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Licensed Unlicensed Requires Authentication Published by De Gruyter August 23, 2019

Compressed air energy storage in aquifers: basic principles, considerable factors, and improvement approaches

  • Yi Li

    Yi Li received his PhD degree from Beijing Normal University, China, 2018. Currently, he is a researcher at Hubei University of Technology. His main research activities are in the areas of multiphase flow and energy storage in porous media.

    , Yi Li

    Yi Li received his PhD degree from Wuhan University, China, 2014. Currently, he is an associate professor at Changsha University of Science and Technology. His main research activities are in the areas of hydraulic engineering, geomechanics, multiphase flow, and energy storage.

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    , Yaning Liu

    Yaning Liu received his PhD degree from Florida State University, USA. He is currently an assistant professor at University of Colorado Denver. His main research interests are uncertainty quantification and surrogate modeling, with applications to hydrogeology and climate sciences.

    and Xiaoyuan Cao

    Xiaoyuan Cao received her PhD degree from Beijing Normal University, Beijing in 2018. Currently, she is a post-doctor at the School of Environment at Tsinghua University. Her main research activities are in the areas of multiphase flow and transport phenomena.

Abstract

Compressed air energy storage in aquifers (CAESA) can be considered a novel and potential large-scale energy storage technology in the future. However, currently, the research on CAESA is relatively scarce and no actual engineering practices have yet been performed due to a lack of detailed theoretical and technical support. This article provides a summary and analysis of the current research about the key problems in CAESA. The theoretical foundation and evaluation methods are first addressed, and then the aquifer selection criteria are proposed by analyzing the impact of the main geological factors on the performance. Subsequently, the optimal design of wellbore and the operation parameters are discussed, and different possible enhanced methods are proposed for extending the application of CAESA. Finally, conclusions are made and application outlook is addressed.

About the authors

Yi Li

Yi Li received his PhD degree from Beijing Normal University, China, 2018. Currently, he is a researcher at Hubei University of Technology. His main research activities are in the areas of multiphase flow and energy storage in porous media.

Yi Li

Yi Li received his PhD degree from Wuhan University, China, 2014. Currently, he is an associate professor at Changsha University of Science and Technology. His main research activities are in the areas of hydraulic engineering, geomechanics, multiphase flow, and energy storage.

Yaning Liu

Yaning Liu received his PhD degree from Florida State University, USA. He is currently an assistant professor at University of Colorado Denver. His main research interests are uncertainty quantification and surrogate modeling, with applications to hydrogeology and climate sciences.

Xiaoyuan Cao

Xiaoyuan Cao received her PhD degree from Beijing Normal University, Beijing in 2018. Currently, she is a post-doctor at the School of Environment at Tsinghua University. Her main research activities are in the areas of multiphase flow and transport phenomena.

Acknowledgements

The research was supported by Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities through Beijing Normal University (no. 2015KJJCB17).

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Received: 2019-03-11
Accepted: 2019-07-10
Published Online: 2019-08-23
Published in Print: 2021-07-27

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