Next Generation Grid Scale Thermal Energy Storage Technologies (NexGen-TEST)

英国和中国的能源体系都面临着前所未有的挑战。在英国，预计2020年可再生能源发电满足的电力需求量将比目前水平增加一个数量级。在英国气候变化委员会提出的目标的背景下，预计到2030年，电力部门将几乎完全脱碳，电力生产和需求水平将在供热和运输电气化的推动下大幅提高。在中国，政府承诺到2020年将单位国内生产总值的温室气体排放量在2005年的基础上减少40-45%。这是一个巨大的挑战，因为目前中国70%以上的电力是由燃煤发电厂产生的。能源储存有可能为这些挑战提供解决方案。目前存在许多储能技术，包括电化学(电池、液流电池和硫酸钠电池等)、机械(压缩空气和抽水蓄能等)、热(热和冷)和电(超级电容器)。在这些存储技术中，热能存储(TES)为高效调峰电力和热量需求、高效利用低品位余热和可再生能源、低成本高效碳捕获以及分布式能源和备用能源系统提供了独特的方法。尽管TES具有重要的意义和巨大的潜力，但英国和中国在网格规模应用的TES方面做得很少。这构成了拟议研究的主要动机。这项拟议的研究旨在以综合方式解决与电网规模应用的TES相关的关键科学和技术挑战，包括TES材料、TES组件、TES设备和集成。具体目标是：(I)开发新型的TES材料、部件和设备；(Ii)了解TES材料性能与TES部件行为之间的关系，以及TES部件行为与TES设备性能之间的关系；(Iii)了解TES部件行为与制造工艺参数之间的关系；以及(Iv)研究TES设备与大规模CAES系统、分散式微电网系统和太阳能热发电系统的集成。我们汇聚了一支由国际领先的热、化学、电气和机械工程师以及化学和材料科学家组成的多学科团队，他们拥有良好的记录和全面应对TES挑战所需的互补专业知识。这个充满活力的团队由来自4所大学(北京理工大学、利兹大学、诺丁汉大学和华威大学)和2所中科院研究院(工程热物理研究所和过程工程研究所)的15名顶尖学者和7家行业合作伙伴组成。

The energy systems in both the UK and China face challenges of unprecedented proportions. In the UK, it is expected that the amount of electricity demand met by renewable generation in 2020 will be increased by an order of magnitude from the present levels. In the context of the targets proposed by the UK Climate Change Committee it is expected that the electricity sector would be almost entirely decarbonised by 2030 with significantly increased levels of electricity production and demand driven by electrification of heat and transport. In China, the government has promised to cut greenhouse gas emission per unit of gross domestic product by 40-45% by 2020 based on the 2005 level. This represents a significant challenge given that over 70% of its electricity is currently generated by coal-fired power plants. Energy storage has the potential to provide a solution towards these challenges. Numerous energy storage technologies exist currently, including electrochemical (batteries, flow batteries and sodium sulphate batteries etc), mechanical (compressed air and pumped hydro etc), thermal (heat and cold), and electrical (supercapacitors). Among these storage technologies, thermal energy storage (TES) provides a unique approach for efficient and effective peak-shaving of electricity and heat demand, efficient use of low grade waste heat and renewable energy, low-cost high efficiency carbon capture, and distributed energy and backup energy systems. Despite the importance and huge potential, little has been done in the UK and China on TES for grid scale applications. This forms the main motivation for the proposed research. This proposed research aims to address, in an integrated manner, key scientific and technological challenges associated with TES for grid scale applications, covering TES materials, TES components, TES devices and integration. The specific objectives are: (i) to develop novel TES materials, components and devices; (ii) to understand relationships between TES material properties and TES component behaviour, and TES component behaviour and TES device performance; (iii) to understand relationship between TES component behaviour and manufacturing process parameters, and (iv) to investigate integration of TES devices with large scale CAES system, decentralized microgrid system, and solar thermal power generation system. We bring together a multidisciplinary team of internationally leading thermal, chemical, electrical and mechanical engineers, and chemical and materials scientists with strong track records and complementary expertise needed for comprehensively addressing the TES challenges. This dynamic team comprises 15 leading academics from 4 universities (Beijing University of Technology, University of Leeds, University of Nottingham and University of Warwick, and 2 Chinese Academy of Sciences Research Institutes (Institute of Engineering Thermophysics and Institute of Process Engineering), and 7 industrial partners.