Abstract

This study studies an overview of magnetic flywheel energy storage system. Energy storage is an integral part of any critical power system, as this stored energy is used to offset interruptions in the power delivered system from either a utility or an on-site generator. Magnetic flywheel as mechanical batteries using composite rotor, magnetic support bearings as well as power electronics to store electrical energy to replace stone wheel and chemical batteries has resulted in high power and energy densities. Traditionally, capacitors are used for short term storage (μs-ms) and filtering, chemical batteries are used for intermediate storage (min-h) and diesel fuel is used for long-term storage (h-days). Electricity generated from renewable sources, which has shown remarkable growth worldwide, can rarely provide immediate response to demand as these sources do not deliver regular supply easily adjustable to consumption needs. Thus, the growth of this decentralization production means greater network load stability problems and requires energy storage, generally using lead acid batteries as a potential solution. Finally the integration of all subsystems optimally of the magnetic flywheel system has resulted in a mechanical battery which can supply more efficient, reliable and uninterrupted power to meet the ever increasing demand of industrial machinery and automobiles.

Keywords:

Energy storage , generator , magnetic flywheel energy storage system , magnetic support bearing, mechanical batteries,

References

1. Bitterly, J.G., 1998. Flywheel technology: Past, present and 21st century projections. IEEE Aero. El. Sys. Mag., 13(8): 13-16.
   CrossRef    
2. Castelvechi, D., 2007. Spinning into control: High-tech, reincarnation of an ancient way of storing energy. Sci. News, 171(20): 312-313.
   CrossRef    
3. Gabrys, C.W., 2001. High Performance Composite Flywheel. US Patent Pub. No. US 2001/0054856AI, Dec. 27.
   
4. Giancarlo, G., 1985. Kinetic Energy Storage: Theory and Practice of Advanced Flywheel Systems. Butterworth and Co. Ltd., London, pp: 245-268.
   
5. Hillier, V.A.W., 1993. Fundamentals of Motor Vehicle Technology. 4th Edn., Cheltenham Thornes, pp: 250-261.
   
6. McLallin, K., 2001. NASA flywheel system development. Proceeding of the Space Power Workshop.
   
7. Ransburg, P.J.J.V., 2008. Energy storage in composite flywheel rotors. M.Sc. Thesis, Department of Mechanical and Mechatronic Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Stellenbosch University, pp: 217-225.
   
8. Stodola, A., 1927. Steam and Gas Turbine. 6th Edn., Vol. 2, MicGraw-Hill, New York, pp: 1085-1086.
   
9. Technik Gmbh, R., 2010. Flywheel Energy Storage Model T4.
   Direct Link
10. Vere, H., 2008. A Primer of Flywheel Technology. Distributed Energy.
    Direct Link
11. White Jr, L., 1964. Theophilus redivivus. Technol. Cult., 5(2): 224-233.
    CrossRef    
12. White Jr, L., 1975. Medieval engineering and sociology of knowledge. Pac. Hist. Rev., 44: 1-22.
    CrossRef    

Competing interests

The authors have no competing interests.

Open Access Policy

This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made.

Copyright

The authors have no competing interests.