What is Energy storage: Definition and 97 Discussions

Energy storage is the capture of energy produced at one time for use at a later time to reduce imbalances between energy demand and energy production.
A device that stores energy is generally called an accumulator or battery.
Energy comes in multiple forms including radiation, chemical, gravitational potential, electrical potential, electricity, elevated temperature, latent heat and kinetic.
Energy storage involves converting energy from forms that are difficult to store to more conveniently or economically storable forms.
Some technologies provide short-term energy storage, while others can endure for much longer.
Bulk energy storage is currently dominated by hydroelectric dams, both conventional as well as pumped. Grid energy storage is a collection of methods used for energy storage on a large scale within an electrical power grid.
Common examples of energy storage are the rechargeable battery, which stores chemical energy readily convertible to electricity to operate a mobile phone; the hydroelectric dam, which stores energy in a reservoir as gravitational potential energy; and ice storage tanks, which store ice frozen by cheaper energy at night to meet peak daytime demand for cooling.
Fossil fuels such as coal and gasoline store ancient energy derived from sunlight by organisms that later died, became buried and over time were then converted into these fuels.
Food (which is made by the same process as fossil fuels) is a form of energy stored in chemical form.

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  1. B

    How Does Heat Transfer Affect Compressed Air Energy Storage in Salt Caverns?

    Hi all, I am trying to model temperature variation with time of compressed air energy storage in a salt cavern. For now I have considered a spherical (hollow) cavern in which air is injected. I have to solve [U]{T}+[M]{T_dot}={Q} (here, Q is the first term and all other entries are zero)...
  2. B

    Flywheel Energy Storage: Powering Common Products with Kinetic Energy

    HI All!, I'm a thesis student in Industrial Design and need some physics help! My thesis project is to make a system that stores energy in the form of kinetic energy in a flywheel to power common products. This system would be plugged in all the time and would begin working immediately after...
  3. C

    Does energy storage in liquid air technology pass the laugh test?

    a UK company got $10M to build it, see here http://www.greentechmedia.com/articles/read/liquid-air-for-utility-scale-energy-storage/ . Can this be at least hypothetically feasible or is it more like pure quackery for stupid investors? ETA: to clarify, I don't doubt that it would "work" the same...
  4. R

    Alternative chemical energy storage

    Hi everybody. I have been thinking about this a while and could not come up with anything. I was wondering if there any chemical energy storage method that would have these properties: 1) it would be easy to produce 2) it would be easy to extract energy from 3) it would not have any carbon...
  5. K

    Small Volume Plasma Confinement Device For Energy Storage

    Greetings: I am currently in the research phase of a project. I would like to get some feedback, opinions, and supporting data/information concerning the feasibility of a small volume (less than 1 cubic meter) plasma container device that would ideally be used to store energy up to 100...
  6. J

    Gravitational potential energy storage location

    Hello, I thought of asking would someone know what is the correct thinking here... A body is thrown upwards, its kinetic energy gradually transforms into gravitational potential energy until it is entirely absorbed. At this moment, where is the potential energy? According to wikipedia (N...
  7. S

    New quantum energy storage proposed

    There is patent which describes new type of something similar to capacitor based on quantum effects. http://www.patentstorm.us/patents/6501093/description.html" Do you think it has any really working ideas?
  8. S

    Energy storage alternatives to batteries?

    I was pondering our reliance on and the limitations of todays electrical batteries. It seems to me (uneducated member of the public) that while technology continues to develop with an impressive momentum our energy storage methods struggle to fuel these ever evolving technologies effectively...
  9. K

    Determining Power Output of Pumped Energy Storage System

    Homework Statement Pumped Energy Storage. A water reservoir has surface area A and depth D. The water flows down pipes and through turbines to generate electric power. The bottom of the reservoir is at height H above the turbines. The depth D of water in the reservoir decreases at a rate δ...
  10. S

    Capacitors as energy storage devices

    My colleague and I have a disagreement about the storage of electrical energy using capacitors in DC circuitry. It all has to do with the equation for the capacitive energy storage, namely the energy stored in a capacitor with capacitance C charged from a power supply at some constant potential...
  11. C

    Why Does Using W=QV Give the Wrong Answer for Work Done in Charging a Capacitor?

    Calculate the work done by a 3.0V battery as it charges a 7.8-microFarad capacitor in the flash unit of a camera. The Attempt at a Solution I realize that Work = Energy. And by using U = .5CV^2 I can easily come up with the answer. But when I first started doing the problem, I tried doing it...
  12. H

    Thermal energy storage and usee

    i want to try use heat energy to power a small device, but i also want to be able to store some energy for use at a later stage... how could i go about doing this? also it needs to be as small as possible, and also very cheap id guess that it could be relatively simple to do considering i just...
  13. K

    Secrets of Flywheels: Exploring Energy Storage and Delivery

    Homework Statement Flywheels are large, massive wheels used to store energy. They can be spun up slowly, then the wheel's energy can be released quickly to accomplish a task that demands high power. An industrial flywheel has a 2.0 m diameter and a mass of 270 kg. Its maximum angular velocity...
  14. S

    Can a Spring Be Used for Energy Storage?

