• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.25 no.2
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• pp.115-124
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• 2015

Thermal energy storage (TES) is a technology that stores surplus thermal energy at high or low temperatures for later use when the customer needs it, not just when it is available. TES systems can help balance energy demand and supply and thus improve the overall efficiency of energy systems. Furthermore, the conversion and storage of intermittent renewable resources in the form of thermal energy can help increase the share of renewable resources in the energy mix which refers to the distribution of energy consumption from different sources, and to achieve this, it is essential to combine renewable resources with TES systems. Underground TES using rock caverns, known as cavern thermal energy storage (CTES), is a viable option for large-scale, long-term TES utilization although its applications are limited because of the high construction costs. Furthermore, the heat loss in CTES can significantly be reduced due to the heating of the surrounding rock occurred during long-term TES, which is a distinctive advantage over aboveground TES, in which the heat loss to the surroundings is significantly influenced by climate conditions. In this paper, we introduced important factors that should be considered in the shape and multiple layout design of TES caverns, and proposed guidelines for storage space design.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.23 no.5
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• pp.442-453
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• 2013

A large-scale high-temperature thermal energy storage(TES) was numerically modeled and the heat loss through storage tank walls was analyzed using a commercial code, FLAC3D. The operations of rock cavern type and above-ground type thermal energy storages with identical operating condition were simulated for a period of five consecutive years, in which it was assumed that the dominant heat transfer mechanism would be conduction in massive rock for the former and convection in the atmosphere for the latter. The variation of storage temperature resulting from periodic charging and discharging of thermal energy was considered in each simulation, and the effect of insulation thickness on the characteristics of heat loss was also examined. A comparison of the simulation results of different storage models presented that the heat loss rate of above-ground type TES was maintained constant over the operation period, while that of rock cavern type TES decreased rapidly in the early operation stage and tended to converge towards a certain value. The decrease in heat loss rate of rock cavern type TES can be attributed to the reduction in heat flux through storage tank walls followed by increase in surrounding rock mass temperature. The amount of cumulative heat loss from rock cavern type TES over a period of five-year operation was 72.7% of that from above-ground type TES. The heat loss rate of rock cavern type obtained in long-period operation showed less sensitive variations to insulation thickness than that of above-ground type TES.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.22 no.1
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• pp.1-11
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• 2012

Thermal energy storage is defined as the temporary storage of thermal energy at high or low temperatures for later use in need. The energy storage can reduce the time or rate mismatch between energy supply and demand, and thus it plays an important role in conserving energy and improving the efficiency of energy utilization, especially for renewable energy sources which provide energy intermittently. Underground thermal energy storage (UTES) can have additional advantages in energy efficiency thanks to low thermal conductivity and high heat capacity of surrounding rock mass. In this paper, we introduced the technologies of underground thermal energy storage and rock caverns for hot water storage in Sweden.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.22 no.3
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• pp.188-195
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• 2012

Using a computational fluid dynamics (CFD) code, FLUENT, the present study investigated the thermal stratification behavior of Lyckebo storage in Sweden, which is the very first large-scale rock cavern for underground thermal energy storage. Heat transfer analysis was carried out for numerical cases with different temperatures of the surrounding rock mass in order to examine the effect of rock mass heating due to periodic storage and production of thermal energy on thermal stratification and heat loss. The change of thermal stratification with respect to time was quantitatively examined based on an index of the degree of stratification. The results of numerical simulation showed that in the early operational stage where the surrounding rock mass was less heated, the stratification of stored thermal energy was rapidly degraded over time, but the degradation and heat loss tended to reduce as the surrounding rock mass was heated during a long period of operation.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.22 no.4
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• pp.243-256
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• 2012

Developing efficient and reliable energy storage system is as important as exploring new energy resources. Energy storage system can balance the periodic and quantitative mismatch between energy supply and energy demand and increase the energy efficiency. Industrial waster heat and renewable energy such as solar energy can be stored by the thermal energy storage (TES) system at high and low temperatures. TES system using underground rock carven is considered as an attractive alternative for large-scale storage, because of low thermal conductivity and chemical safety of surrounding rock mass. In this report, the development of available thermal energy storage methods and the characteristics of storage media were introduced. Based on some successful applications of cavern storage and high-temperature storage reported in the literature, the applicabilities and practicabilities of storage media and technologies for large-scale cavern thermal energy storage (CTES) were reviewed.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.25 no.2
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• pp.155-167
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• 2015

