Abstract
A superconductor flywheel energy storage system (SFES) is an electro-mechanical battery which transforms electrical energy into mechanical energy for storage, and vice versa. A 10 kWh class flywheel energy storage system (FESS) has been developed to evaluate the feasibility of a 35 kWh class SFES with a flywheel $I_p/I_t$ ratio larger than 1. The 10 kWh class FESS is composed of a main frame, a composite flywheel, active magnetic dampers (AMDs), a permanent magnet bearing, and a motor/generator. The flywheel of the FESS rotates at a very high speed to store energy, while being levitated by a permanent magnetic bearing and a pair of thrust AMDs. The 10 kWh class flywheel is mainly composed of a composite rotor assembly, where most of the energy is stored, two radial and two thrust AMD rotors, which dissipate vibration at critical speeds, a permanent magnet rotor, which supports most of the flywheel weight, a motor rotor, which spins the flywheel, and a central hollow shaft, where the parts are assembled and aligned to. The stators of each of the main components are assembled on to housings, which are assembled and aligned to the main frame. Many factors have been considered while designing each part of the flywheel, stator and frame. In this study, a 10 kWh class flywheel energy storage system has been designed and constructed for test operation.
