Energy Efficiency Comparison of Hydraulic Accumulators and Ultracapacitors

Jorge Leon-Quiroga, Brittany Newell, Mahesh Krishnamurthy, Andres Gonzalez-Mancera and Jose Garcia-Bravo
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Jorge Leon-Quiroga: Purdue Polytechnic School of Engineering Technology, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN 47907, USA
Brittany Newell: Purdue Polytechnic School of Engineering Technology, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN 47907, USA
Mahesh Krishnamurthy: Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Illinois Institute of Technology, Chicago, IL 60616, USA
Andres Gonzalez-Mancera: Department of Mechanical Engineering, Universidad de los Andes, Bogota 111711, Colombia
Jose Garcia-Bravo: Purdue Polytechnic School of Engineering Technology, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN 47907, USA

Energies, 2020, vol. 13, issue 7, 1-23

Abstract: Energy regeneration systems are a key factor for improving energy efficiency in electrohydraulic machinery. This paper is focused on the study of electric energy storage systems (EESS) and hydraulic energy storage systems (HESS) for energy regeneration applications. Two test benches were designed and implemented to compare the performance of the systems under similar operating conditions. The electrical system was configured with a set of ultracapacitors, and the hydraulic system used a hydraulic accumulator. Both systems were designed to have the same energy storage capacity. Charge and discharge cycle experiments were performed for the two systems in order to compare their power density, energy density, cost, and efficiency. According to the experimentally obtained results, the power density in the hydraulic accumulator was 21.7% higher when compared with the ultracapacitors. Moreover, the cost/power ($/Watt) ratio in the hydraulic accumulator was 2.9 times smaller than a set of ultracapacitors of the same energy storage capacity. On the other hand, the energy density in the set of ultracapacitors was 9.4 times higher, and the cost/energy ($/kWh) ratio was 2.9 times smaller when compared with the hydraulic accumulator. Under the tested conditions, the estimated overall energy efficiency for the hydraulic accumulator was 87.7%, and the overall energy efficiency for the ultracapacitor was 78.7%.

Keywords: efficiency; energy storage systems; electrical power systems; hydraulic power systems; hydraulic accumulator; ultracapacitor (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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