AEL-FES Flywheel Energy Storage Application

The Flywheel Energy Storage Application, "AEL-FES", has been designed by EDIBON for the theoretical and practical training in the field of energy storage systems based on inertial systems such as the flywheel and the elevators with energy regeneration. These systems allow the kinetic or potential energy storage and return it to the grid at a certain moment in the form of electrical energy.

The application "AEL-FES" offers different training levels, providing the user with the essential knowledge and abilities about the fundamental principles of working and operation for the power systems which store energy by means of flywheel.

The application consists of a high mass inertia disk coupled to a squirrel cage induction motor. Initially, the induction motor is coupled to the grid through a frequency inverter that will progressively accelerate the disk. In this phase, the user will be able to measure the electrical energy supplied to the electric motor (off-peak period). Once the motor reaches the speed set to store a certain level of energy, we stop accelerating the disk and the consumption it will have will be due to mechanical losses of the whole system. In a second phase, by means of a regenerative converter, the user will be able to return part of this kinetic energy to the grid (peak period). The application has a grid analyzer, allowing to measure the power taken from the grid and regenerated to the grid during the flywheel charging and discharging processes. A second network analyzer is included, allowing the calculation of the inverter efficiency during both processes.

A software for configuration of the bidirectional converter is included, which allows both its parameterization and to visualize and collect different results. The acceleration and deceleration ramps of the motor can be configured allowing to vary the amount of energy to be stored in the flywheel, as well as the power to be regenerated and for how long. The software allows to visualize in real time, among other data, the output frequency of the converter, the speed of the motor-flywheel group, the output power of the converter and the motor torque. Through the drive control switches and their indicators, a quick and easy management of the motor reference frequency is possible, allowing to study the storage and regeneration processes in a dynamic way.