Influence of the heat capacity of the storage material on the efficiency of thermal regenerators in liquid air energy storage systems
Abstract
Abstract Liquid air energy storage is an innovative technology for electricity storage, using liquefied air as storage medium. Due to the high energy density of liquid air, the storage volume is smaller than that of similar storage technologies like compressed air or pumped hydro energy storage systems. Air is liquefied by means of a modified Claude-cycle. In the discharging process, liquid air is energy-efficiently compressed (compression of a liquid), vaporized, superheated, and finally expanded from high to ambient pressure using an air expander for power generation. In between, a thermal energy storage device at cryogenic temperature level is used to improve the round-trip efficiency of the system. One possible design is a packed bed thermal energy storage device, consisting of a cylinder and a packed bed of storage material. Investigations on thermodynamic properties show that especially the temperature-dependence of the heat capacity has a major influence on the performance of the thermal energy storage system. In this paper, nine real and further hypothetical storage materials are investigated. The influence of the heat capacity at cryogenic temperature is systematically analyzed and a general formulation in terms of summarizing key figures is developed. It turns out that especially the temperature-dependence is a significant parameter in this context, which is not considered within the majority of investigations in this field.
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Claims the paper makes
Claims other papers make about this one
Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?
The presence of the keywords 'packed bed' and 'cold storage', linked to studies after 2018, highlights an interesting trend to investigate efficient cold storage solutions (including packed bed configuration) integrated with the LAES technology.
“The presence of the keywords”
From Recent Trends on Liquid Air Energy Storage: A Bibliometric Analysis (2020) · cites this paper as [56]
Cites
CRC Handbook of Chemistry and Physics
(2014) · doi:10.1201/b17118 · Cited by 57,706 · see citing works
Fluid Flow Through Packed Columns
Ergün, Ş. (1952) · Medical Entomology and Zoology · Cited by 6,992 · see citing works
Luo, X., Wang, J., Dooner, M., & Clarke, J. (2015) · Applied Energy · doi:10.1016/j.apenergy.2014.09.081 · Cited by 3,869 · see citing works
Thermophysical Properties of Matter
Touloukian, Y. S. (1995) · CERN Document Server (European Organization for Nuclear Research) · Cited by 3,283 · see citing works
Lax, P. D., & Wendroff, B. (1960) · Communications on Pure and Applied Mathematics · doi:10.1002/cpa.3160130205 · Cited by 2,650 · see citing works
The Theory of the Properties of Metals and Alloys
Mott, N. F., & Jones, H. F. (1933) · Virtual Defense Library (Ministerio de Defensa) · Cited by 1,612 · see citing works
Hasnain, S. M. (1998) · Energy Conversion and Management · doi:10.1016/s0196-8904(98)00025-9 · Cited by 1,270 · see citing works
The Theory of the Properties of Metals and Alloys
Rabuni Aiswarya., P. (1937) · Nature · doi:10.1038/139348a0 · Cited by 1,223 · see citing works
A review on compressed air energy storage: Basic principles, past milestones and recent developments
Budt, M., Wolf, D., Span, R., & Yan, J. (2016) · Applied Energy · doi:10.1016/j.apenergy.2016.02.108 · Cited by 1,204 · see citing works
Self-citationSpan, R., Lemmon, E. W., Jacobsen, R. T., Wagner, W., & Yokozeki, A. (2000) · Journal of Physical and Chemical Reference Data · doi:10.1063/1.1349047 · Cited by 866 · see citing works
Self-citationViscosity and Thermal Conductivity Equations for Nitrogen, Oxygen, Argon, and Air
Lemmon, E. W., & Jacobsen, R. T. (2004) · International Journal of Thermophysics · doi:10.1023/b:ijot.0000022327.04529.f3 · Cited by 776 · see citing works
