The present disclosure provides pumped thermal energy storage systems that can be used to store and extract electrical energy. A pumped thermal energy storage system of the present disclosure can store energy by operating as a heat pump or refrigerator, whereby net work input can be used to transfer heat from the cold side to the hot side. A working fluid of the system is capable of efficient heat exchange with heat storage fluids on a hot side of the system and on a cold side of the system. The system can extract energy by operating as a heat engine transferring heat from the hot side to the cold side, which can result in net work output.

A power plant can comprise a gas turbine productive of an exhaust gas, a steam turbine, a heat recovery steam generator that extracts heat from gas turbine exhaust gas and supplies fluid to the steam turbine, a thermal storage unit storing a thermal storage working medium that is configured to discharge thermal energy into the fluid supplied from the heat recovery steam generator to supplement power generation by the steam turbine, a first heat exchanger disposed within the heat recovery steam generator to transfer thermal energy from the exhaust gas to the thermal storage working medium, and a second heat exchanger in flow communication with the heat recovery steam generator and the thermal storage unit, the second heat exchanger facilitating a direct heat transfer of thermal energy from the thermal storage working medium in the thermal storage unit to the fluid supplied from the heat recovery steam generator.

An improved heat engine that includes an organic refrigerant exhibiting a boiling point below −35° C.; a heat source having a temperature of less than 82° C.; a heat sink; a sealed, closed-loop path for the organic refrigerant, the sealed, closed-loop path having both a high-pressure zone that absorbs heat from the heat source, and a low-pressure zone that transfers heat to the heat sink; a positive-displacement decompressor providing a pressure gradient through which the organic refrigerant in the gaseous phase flows continuously from the high-pressure zone to the low-pressure zone, the positive-displacement decompressor extracting mechanical energy due to the pressure gradient; and a positive-displacement hydraulic pump, which provides continuous flow of the organic refrigerant in the liquid phase from the low-pressure zone to the high-pressure zone, the hydraulic pump and the positive-displacement decompressor maintaining a pressure differential between the two zones of between about 20 to 42 bar.

Provided is a hydrogen production system including a thermal energy storage having a housing, a storage chamber with heat storage material inside the storage chamber and a fluid inlet port fluidically connected to the storage chamber and a fluid outlet port fluidically connected to the storage chamber, and at least one high temperature electrolyser for producing hydrogen, whereby the at least one high temperature electrolyser is thermally connected to the heat storage material of the storage chamber of the thermal energy storage. Several modes of operation are defined. A method for producing hydrogen in the hydrogen production system is also provided.

A power plant comprises supplies of hydrogen fuel, oxygen fuel and water, a boiler comprising a burner for combusting hydrogen and oxygen to produce heat, combustion products and low/intermediate-pressure steam and a first heat exchanger configured to heat water to generate high-pressure steam, and a steam turbine comprising a first turbine configured to be driven only with the high-pressure steam to provide input to a first electrical generator and a second turbine configured to be driven by low/intermediate-pressure steam from the boiler. A method of operating a steam plant comprises combusting hydrogen fuel in a boiler to produce combustion products and LP/IP steam, turning a turbine with the combustion products, condensing water from the combustion products in a condenser, heating water from the condenser in a heat exchanger within the boiler to produce HP steam and turning a turbine with the steam from the first heat exchanger.

Disclosed is a thermal storage solution which can operate without any internal tubing or mechanical pumping in the heat reservoir, and features a heat transfer technology based on evaporation and condensation of heat transfer fluids that will prevent hot and cold zones in the thermal storage reservoir. The main advantage is that the reservoir will have a much lower cost, have more degrees of freedom regarding the interplay between storage capacity, input and output power, and can operate without any mechanical or pressurized parts.

A power plant can comprise a gas turbine productive of an exhaust gas, a steam turbine, a heat recovery steam generator that extracts heat from gas turbine exhaust gas and supplies fluid to the steam turbine, a thermal storage unit storing a thermal storage working medium that is configured to discharge thermal energy into the fluid supplied from the heat recovery steam generator to supplement power generation by the steam turbine, a first heat exchanger disposed within the heat recovery steam generator to transfer thermal energy from the exhaust gas to the thermal storage working medium, and a second heat exchanger in flow communication with the heat recovery steam generator and the thermal storage unit, the second heat exchanger facilitating a direct heat transfer of thermal energy from the thermal storage working medium in the thermal storage unit to the fluid supplied from the heat recovery steam generator.

An apparatus for optimizing control parameters of a power plant is provided. The apparatus for optimizing control parameters of a power plant includes: a model generator configured to configure a forecast model including a process model and a control model, a model corrector configured to correct a first parameter of the process model through operation data of a real power plant, and a tuner configured to tune a second parameter, which is a parameter related to a time delay of the forecast model, so as to have a target load increase rate.

An apparatus for optimizing control parameters of a power plant is provided. The apparatus for optimizing control parameters of a power plant includes: a model generator configured to configure a forecast model including a process model and a control model, a model corrector configured to correct a first parameter of the process model through operation data of a real power plant, and a tuner configured to tune a second parameter, which is a parameter related to a time delay of the forecast model, so as to have a target load increase rate.

An apparatus for gas compression comprising: a container containing the gas to be compressed; a first heat exchanger exchanging heat between a high temperature thermal source and the gas, to introduce heat into the gas; a second heat exchanger exchanging heat between a low temperature thermal source and the gas, to extract heat from the gas; supply means of the gas at a supply pressure and delivery means of the gas at a delivery pressure greater than the supply pressure); gas permeable means configured to accumulate and transfer heat to the gas, and gas permeable or gas impermeable movable means dividing the container into a first section in thermal communication with the first heat exchanger and in a second section in thermal communication with the second heat exchanger and in fluid communication with said supply means and said gas delivery means.