Patent ID: 8156725

Claim:
A compressed air energy storage system comprising: a gas inlet pipe; at least one air compressor stage attached to and located downstream from the gas inlet pipe, the at least one air compressor stage being adapted for compression of a gas; a heat transfer system linked to and located downstream from the at least one air compressor stage; at least one absorption bed linked to and located directly downstream from the heat transfer system; at least one compressed gas reservoir having an inlet and an outlet, the inlet of the compressed gas reservoir being attached to an outlet of the absorption bed; at least one preheater that is attached to the outlet of the compressed gas reservoir, the at least one preheater adapted to heat a compressed gas before expansion but after storage in the compressed gas reservoir; and at least one gas expander that is linked to and located directly downstream from the at least one preheater and is adapted for the expansion of the compressed gas, wherein the heat transfer system being adapted (1) to remove at least a portion of heat from the gas during or after compression and (2) to recycle at least a portion of the removed heat to heat the at least one absorption bed, and/or to preheat a compressed gas prior to expansion with the removed heat, and/or to heat the expanded gas after each stage of expansion with the removed heat.