Wärmeleitfähigkeit von Schüttungen bei mäßigen Temperaturen
Zehner, P., & Schlünder, E. U. (1970) · Chemie Ingenieur Technik · doi:10.1002/cite.330421408 · Cited by 601 · see citing works
Liquid air energy storage—Analysis and first results from a pilot scale demonstration plant
Morgan, R., Nelmes, S., Gibson, E., & Brett, G. (2015) · Applied Energy · doi:10.1016/j.apenergy.2014.07.109 · Cited by 399 · see citing works
Nellis, G. (2009) · Cited by 361 · see citing works
Sciacovelli, A., Vecchi, A., & Ding, Y. (2017) · Applied Energy · doi:10.1016/j.apenergy.2016.12.118 · Cited by 346 · see citing works
Parametric studies and optimisation of pumped thermal electricity storage
McTigue, J. D., White, A. J., & Markides, C. N. (2014) · Applied Energy · doi:10.1016/j.apenergy.2014.08.039 · Cited by 272 · see citing works
Load shifting of nuclear power plants using cryogenic energy storage technology
Li, Y., Cao, H. Q., Wang, S., Jin, Y., Li, D., Wang, X., & Ding, Y. (2013) · Applied Energy · doi:10.1016/j.apenergy.2013.08.077 · Cited by 241 · see citing works
Wall effects in laminar flow of fluids through packed beds
Cohen, Y., & Metzner, A. B. (1981) · AIChE Journal · doi:10.1002/aic.690270502 · Cited by 235 · see citing works
Friction and Transfer Coefficients for Single Particles and Packed Beds
Ranz, W. E. (1952) · Cited by 234 · see citing works
Storage of electrical energy using supercritical liquid air
Smith, E. M. (1977) · Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers · doi:10.1243/pime_proc_1977_191_035_02 · Cited by 176 · see citing works
Liquid air energy storage: potential and challenges of hybrid power plants
Antonelli, M., Barsali, S., Desideri, U., Giglioli, R., Paganucci, F., & Pasini, G. (2017) · Applied Energy · doi:10.1016/j.apenergy.2016.11.091 · Cited by 155 · see citing works
Ditmars, D. A., & Douglas, T. B. (1971) · Journal of Research of the National Bureau of Standards Section A Physics and Chemistry · doi:10.6028/jres.075a.031 · Cited by 119 · see citing works
Borri, E., Tafone, A., Romagnoli, A., & Comodi, G. (2017) · Energy Conversion and Management · doi:10.1016/j.enconman.2017.03.079 · Cited by 108 · see citing works
International Energy Agency (2012) · Electricity information · doi:10.1787/electricity-2012-en · Cited by 55 · see citing works
The Heat Capacities of Quartz, Cristobalite and Tridymite at Low Temperatures1
Anderson, C. T. (1936) · Journal of the American Chemical Society · doi:10.1021/ja01295a008 · Cited by 33 · see citing works
Mechanical and thermal properties of 99% and 92% alumina at cryogenic temperatures
Xie, Z., Xue, W., Chen, H., & Huang, Y. Z. (2011) · Ceramics International · doi:10.1016/j.ceramint.2011.03.066 · Cited by 28 · see citing works
Flagged first, then by citations
Research works printed but not linked: 1
- Gnielinski, 1978, Gleichungen zur Berechnung des Wärme- und Stoffaustausches in durchströmten ruhenden Kugelschüttungen bei mittleren und großen Pecletzahlen, Verfahrenstechnik, 12, 363
Cited by
Sorted by citations
Compressed air energy storage systems: Components and operating parameters – A review
Olabi, A. G., Wilberforce, T., Ramadan, M., Abdelkareem, M. A., & Alami, A. H. (2020) · Journal of Energy Storage · doi:10.1016/j.est.2020.102000 · Cited by 431 · see citing works
Vecchi, A., Li, Y., Ding, Y., Mancarella, P., & Sciacovelli, A. (2021) · Advances in Applied Energy · doi:10.1016/j.adapen.2021.100047 · Cited by 237 · see citing works
A review on liquid air energy storage: History, state of the art and recent developments
Borri, E., Tafone, A., Romagnoli, A., & Comodi, G. (2020) · Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews · doi:10.1016/j.rser.2020.110572 · Cited by 211 · see citing works
