Liquid Piston Based on Molecular Springs for Energy Storage Applications

Published

September 15, 2023

Author(s)

Mehdi Hashemi-Tilehnoee, Nikolay Tsirin, Victor Stoudenets, Yuriy Bushuev, Miroslaw Chorazewski, Mian Li, Dan Li, Juscelino Leao, Markus Bleuel, Pawel Zajdel, Elena Palomo Del Barrio, Yaroslav Grosu

Abstract

Liquid piston is a method for pressure transmission used in a wide range of technologies. Currently, liquid piston is a passive element solely used to apply pressure to a working body. In this work, the concept of liquid piston based on molecular springs – an active element, which can store a considerable amount of mechanical energy, apart from its main function, which is pressure transmission is proposed. To demonstrate the concept, the Cu2(tebpz) MOF + H2O} molecular spring was characterized by employing high-pressure intrusion-extrusion cycling, atomistic simulations, in situ neutrons scattering, scanning electron microscopy and X-ray diffraction. Using compressed air energy storage (CAES) as a case study, it is demonstrated that energy density for this technology can be enhanced 5 times by replacing water with a water-based molecular spring. Apart from increased energy density, liquid piston based on molecular spring improves thermal management of CAES systems, enables narrow operational pressure ranges and provides an anti-vibration feature to mitigate undesired vibrations or impacts. The liquid piston based on molecular spring concept can be useful for a broad range of technologies, where pressure transmission is implemented through fluids.

Citation

Journal of Energy Storage

Volume

68

Pub Type

Journals

Download Paper

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.est.2023.107697

Local Download

Keywords

Mechanical energy storage, Liquid piston, Molecular spring, Compressed air energy storage, Intrusion-extrusion

Citation

Hashemi-Tilehnoee, M. , Tsirin, N. , Stoudenets, V. , Bushuev, Y. , Chorazewski, M. , Li, M. , Li, D. , Leao, J. , Bleuel, M. , Zajdel, P. , Palomo Del Barrio, E. and Grosu, Y. (2023), Liquid Piston Based on Molecular Springs for Energy Storage Applications, Journal of Energy Storage, [online], https://doi.org/10.1016/j.est.2023.107697, https://tsapps.nist.gov/publication/get_pdf.cfm?pub_id=956198 (Accessed October 14, 2025)