Abstract:

A 1 MW/60 MJ flywheel energy storage system was developed for smoothing load fluctuations of a drilling rig power system. This paper introduces the use of transfer matrix method and the finite element method to model the flywheel rotor-support system, and to calculate the critical speeds and vibration modes of the flywheel shaft. The finite element method was also used to calculate the modal frequency of protective casing of the system. An experimental study was performed on flywheel acceleration and deceleration processes to obtain real-time the amplitude-frequency characteristics. The numerical simulations were in agreement with the experimental results. The results provide basis for the design and improvement of flywheel energy storage systems.

Key words: flywheel energy storage system, transfer matrix method, finite element method, modal analysis