Impact of cyclic charging and discharging on the rigid reservoir system of the Ocean Battery
Impact of cyclic charging and discharging on the rigid reservoir system of the Ocean Battery
The Ocean Battery is an innovative energy storage system featuring a rigid reservoir in the soil and a flexible bladder on the seabed. Energy is stored by pumping water from the reservoir to the bladder and released by reversing the flow to drive hydro turbines. The reciprocating flow alters the net weight of the reservoir, rendering it periodically buoyant and resulting in long-term cyclic loading on the surrounding soil. Such loading may lead to accumulated soil deformation and reservoir displacement, potentially compromising the system functionality and the structural integrity. To examine these effects, finite element analyses are conducted on a lined cavity (reservoir) embedded at various depths in sandy soil. The net weight of the reservoir is cycled sinusoidally over time by varying accordingly its equivalent unit weight. Sand behaviour is modelled using an advanced constitutive model based on bounding surface plasticity and critical state theory. These analyses quantify the cumulative vertical displacement of the reservoir, investigating the effects of embedment depth and reservoir size. The findings provide essential insights for the design of the energy storage structure.
Y. Qi; Antonis Vakis; Dimitrios Loukidis
5th International Symposium on Frontiers in Offshore Geotechnics (ISFOG2025)
3 - Constitutive models and soil behaviour modelling
https://doi.org/10.53243/ISFOG2025-33
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