US-12618343-B2 - Thermal energy storage system with a heat pump for improved efficiency

Abstract

An energy storage system converts variable renewable electricity (VRE) to continuous heat. Intermittent electrical energy heats a solid medium. Heat from the solid medium is delivered continuously on demand. An array of bricks incorporating internal radiation cavities is directly heated by thermal radiation. The cavities facilitate rapid, uniform heating via reradiation. Heat delivery via flowing gas establishes a thermocline which maintains high outlet temperature throughout discharge. Gas flows through structured pathways within the array, delivering heat which may be used for processes including calcination, hydrogen electrolysis, steam generation, and thermal power generation and cogeneration. Low temperature waste heat from energy production can be recovered and used to improve overall system efficiency.

Inventors

• John Setel O'Donnell
• Yusef Desjardins Ferhani

Assignees

• Rondo Energy, Inc.

Dates

Publication Date

20260505

Application Date

20241011

Claims (20)

1. 1 . A system for providing cooling and power, including: a thermal energy storage (TES) device including a solid thermal storage medium configured to charge intermittently from electrical energy; a combined heat and power (CHP) system configured to receive output thermal energy and electricity from stored energy from the TES; a thermally driven chiller configured to use the thermal energy to provide cooling; and a heat rejection system configured to reject heat from the chiller.
2. 2 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the heat rejection system includes a cooling tower.
3. 3 . The system of claim 1 , further including a heat load, wherein the heat rejection system is configured to send the rejected heat to the heat load.
4. 4 . The system of claim 3 , wherein the heat load includes a residential and/or commercial heating network.
5. 5 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the CHP system includes a high-pressure and high-temperature steam configured to direct exhaust steam from the steam turbine to a heat input of the thermally driven chiller.
6. 6 . The system of claim 5 , wherein the steam turbine includes a noncondensing steam turbine.
7. 7 . The system of claim 5 , wherein the CHP system includes a high-pressure and high-temperature gas turbine configured to direct exhaust gas from the steam turbine to a heat input of the thermally driven chiller heat input.
8. 8 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the CHP system is sized to provide an entire energy demand of the chiller, such that a cooling load is entirely powered by stored energy from the TES.
9. 9 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the CHP system is sized to provide at least a majority of energy demand of the chiller, such that a cooling load is substantially powered by stored energy from the TES.
10. 10 . A system for providing cooling and power, including: a thermal energy storage (TES) device including a solid thermal storage medium configured to charge intermittently from electrical energy; a combined heat and power (CHP) system configured to receive output thermal energy and electricity from stored energy from the TES; a thermally driven chiller configured to use the thermal energy to provide cooling; and a heat rejection system configured to reject heat from the chiller; wherein the CHP system is sized to provide at least a majority of energy demand of the chiller, such that a cooling load is substantially powered by stored energy from the TES; wherein the cooling load includes a data center.
11. 11 . The system of claim 9 , wherein the cooling load includes a district cooling network.
12. 12 . The system of claim 9 , wherein the cooling load includes a refrigeration system.
13. 13 . The system of claim 5 , wherein the CHP is configured to provide a portion of CHP turbine output as input to power auxiliary loads operably coupled to the chiller.
14. 14 . The system of claim 1 , configured to provide a portion of CHP turbine work as input to power mechanical or electrical auxiliary loads.
15. 15 . The system of claim 1 , configured to provide at least a portion of the CHP turbine power to one user of a cooling duty provided by the chiller.
16. 16 . The system of claim 1 , configured to export at least a portion of the CHP turbine power to a different user than a user of a cooling duty provided by the chiller.
17. 17 . The system of claim 1 , configured to export at least a portion of the CHP turbine power to an electrical grid.
18. 18 . A method for providing cooling and power, including: intermittently electrically charging a thermal energy storage (TES) device including a solid thermal storage medium; outputting thermal energy from the TES to a combined heat and power (CHP) system; using the thermal energy to provide cooling with a thermally driven chiller; and rejecting heat from the chiller using a heat rejection system.
19. 19 . The method of claim 18 , wherein rejecting heat from the chiller includes rejecting heat to an ambient environment with a cooling tower.
