Flywheel energy storage Puns

https://www.energiestro.net/technology/

Info.

The biggest advantage is that although there ARE moving parts, they are very minimized and VERY well guarded. These really should last at least the same 15-20 a solar panel can expect, and i've seen some (such as some steel-wheel monsters at IBM, rated for 17kW and 15kWh for 3-phase power!) easily last 30. And since they're in a tank and buried, no worried about them hitching off and going sonic-the-hedgehog through your wall like with traditional FESSs.

News/TL:DR:

https://www.pv-magazine.com/2021/06/21/concrete-flywheel-storage-system-for-residential-pv/

So I've read that a lot of the losses that flywheel systems have are due to gyroscopic effects. The wheel is turned by the rotation of the earth, and that causes a loss in the wheel.

Could you shield a flywheel from these effects by putting the flywheel within a gyroscope? Wouldn't that stop gyroscopic effects? Is that not done because of the cost increase to the flywheel energy storage system, or for some other reason?

I was just wondering why there seem to be no small-scale flywheel energy storage systems available to ordinary people to compete with batteries for backup power.

Since no companies appear to make them commercially, would it be feasible to build one at home using weights or a water-based rotor, a reversible motor/generator and some electrical conversion circuitry?

For reference, I use a lead-acid battery as laptop/modem/general power backup in my home office. It's 12V 36Ah, weighs 12kg and can deliver just over 350Wh of energy via an inverter over an 8-hour period.

How big and heavy would a flywheel-energy-storage system to do the same thing be? (Max continuous power of my inverter setup is 500W).

Hello!

Had a thought about energy storage systems for power grids. Batteries, obviously there's many different kinds with pros and cons. Mechanical flywheel batteries seem to have big pros like lifetimes, inexpensive. But con's like self discharge rates, energy density. Wouldn't that be ok considering you only need the battery to last 12 to maybe 16 hours for a solar power storage system. As well as low energy density seems ok for large energy grid applications unlike cars/aircraft. Surely steel flywheels are cheaper than lithium. Anyone know much about FES. Used in UPS systems and KERS in F1. Do they work out cheaper?

"a kinetic energy storage system from Chakratec was installed in the basement of the hotel for refueling electric cars, which simultaneously supplies six charging stations with up to 22 kW of charging power each."

https://www.premierinn.com/de/de/presse/2020/premier-inn-hotel-in-leipzig-mit-innovativer-elektroauto-schnellladestation.html

I have done some calculations, some CAD designing, studying, and would love to work with someone a billion times smarter than me for advice and tips etc, materials science (carbon fiber I assume) manufacturing, prototyping, calculations, I love all that stuff it's where I thrive. maybe we can chat on discord invite fellow mech/electrical engineers?

Nowadays it seems like atteries are the only option considered. Why aren't kinetic flywheels prominent in the discussion?

I remember reading a NYT story from about 2000-2002 about a flywheel battery project designed to save energy and reduce heat from braking. Googling "ny subway flywheel" turns up a few links, with dates from 2009-2012 that talk about pilot projects.

Did anything ever come of this?

Some of the choice links from my search:

• https://www.railwaygazette.com/news/single-view/view/new-york-orders-fly-wheel-energy-storage.html
• https://grist.org/article/2011-09-13-gigantic-flywheels-will-make-subway-trains-efficient-by-harvesti/

I was just reading about how the Audi R18 in WEC used to use an electric flywheel for energy storage instead of Lithium-ion batteries. Apparently it was developed by Williams, but never used in Formula 1. In 2016 Audi changed to Lithium-Ion batteries as well, but the thing I don't get is why these batteries are better than a flywheel.

A flywheel could act as a stabiliser, is faster to recharge and is less susceptible to temperature variations.

Obviously I must be missing something here. If not it would make no sense to use Lithium batteries instead of a flywheel.

Does anyone have some more info on this topic? Thanks!

All,

I was wondering if FESS has any real merits over battery storage for household purposes. I read the Beacon power website and it seems that the ones they did in newyork is only for regulation, not for storage.

My idea is to use FESS for storage and prolonged release of energy to power a home during night/low power situations.

What are your thoughts on this?

France has a higher RPM

I'm pretty stumped with this one, but I get the feeling I'l kick myself once I hear the answer.

A flywheel's kinetic energy stored is equal to 1/2Ia.v^2 (where a.v.= angular velocity). If the flywheel is just a solid cylinder, then this cancels to become 1/4m**r^2 a.v.^2 or just 1/4mv^2

I'm trying to think of a way to model this to calculate the minimum mass needed for the maximum energy storage, across a range of angular velocities.

The problem is, for a given kinetic energy, that the angular velocity it will spin at is a function of mass, which is in itself a function of radius. I'm stuck trying to wrap my head around how I can model this.

Any advice?