Researchers at Idaho National Laboratory (INL) and the Center for Advanced Energy Studies (CAES) hope to help solve these challenges by pumping excess heat into already-warm, briny reservoirs located deep within the earth.
These “thermal batteries” could help moderate the electrical grid’s peaks and valleys by storing energy when demand is low and releasing it back onto the grid when demand is high.
Recently, the U.S. Department of Energy’s Geothermal Technologies Office announced funding for two INL geothermal energy storage projects to investigate whether a thermal battery would work in the real world.
One research team will develop models of geothermal energy storage systems for thermoelectric power plants, which typically convert heat into electricity by making steam to spin a turbine.
“The earth is an inherently good place to store heat,” said principal investigator Travis McLing (GRC Member), a research scientist specializing in geochemistry and geology at INL and CAES, a research consortium that includes INL, Boise State University, Idaho State University, University of Idaho and University of Wyoming. “Rocks do not conduct heat very well. In this application, think of the earth as a perfect YETI cooler, but 10 km long by 10 km wide by 50 meters thick.”
Read More..........
