Abstract - This study gives a critical review of flywheel energy storage systems and their feasibility in various applications. Flywheel energy storage systems have gained increased popularity as a method of environmentally friendly energy storage.
The application of flywheel energy storage systems in a rotating system comes with several challenges. As explained earlier, the rotor for such a flywheel should be built from a material with high specific strength in order to attain excellent specific energy .
Flywheel energy storage (FES) works by accelerating a rotor (flywheel) to a very high speed and maintaining the energy in the system as rotational energy.
In 1999 , the University of Texas at Austin developed a 7-ring interference assembled composite material flywheel energy storage system and provided a stress distribution calculation method for the flywheel energy storage system.
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.
The superconducting flywheel energy storage system developed by the Japan Railway Technology Research Institute has a rotational speed of 6000 rpm and a single unit energy storage capacity of 100 kW·h. It is the largest energy storage composite flywheel developed in recent years .
OverviewPhysical characteristicsMain componentsApplicationsComparison to electric batteriesSee alsoFurther readingExternal links
Compared with other ways to store electricity, FES systems have long lifetimes (lasting decades with little or no maintenance; full-cycle lifetimes quoted for flywheels range from in excess of 10, up to 10, cycles of use), high specific energy (100–130 W·h/kg, or 360–500 kJ/kg), and large maximum power output. The energy efficiency (ratio of energy out per energy in) of flywheels, also known as round-trip efficiency, can be as high as 90%. Typical capacities range from 3 kWh to 1…