The joint design of a compressed air and wind energy system for mechanical spillage recovery

A novel configuration of a compressed air assisted wind energy conversion system is proposed to capture the mechanical spillage of a wind turbine and store it as the compressed air. The compressed air storage could be used to supplement electric power generation. The compact design utilizes the surplus capacities of blades and generator, and combines the compressor and expander into one machine. The compressed air subsystem serves as a buffer between the blade power and the electric output power. It mitigates the power discrepancy between them and gives another degree of freedom for energy management. The performance simulation shows that the joint design of compressed air and wind turbine system helps to increase the power generation by 12%. The discounted energy cost during one week is decreased by 15%, compared to a traditional wind turbine. The sensitivity analysis is conducted to evaluate the feasibility of the proposed system in variable conditions.