Flywheel energy storage and recycling training

Are flywheel energy storage systems suitable for commercial applications?

Among the different mechanical energy storage systems, the flywheel energy storage system (FESS) is considered suitable for commercial applications. An FESS, shown in Figure 1, is a spinning mass, composite or steel, secured within a vessel with very low ambient pressure.

What is a flywheel energy storage system (fess)?

One energy storage technology now arousing great interest is the flywheel energy storage systems (FESS), since this technology can offer many advantages as an energy storage solution over the alternatives.

What are the potential applications of flywheel technology?

Other opportunities are new applications in energy harvest, hybrid energy systems, and flywheel’s secondary functionality apart from energy storage. The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

How does a flywheel store energy?

A flywheel stores energy that is based on the rotating mass principle. It is a mechanical storage device which emulates the storage of electrical energy by converting it to mechanical energy. The energy in a flywheel is stored in the form of rotational kinetic energy.

What are the components of a flywheel energy storage system?

The main components of a flywheel energy storage system are a rotor, an electrical motor/generator, bearings, a PCS (bi-directional converter), a vacuum pump, and a vacuum chamber . During charging, the rotor is accelerated to a high speed using the electrical motor.

How do flywheels work in train energy recovery systems?

In train energy recovery systems, flywheels are installed at stations or substations to recover energy through regenerative braking, and supply it back into the system for traction purposes. Flywheels are well suited for this application due to the high rate of charge-discharge cycles needed.