    Hi, I am thinking of a device, i don't know if a similar one exists already but this is what it is supposed to do. 1. compress(or extend) a spring by way of some mechanical force like turning a wheel(this wheel could very well be that of a bicyle) 2. Once the spring is compressed(or...
  15. G

    Flywheel Energy Storage and small engine

    I posted this on another section, but got no replies in three days...so thought maybe I'd had posted in the wrong section...apologies. I have an idea pertaining to energy storage in flywheels, something like they do in the KERS, and need assistance here... Ok, my idea involves using a...
  16. G

    Revolutionize Energy Storage: Utilizing Flywheels for Efficient Power Generation

    I have an idea pertaining to energy storage in flywheels, something like they do in the KERS, and need assistance here... Ok, my idea involves using a flywheel of around 10 kg (steel) with I~1 kg.m^2, to be charged to an RPM of around 7,000 RPM. This allows E = 0.5 x 1 x (7000x2x pi /60)^2...
  17. S

    How much energy can be stored using microwave energy storage?

    I know there exist methods to store a microwave in a vacuum superconducting or dielectric chamber.From first sight it looks as promising energy storage device,more safe then a flywheel.Even if chamber will be broken microwave will just left and fly into space. Unfortunately,I was not able to...
  18. J

    Energy Storage in Fundamental Forces

    Does all energy storage occur in fundamental forces or bonds? I believe that a rubber band stores energy in the electrical bonds between the molecules. Same with a spring. In the atom, energy is stored and released from the electrical bonds between electrons and the nucleus during photon...
  19. G

    Capacitors, energy storage and energy release

    Just a short concept question for understanding... I understand that a capacitor stores a charge, However I'm told that capacitors can be used to store up a charge and release it very quickly. How does this energy get released is what I don't understand. To my understanding of a...
  20. Z

    The effect of a dielectric on energy storage of a capacitor

    Homework Statement You are an intern at an engineering company that makes capacitors used for energy storage in pulsed lasers. Your manager asks your team to construct a parallel-plate, air-gap capacitor that will store 120 kJ of energy. (a) What minimum volume is required between the...
  21. D

    Non-conventional energy storage

    I have been doing some reading on super critical fluids. They are pretty amazing things. I can't help but wonder if there is a way to use the it for energy storage. Quite a few listed on wiki are critical at close to ambient temps. and the pressures are very easily attainable...
  22. S

    Energy storage density of coiled springs

    I’m looking for an information source on the energy storage density of coiled springs made of various materials. Of particular interest are steel, titanium, carbon fiber, and carbon nanotubes.
  23. F

    What is the most efficient and powerful way to store energy?

    What is the most powerful battery or way to store energy? I have an idea but I wanted to see what you guys would say :)
  24. J

    Is Gravimetric Energy Storage a Viable Alternative to Batteries for Solar Power?

    Lately I have seen a lot of people switching over to solar panels, they have basically 2 choices of what to do with the extra energy as far as I know. 1- Batteries 2- Return the extra power to the grid for a credit on their power bill It got me to thinking and I need some input as to...
  25. I_am_learning

    Energy Storage & Mass Change: Is There a Link?

    I mean to ask is every Energy storage or production associated with mass change?
  26. S

    What are the Newest Developments in Energy Storage Technology?

    Could somebody tell what is the newest ideas in energy storage technology? Is there some new effects discovered, such as quantum or electron related? Is this possible to have energy storage which would be average in energy density between chemical and nuclear?
  27. S

    Plasmon Energy Storage: Limitations & Possibilities

    As I know main limitation of superconducting energy storage is Lorentz forces which are created by magnetic field and ultimately destroy a superconducting ring. But there exist so called plasmon waves or plasma waves which could spread in metals and plasma. If I no make mistake they don't...
  28. A

    Electric Energy Storage at Superconducting Temperatures?

    Is it Theoretically possible to build a superconducting motor/generator/energy storage device all at superconducting temperatures? The device needs to operate in vacuum, accelerate and decelerate with only field energies exiting the vacuum chamber. I don't have much faith in batteries at 4oK...
  29. K

    HELP A problem on electric energy storage

    HELP!A problem on electric energy storage Homework Statement when two capacitors are connected in parallel and then connected to a battery, the total stored energy is 5.0 times greater than when they are connected in series and then connected to the same battery. What is the ratio of the two...
  30. A

    Linearity for energy storage devices

    Homework Statement I am supposed to prove that linearity holds for energy storage elements. Homework Equations So far I have got to know that linearity can be proved by superposition. The Attempt at a Solution I attempted to make a circuit with a resistor, capacitor, a voltage...
  31. Y