20. 20 . The method of claim 18 , wherein rejecting heat from the chiller includes sending heat to a heat load.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS This application claims priority to the following provisional applications: U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 63/678,465 filed on Aug. 1, 2024, andU.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 63/544,106 filed on Oct. 13, 2023. The contents of these priority applications are incorporated by reference in their entirety and for all purposes. Additionally, the following patent applications are directed to related technologies, and are incorporated by reference in their entirety for all purposes: U.S. patent application Ser. No. 17/537,407 (filed Nov. 29, 2021; issued as U.S. Pat. No. 11,603,776 on Mar. 14, 2023), andInternational Patent Application No.: PCT/US2021/061041 (filed Nov. 29, 2021). Section A describes various embodiments of a high efficiency energy system, some of which use a thermal energy storage system and a heat pump. BACKGROUND Thermal energy storage systems can be used to store electrical energy in the form of heat, which can be used for the continuous supply of hot air, carbon dioxide (CO2), steam or other heated fluids, for various applications including the supply of thermal energy to industrial processes and/or electrical power generation. This can be particularly useful to store excess energy during times of the day when a large amount of electrical energy is being generated but actual energy usage at that time is low. Some of these thermal energy storage systems can be used to power a turbine which in turn creates electricity that powers a facility such as a data center. Because of turbine inefficiencies, waste heat is created alongside the electricity. The electricity that powers the servers or computers at the data center also generates its own waste heat. These heat losses from the turbine and the data center result in a system that is not as efficient as it could be. Unfortunately, it remains challenging to effectively recapture the waste heat for productive uses as the waste heat is typically at a temperature too low to be directly usable. SUMMARY The example implementations advance the art of thermal energy storage and enable the practical construction and operation of high efficiency thermal energy storage systems which are charged by intermittent electricity, store energy in a media, and deliver heat at desired temperatures. Some aspects of the example implementations relate to systems for heat recovery and improved overall system efficiency. In at least some implementations, the combined system may deliver all or a combination of high efficiency cooling, heating, and/or power generation with all or at least a majority of the driving energy coming from a thermal energy storage (TES) system. The TES system charges from electricity or other energy source intermittently (or optionally continuously) and stores energy as heat at high temperatures. Compared to other forms of energy storage such as electrochemical batteries, the efficiency of thermal storage is higher (˜92-99% efficient for TES for ˜85% for electrochemical batteries) and the cost is lower. The system can provide continuous heating, cooling and power generation while charging entirely from intermittent renewable electricity. Depending on the process conditions and level of heat recovery built into a heat pump coupled to such a system, the heat pump can deliver medium temperature heat at a COP of up to 2.5. The combined energy efficiency is very high (>90%). Efficiency advantages exist compared to comparable, conventional heating and cooling practices. At least some of the embodiments disclosed herein present configurations that cover several integrations of heat pumps and chillers with a TES system. To mitigate carbon emissions, the system can utilize electricity from intermittent renewables such as wind and solar power to electrically charge the TES. Many processes desire continuous operation which makes fully powering a process with intermittent renewables challenging. If the process is continuous but relies on intermittent power sources, a TES system can be implemented to provide such continuous output. Thus, instead of having a renewable energy source, an electrochemical battery, and a compression heat pump/chiller, one could have a renewable energy source, a TES battery, and a sorption heat pump/chiller. Several possible thermal integrations based on this premise are described herein. Optionally, some integrations may rely on additional specific requirements to demonstrate their value. This Summary is provided to introduce a selection of concepts in a simplified form that are further described below in the Detailed Description. This Summary is not intended to identify key features or essential features of the claimed subject matter, nor is it intended to be used to limit the scope of the claimed subject matter. INCORPORATION BY REFERENCE All publications, patents, and patent applications mentioned in this specification are herein incorporated by reference to the same extent a