Yang, L., Villalobos, U., Akhmetov, B., Gil, A., Khor, J. O., Palacios, A., Li, Y., Ding, Y., Cabeza, L. F., Tan, W. L., et al. (2021) · Applied Energy · doi:10.1016/j.apenergy.2021.116555 · Cited by 212 · see citing works
She, X., Zhang, T., Cong, L., Peng, X., Li, C. S., Luo, Y., & Ding, Y. (2019) · Applied Energy · doi:10.1016/j.apenergy.2019.113355 · Cited by 175 · see citing works
Liquid air energy storage flexibly coupled with LNG regasification for improving air liquefaction
Peng, X., She, X., Li, C., Luo, Y., Zhang, T., Li, Y., & Ding, Y. (2019) · Applied Energy · doi:10.1016/j.apenergy.2019.05.040 · Cited by 173 · see citing works
Liquid air energy storage systems: A review
Callaghan, O. O. A., & Donnellan, P. (2021) · Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews · doi:10.1016/j.rser.2021.111113 · Cited by 112 · see citing works
Tafone, A., Borri, E., Cabeza, L. F., & Romagnoli, A. (2021) · Applied Energy · doi:10.1016/j.apenergy.2021.117417 · Cited by 106 · see citing works
Zhang, T., Zhang, X., He, Y., Xue, X., & Mei, S. (2019) · Applied Thermal Engineering · doi:10.1016/j.applthermaleng.2019.114526 · Cited by 82 · see citing works
Integration of liquid air energy storage into the spanish power grid
Legrand, M., Rodríguez-Antón, L. M., Martı́nez-Arévalo, C., & Gutiérrez-Martín, F. (2019) · Energy · doi:10.1016/j.energy.2019.115965 · Cited by 74 · see citing works
Recent Trends on Liquid Air Energy Storage: A Bibliometric Analysis
Borri, E., Tafone, A., Zsembinszki, G., Comodi, G., Romagnoli, A., & Cabeza, L. F. (2020) · Applied Sciences · doi:10.3390/app10082773 · Cited by 73 · see citing works
Guo, L., Ji, W., Gao, Z., Fan, X., & Wang, J. (2021) · Journal of Energy Storage · doi:10.1016/j.est.2021.102712 · Cited by 68 · see citing works
An, B., Chen, J., Zhang, D., Zhang, T., Wang, J., Yang, L., & Chang, X. (2020) · Energy Conversion and Management · doi:10.1016/j.enconman.2020.113520 · Cited by 57 · see citing works
A novel liquid air energy storage system using a combination of sensible and latent heat storage
Ryu, J.-Y., Alford, A. G., Lewis, G., Ding, Y., Li, Y., Ahmad, A., Kim, H.-J., Park, S., Park, J.-P., Branch, S., et al. (2021) · Applied Thermal Engineering · doi:10.1016/j.applthermaleng.2021.117890 · Cited by 56 · see citing works
Liquid air energy storage technology: a comprehensive review of research, development and deployment
Liang, T., Zhang, T., Lin, X., Tafone, A., Legrand, M., He, X., Kildahl, H., Lu, C., Chen, H., Romagnoli, A., et al. (2022) · Progress in Energy · doi:10.1088/2516-1083/aca26a · Cited by 51 · see citing works
Liquid air as an emerging energy vector towards carbon neutrality: A multi-scale systems perspective
Qi, M., Park, J., Lee, I., & Moon, I. (2022) · Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews · doi:10.1016/j.rser.2022.112201 · Cited by 51 · see citing works
A systematic review on liquid air energy storage system
Ding, X., Duan, L., Zheng, N., Desideri, U., Zhou, Y., Wang, Q., Wang, Y., & Jiao, W. (2024) · Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews · doi:10.1016/j.rser.2024.115164 · Cited by 44 · see citing works
Tafone, A., & Romagnoli, A. (2023) · Energy · doi:10.1016/j.energy.2023.128203 · Cited by 43 · see citing works
Burian, O., & Dančová, P. (2023) · Processes · doi:10.3390/pr11113061 · Cited by 41 · see citing works
Ebrahimi, A., Ghorbani, B., & Taghavi, M. (2021) · Journal of Cleaner Production · doi:10.1016/j.jclepro.2021.127226 · Cited by 41 · see citing works
Comprehensive Review of Liquid Air Energy Storage (LAES) Technologies
Rabi’, A. M., Radulović, J., & Buick, J. M. (2023) · Energies · doi:10.3390/en16176216 · Cited by 33 · see citing works
Ouyang, T., Wu, W., Wang, J., & Xie, S. (2022) · Journal of Cleaner Production · doi:10.1016/j.jclepro.2022.131710 · Cited by 31 · see citing works
Wang, J., Yin, Y., Wang, Y., & Huang, J. (2022) · Applied Thermal Engineering · doi:10.1016/j.applthermaleng.2022.119666 · Cited by 28 · see citing works