    Electrical Energy Storage, Capactor, Battery, Motor

    Here is my problem [the last one of a lot that I already got all right and have to turn in by midnight - so you can sense my frustration, lol.] A .39microF capacitor is charged by a 1.5 V battery. After being charged, the capacitor is connected to a small electric motor. a) Assuming 100%...
  32. marcus

    New catalyst may impact energy storage (MIT, electrolysis)

    this EurekAlert page links to a MIT press release describing the operation of the new catalyst and potential applications http://search.eurekalert.org/e3/query.html?qt=Nocera&col=ev3rel&qc=ev3rel&x=12&y=16 Dan Nocera is the main person responsible. Here's a ScienceDaily account...
  33. N

    Carbon Fibre Flywheel (for energy storage)

    Is it difficult to make? as a complete beginner, what do I need to know, and am I way in over my head? :) any help would be appreciated.
  34. L

    Can Solid Materials Be Used for Large Scale Energy Storage?

    This idea is for an alternative to large scale energy storage. Sorry for the double and confusing post (https://www.physicsforums.com/showthread.php?t=179768), I should have posted here in the first place. As far as I can understand, pumped-storage hydroelectricity is the main technology used...
  35. K

    What are some lesser known types of energy storage technologies?

    Hi all I am totally new to this forum, so I do not know whether this has been posted before, and if so I appologize and hope that you can direct me to that thread. I am currently involved in a project regarding energy storage and I have found out that the major technology platforms are the...
  36. D

    Gravitational potential energy storage - seeking comments

    I have an idea I would like to analyze but I'm practically ignorant of physics and engineering so I'm hoping you folks can give me some informative feedback. First, something tells me this idea is ridiculously uneconomical and/or impractical, but I'm still curious to find out and it will be a...
  37. T

    Stratified Thermal Energy Storage

    I'm new to message.. I have a project about stratifed thermal energy storage... Are there anyone that can help me to guide or give resources about this subject.? In my project: heat is stored in stratified way: there is a thermal layer between hot and cold water. Anyone who knows...
  38. A

    Thermal Energy storage of phase change material

    Hi all you braniacs out there... I am a final year mechanical engineering student. I need to do a final year project on numerical simulation on melting of phase change material.. I will be required to make use of gambit and fluent CFD software of which i have no idea about... However currently...
  39. M

    Superconducting Magnetic Energy Storage

    http://www.doc.ic.ac.uk/~mpj01/ise2grp/energystorage_report/node8.html" ah just what i need for that Superconducting Railgun project :rolleyes:
  40. magi

    Energy storage in quicklime (CaO) by a sunparabol?

    Hello. I am at my university working on an idea if it would be possible to store heat energy in quicklime CaO. We are to use a solar parabol to concentrate the sunlight and get a temperature in focus around 1000 C degres. In that temperature it is possible to burn limestone to quicklime...
  41. A

    Flywheel energy storage alternative

    Flywheels are interesting but dangerous if they malfunction because the energy is concentrated in the vicinity of the rotor. My question to you ME's is this- could you engineer a practical and/or efficient energy storage system that relied on gravity? I envision an enourmous mass on a...
  42. B

    Find the Tension in Accelerating System: Understanding Kinetic Energy Storage

    Find the tension ( stretching force) on the string whie system is accelerating. I know that the pull on block "A" for acceleration is gm2 / m1 + m2. so what is the source of the kinetic energy store in block "A". :confused:
  43. C

    Exploring the Role of Potential and Kinetic Energy in Flywheel Energy Storage

    What is energy?How a flywheel stores energy? What is the physics behind that?
  44. A

    Building a Thermal Energy Storage System: What Additive Can I Use?

    im working on building a simple thermal energy storage system...im using water as phase change material.The PCM will be injected into spherical capsules and dropped into a storage tank.Now my problem is that the freezing process initiates only at arnd -12 C.Remember it is under pressure...
  45. D

    Pumped Energy Storage and Available Power

    http://s1.lite.msu.edu/res/msu/stump/Energy101/pumpedstorage.gif Consider the Ludington Pumped Storage Plant. Water may flow out of the reservoir, through the penstocks, and down into Lake Michigan, at a volume rate of 1710 m3/s. The water is directed through turbines to turn electric...
  46. C

    Is Chemical Energy the Most Efficient Form of Storage?

    Just thinking aloud, but is chemical our most efficient method of storage and retrival of energy this side of nuclear energy? Sure kinetic and potential energy forms are utilized all the time by flywheels and springs, electrical energy is stored for short periods of time, but the only long-term...
  47. C

    What Type of Gas Can Be Used for Isothermal and Adiabatic Energy Storage?

    We've been set the question of- In an isothermal expansion, and ideal gas at initial pressure Po expands until its volume is twice its initial volume. When the gas is compressed adibatically and quasi-statically ack to its original volume, its pressure is 1.32Po. Is the gas monatomic...
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