The thermal-hydrological-mechanical (T-H-M) behavior of rock mass surrounding a high-temperature cavern thermal energy storage (CTES) operated for a period of 30 years has been investigated by TOUGH2-FLAC3D simulator. As a fundamental study for the development of prediction and control technologies for the environmental change and rock mass behavior associated with CTES, the key concerns were focused on the hydrological-thermal multiphase flow and the consequential mechanical behavior of the surrounding rock mass, where the insulator performance was not taken into account. In the present study, we considered a large-scale cylindrical cavern at shallow depth storing thermal energy of $350^{\circ}C$. The numerical results showed that the dominant heat transfer mechanism was the conduction in rock mass, and the mechanical behavior of rock mass was influenced by thermal factor (heat) more than hydrological factor (pressure). The effective stress redistribution, displacement and surface uplift caused by heating of rock and boiling of ground-water were discussed, and the potential of shear failure was quantitatively examined. Thermal expansion of rock mass led to the ground-surface uplift on the order of a few centimeters and the development of tensile stress above the storage cavern, increasing the potential of shear failure.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.23 no.2
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• pp.150-159
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• 2013

It is generally well known that the stratification of thermal energy in heat stores can be improved by increasing the aspect ratio (the height-to-width ratio) of the stores. Accordingly, it will be desirable to apply a high aspect ratio so as to demonstrate the good thermal performance of heat stores. However, as the aspect ratio of a store increases, the height of the store become larger compared to its width, which may be unfavorable for the structural stability of the store. Therefore, to determine an optimum aspect ratio of heat stores, a quantitative mechanical stability assessment should be performed in addition to thermal performance evaluations. In the present study, we numerically investigated the mechanical stability of silo-shaped rock caverns for underground thermal energy storage at different aspect ratios. The applied aspect ratios ranged from 1 to 6 and the mechanical stability was examined based on factor of safety using a shear strength reduction method. The results from the present study showed that the factor of safety of rock caverns tended to decrease with the increase in aspect ratio and the stress ratio of the surrounding rock mass was influential to the stability of the caverns. In addition, the numerical results demonstrated that under the same conditions of rock mass properties and aspect ratio, mechanical stability could be improved by the reduction in cavern size (storage volume), which indicates that one can design high-aspect-ratio rock caverns by dividing a single large cavern into multiple small caverns.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.24 no.4
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• pp.297-307
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• 2014

Cavern Thermal Energy Storage system stores thermal energy in caverns to recover industrial waste heat or avoid the sporadic characteristics of renewable-energy resources, and its advantages include high injection-and-extraction powers and the flexibility in selecting a storage medium. In the present study, the structural stability of rock mass pillar between these silo-type storage caverns was assessed using a coupled thermal-mechanical model in $FLAC^{3D}$. The results of numerical simulations showed that thermal stresses due to long-term storage depended on pillar width and had significant effect on the pillar stability. A sensitivity analysis of main factors indicated that the influence on the pillar stability increased in the order cavern depth < pillar width < in situ condition. It was suggested that two identical caverns should be separated by at least one diameter of the cavern and small-diameter shaft neighboring the cavern should be separated by more than half of the cavern diameter. Meanwhile, when the line of centers of two caverns was parallel to the direction of maximum horizontal principal stress, the shielding effect of the caverns could minimize an adverse effect caused by a large horizontal stress.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.23 no.1
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• pp.78-85
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• 2013

A primary objective in creating a stratified thermal storage is to maintain the thermodynamic quality of energy, so thermally stratified energy can be extracted at temperatures required for target activities. The separation of the thermal energy in heat stores to layers with different temperatures, i.e., the thermal stratification is a key factor in achieving this objective. This paper introduces different methods that have been proposed to characterize the thermal stratification in heat stores. Specifically, this paper focuses on the methods that can be used to determine the ability of heat stores to promote and maintain stratification during the process of charging, storing and discharging. In addition, based on methods using thermal stratification indices, the degrees of stratification of stored energy in Lyckebo rock cavern in Sweden were compared and the applicability of the methods was investigated.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.24 no.2
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• pp.155-165
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• 2014

Multiple thermal energy storage (TES) caverns can be used for storing thermal energy on a large scale and for a high-aspect-ratio heat storage design to provide good thermal performance. It may also be necessary to consider the use of multiple caverns with a reduced length when a single, long tunnel-shaped cavern is not suitable for connection to aboveground heat production and injection equipments. When using multiple TES caverns, the separation distance between the caverns is one of the significant factors that should be considered in the design of storage space, and the optimal separation distance should be determined based on a quantitative stability criterion. In this paper, we described a numerical approach for determining the optimal separation distance between multiple caverns for large-scale TES utilization. For reliable stability evaluation of multiple caverns, we employed a probabilistic method which can quantitatively take into account the uncertainty of input parameters by probability distributions, unlike conventional deterministic approaches. The present approach was applied to the design of a conceptual TES model to store hot water for district heating. The probabilistic stability results of this application demonstrated that the approach in our work can be effectively used as a decision-making tool to determine the optimal separation distance between multiple caverns. In addition, the probabilistic results were compared to those obtained through a deterministic analysis, and the comparison results suggested that care should taken in selecting the acceptable level of stability when using deterministic approaches.