Wang, X., Wang, C., Xu, Y., Zhang, Z., Han, P., Li, Y., & She, X. (2024) · Renewable Energy · doi:10.1016/j.renene.2024.122271 · Cited by 27 · see citing works
Liu, C., Zhang, T., Lv, B., Qiao, Y., & Rao, Z. (2020) · Journal of Molecular Liquids · doi:10.1016/j.molliq.2020.114165 · Cited by 26 · see citing works
Morgan, R. E., Rota, C., Pike-Wilson, E., Gardhouse, T., & Quinn, C. (2020) · Energies · doi:10.3390/en13195155 · Cited by 22 · see citing works
Evaluating economic feasibility of liquid air energy storage systems in US and European markets
Cetegen, S. A., Gundersen, T., & Barton, P. I. (2024) · Energy · doi:10.1016/j.energy.2024.131524 · Cited by 22 · see citing works
Evaluation of operation safety of energy release process of liquefied air energy storage system
Lu, C., He, Q., Cui, S., Shi, X., Du, D., & Liu, W. (2021) · Energy · doi:10.1016/j.energy.2021.121403 · Cited by 21 · see citing works
Numerical study on the thermodynamic performance of a packed bed cryogenic energy storage system
Tan, H., Ding, Z., & Wen, N. (2022) · Applied Thermal Engineering · doi:10.1016/j.applthermaleng.2022.118903 · Cited by 20 · see citing works
Guo, L., Gao, Z., Ji, W., Xu, H., Chen, L., & Wang, J. (2020) · Energy Technology · doi:10.1002/ente.201901487 · Cited by 18 · see citing works
Performance of compressed air energy storage system under parallel operation mode of pneumatic motor
Xu, Y., Zhang, H., Yang, F., Tong, L., Yan, D. Z., Yang, Y., Wang, Y., & Wu, Y. (2022) · Renewable Energy · doi:10.1016/j.renene.2022.09.133 · Cited by 17 · see citing works
Tafone, A., Pili, R., Massier, T., Yang, L., & Klein, H. (2025) · Journal of Energy Storage · doi:10.1016/j.est.2025.117763 · Cited by 13 · see citing works
Numerical study on the cyclic cold storage performance in a solid-packed bed tank
Wen, N., Tan, H., Pedersen, S. A., Yang, Z., & Qin, X. (2024) · Journal of Energy Storage · doi:10.1016/j.est.2024.113753 · Cited by 12 · see citing works
Liquid Air Energy Storage System (LAES) Assisted by Cryogenic Air Rankine Cycle (ARC)
Menezes, M. V. P., Vilasboas, I. F., & da Silva, J. A. M. (2022) · Energies · doi:10.3390/en15082730 · Cited by 12 · see citing works
Zheng, P., Yue, Y., Wang, W., Shen, D., Hao, J., Zhang, Z., Yang, J., & Li, X. (2025) · Journal of Energy Storage · doi:10.1016/j.est.2025.115402 · Cited by 11 · see citing works
Tafone, A., Borri, E., Cabeza, L. F., Callaghan, O. O. A., Donnellan, P., Mashayekh, A., Kothari, R. C., Haglind, F., Li, D., Xu, L., et al. (2026) · Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews · doi:10.1016/j.rser.2025.116672 · Cited by 11 · see citing works
Zheng, P., Hao, J., Zhang, Z., Yang, J., Li, X., & Yue, Y. (2024) · Frontiers in Energy · doi:10.1007/s11708-024-0963-3 · Cited by 9 · see citing works
Ding, X., Duan, L., Zhou, Y., Zheng, N., Wang, Q., & Wang, Y. (2025) · Applied Thermal Engineering · doi:10.1016/j.applthermaleng.2025.127196 · Cited by 9 · see citing works
Cryogenic cold energy storage for liquefied natural gas utilization
Wu, Y., Hong, Q., Yx, Z., Lin, X., Qiu, L., & Jiang, L. (2025) · Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews · doi:10.1016/j.rser.2025.116358 · Cited by 9 · see citing works
Li, J., Wang, Z., Li, Y., Du, J., Gao, Z., Ji, W., Chen, L., & Wang, J. (2025) · Energy · doi:10.1016/j.energy.2025.138860 · Cited by 9 · see citing works
Thermodynamic assessment of cryogenic energy storage (CES) systems in cogeneration regime
Bosch, O. M. N., Oliveira, M., Arrieta, F. R. P., Ferreira, R. A. M., & Porto, M. P. (2021) · Energy Conversion and Management · doi:10.1016/j.enconman.2021.114552 · Cited by 9 · see citing works
Kątski, B. G., Mashayekh, A., Desai, N. B., & Haglind, F. (2025) · Journal of Energy Storage · doi:10.1016/j.est.2025.117083 · Cited by 8 · see citing works
Unsteady analysis of the cold energy storage heat exchanger in a liquid air energy storage system
