What is the principle of flywheel inertial energy storage technology

What is flywheel energy storage?

Flywheel energy storage is a promising technology for replacing conventional lead acid batteries as energy storage systems. Most modern high-speed flywheel energy storage systems (FESS) consist of a huge rotating cylinder supported on a stator (the stationary part of a rotary system) by magnetically levitated bearings.

How does a flywheel work?

Orlov Alexsandr/ Shutterstock A flywheel is essentially a mechanical battery consisting of a mass rotating around an axis. It stores energy in the form of kinetic energy and works by accelerating a rotor to very high speeds and maintaining the energy in the system as rotational energy.

What are the potential applications of flywheel technology?

Flywheel technology has potential applications in energy harvesting, hybrid energy systems, and secondary functionalities apart from energy storage. Additionally, there are opportunities for new applications in these areas.

What is the operational mechanism of a flywheel?

The operational mechanism of a flywheel has two states: energy storage and energy release. Energy is stored in a flywheel when torque is applied to it. The torque increases the rotational speed of the flywheel; as a result, energy is stored. Conversely, the energy is released in the form of torque to the connected mechanical device .

Why do flywheel energy storage systems have a high speed?

There are losses due to air friction and bearing in flywheel energy storage systems. These cause energy losses with self-discharge in the flywheel energy storage system. The high speeds have been achieved in the rotating body with the developments in the field of composite materials.

What is a flywheel energy storage system (fess)?

Think of it as a mechanical storage tool that converts electrical energy into mechanical energy for storage. This energy is stored in the form of rotational kinetic energy. Typically, the energy input to a Flywheel Energy Storage System (FESS) comes from an electrical source like the grid or any other electrical source.