraw-Hill, 1984.
14. http://www.torrentee.com/technical/.
15.http://webbook.nist.gov/cgi/cbook.cgi?ID=C7732185&Type=JANAFL&Plot=on.
16. Chemical Engineering, McGraw-Hill monthly publication.
17. http://www.personal.psu.edu/faculty/c/w/cwf/cs201/insul.htm.
18. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vapour_pressure_of_water.
19. Removed; not used.
20. McIntosh CAES Plant https://www.energystorageexchange.org/projects/136.
21. https://www.grc.nasa.gov/www/k-12/airplane/compexp.html.
22. DowTherm properties
http://msdssearch.dow.com/PublishedLiteratureDOWCOM/dh_0032/0901b803800325da
.pdf?filepath=/heattrans/pdfs/noreg/176-01353.pdf&fromPage=GetDoc.
23. http://www.world-nuclear.org/information-library/facts-and-figures/heat-values-of-
various-fuels.aspx.
24. http://www.pennstainless.com/stainless-products/pipe-and-tube-stainless-steel-
products/ansi-pipe-chart/.
25. https://www.eia.gov/analysis/studies/powerplants/capitalcost/pdf/capcost_assumption.pdf.
26. Branan, Carl, Rules of Thumb for Chemical Engineers, second edition, Gulf Publishing
Company, Houston, 1998.
27. Oralli, E. et al., "A Study on scroll compressor conversion into expander for Rankine
cycles", International Journal of Low-Carbon Technologies, 2011, 6, 200-206
https://academic.oup.com/ijlct/article/6/3/200/680918/A-study-on-scroll-compressor-
conversion-into.
28. US DOE Combined Heat and Power Technology Fact Sheet, DOE/EE-1330, July 2016;
Gas Turbine Capital Cost paper.
29. http://www.cast-safety.org/pdf/3_engine_fundamentals.pdf.
30. Description of a typical thermal power plant
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thermal_power_station.

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31. CO2 properties

https://webbook.nist.gov/cgi/cbook.cgi?ID=C124389&Units=SI&Mask=1&Type=JANA
FG&Plot=on#JANAFG.
32. Specific heat capacities of gases
http://catalog.conveyorspneumatic.com/Asset/FLS%20Specific%20Heat%20Capacities%
20of%20Gases.pdf.
33. CO2 properties https://webbook.nist.gov/cgi/cbook.cgi?ID=C124389&Units=SI.
34. Matheson Gas Data Book, The Matheson Company, Inc., Newark, California, 1961
35. Saturated Steam tables.
http://www.egr.msu.edu/classes/me201/somerton/SteamTables.pdf.
36. Superheated Steam tables
https://www.nist.gov/sites/default/files/documents/srd/NISTIR5078-Tab3.pdf.

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