Chen, J., Yang, L., An, B., Hu, J., & Wang, J. (2021) · Energy · doi:10.1016/j.energy.2021.122989 · Cited by 6 · see citing works
Riaz, A., Qyyum, M. A., Naquash, A., & Lee, M. (2023) · Applied Thermal Engineering · doi:10.1016/j.applthermaleng.2023.120983 · Cited by 5 · see citing works
Hong, Q., Si, H., Wu, Y., Zheng, X., & Jiang, L. (2026) · Applied Thermal Engineering · doi:10.1016/j.applthermaleng.2026.130564 · Cited by 4 · see citing works
Chamarthi, B. S., & Sandilya, P. (2025) · Journal of Energy Storage · doi:10.1016/j.est.2025.119780 · Cited by 3 · see citing works
A comprehensive review of containers for mobilized heat and cold energy storage
Nemś, A., Nemś, M., Bevilacqua, P., Ushak, S., & Grágeda, M. (2026) · Journal of Energy Storage · doi:10.1016/j.est.2026.121326 · Cited by 1 · see citing works
Study on the selection method of solid cold energy storage medium for liquid air energy storage
Guo, L., Ji, W., Gao, Z., Fan, X., Hu, J., Chen, L., & Wang, J. (2022) · IOP Conference Series Materials Science and Engineering · doi:10.1088/1757-899x/1240/1/012105 · Cited by 1 · see citing works
Microgrid application of liquefied air energy storage (LAES) systems
Castellani, B., Kaur, P., Sciacovelli, A., Rossi, F., & Ding, Y. (2023) · Journal of Physics Conference Series · doi:10.1088/1742-6596/2509/1/012021 · Cited by 1 · see citing works
Xu, Y., Zhu, Q., Zhang, H., Lv, J., Zhang, J., Yang, F., Yan, D. Z., & Wu, Y. (2023) · Journal of Renewable and Sustainable Energy · doi:10.1063/5.0135601
Optimal Energy Storage Configuration Method For Wave Energy Power Generation System
Wang, L., Li, Y., Yang, S., Hei, W., Chen, Y., & Ma, X. (2024) · International Conference on Energy and Electrical Power Systems (ICEEPS) · doi:10.1109/iceeps62542.2024.10693031
Wang, X., Zhang, Z., Han, P., Wang, C., Dosta, S., Ding, Y., & She, X. (2026) · SSRN Electronic Journal · doi:10.2139/ssrn.6194598
Sandilya, P., & Kumar, R. (2026) · SSRN Electronic Journal · doi:10.2139/ssrn.6292441
Kumar, R., Chamarthi, B. S., & Sandilya, P. (2026) · SSRN Electronic Journal · doi:10.2139/ssrn.6668097
Li, J., Wang, Z., Li, Y., Du, J., Guo, L., Gao, Z., Chen, L., & Wang, J. (2026) · Energy · doi:10.1016/j.energy.2026.142298
Wang, X., Zhang, Z., Han, P., Wang, C. Y., Dosta, S., Ding, Y., & She, X. (2026) · Journal of Cleaner Production · doi:10.1016/j.jclepro.2026.149358
Ryu, J.-Y., Hwang, S., Park, S., Ryu, C., Kim, H., Kim, H., Kim, T. S., & Ha, C. (2026) · Applied Thermal Engineering · doi:10.1016/j.applthermaleng.2026.133161
- Authors
- Hüttermann, L., & Span, R.
- Affiliations
- Ruhr University Bochum (DE)
- Corresponding author
- Hüttermann, Lars
- Venue
- Energy
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2019-05
- Volume
- 174
- Pages
- 236-245
- ISSN
- 0360-5442 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W2915482315
- Semantic Scholar
- 7b1b3be49ae9f749fd0816f653bb6e15c47190e6
- Cited by
- 59
- References
- 26
- Citations by year
- 2026: 9 · 2025: 7 · 2024: 6 · 2023: 6 · 2022: 8 · 2021: 10 · 2020: 9 · 2019: 4
- FWCI
- 4.36
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Energy (publishedVersion)
- RePEc: Research Papers in Economics (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy of Germany (03ET7068D)
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Engineering › Mechanical Engineering › Thermodynamic and Exergetic Analyses of Power and Cooling Systems
- Physical Sciences › Engineering › Mechanical Engineering › Adsorption and Cooling Systems
- Physical Sciences › Engineering › Mechanical Engineering › Advanced Thermodynamic Systems and Engines
- Keywords
- liquid air energy storage, regenerator, packed bed thermal energy storage, heat capacity, temperature dependence of heat capacity, round-trip efficiency, Claude cycle
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review
