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In the United States created a cheap energy storage system from sand
The Enduring project is being implemented by scientists from the US National Renewable Energy Laboratory. It provides for the use of quartz sand, which is stable and low in cost - only about $ 30-50 per ton. The accumulation system can be installed almost anywhere.
An economic system for long-term storage of electricity using cheap heat storage devices and a highly efficient energy cycle - this is how the name of the project stands.
The basic configuration of the energy storage system has a capacity of 26 GWh. When there is an excess of electricity in the network, it is used to charge the storage device. For this, quartz sand is passed through resistive heating elements, as a result of which its temperature rises to 1200 ° C. Hot material is accumulated in thermally insulated bunkers-towers.
When the stored energy is needed, openings are opened in the lower part of the silos, and the sand is poured into the heat exchanger under the influence of gravity, heating the working gas. Its pressure rises, and it begins to rotate the turbines, from which power generators operate. The sand that has given up the heat is transferred back to the silos, where it is stored until it becomes possible to reheat it with cheap electricity from the grid.
According to scientists, the cost of storing energy in Enduring is $ 2-4 / kWh. Moreover, such installations can be created on the basis of the infrastructure of decommissioned coal and gas turbine power plants. In addition, sand storage tanks are suitable for use as a stable heat source for industrial plants.
