Patent ID: 11873740
Assignee: LAWRENCE LIVERMORE NATIONAL SECURITY, LLC
Field: Engines, pumps, turbines (Mechanical engineering)
Classification: CPC F  H  Y | IPC F  H

Claim 0:
1. A system for storing and time-shifting at least one of excess electrical power from an electrical power grid, excess electrical power from a power plant, or heat from a heat generating source, in the form of pressure and heat, for future use in assisting with a production of electricity, the system comprising:
a reservoir system containing a quantity of a thermal storage medium, the thermal storage medium including at least one of sand, rocks, manufactured granular material including at least one of ceramic pebbles, or a mixture of manufactured granular material, sand, and rocks, and being configured to be heated using a combustible fuel source;
an oxy-combustion furnace for heating the thermal storage medium during a charge operation using O2, and at least one of natural gas, coal, coke, petroleum, petroleum coke, tires, solid waste, biomass, or electricity supplied from the electrical power grid or the power plant;
a discharge subsystem including:
a heat exchanger having a first input configured to receive heated CO2 from the reservoir system during a discharge operation of the system and to generate a first quantity of supercritical CO2 (sCO2) at a first temperature and a first pressure, at a first output thereof;
a power generating component for receiving the first quantity of sCO2 from the first output of the heat exchanger and generating electricity therefrom at a first output thereof for transmission to the power grid, the power generating component also configured to produce a second quantity of sCO2 having a second temperature and a second pressure at a second output thereof, the second temperature and the second pressure each being lower than the first temperature and the first pressure; and
a recuperator subsystem for circulating the second quantity of sCO2 to reheat and re-pressurize the second quantity of sCO2 to create a third quantity of sCO2, for reapplication to the heat exchanger, to be further reheated by the heat exchanger to create a quantity of sCO2 which is output to the power generating component to further assist in powering the power generating component.