Thermodynamic evaluation for a small scale compressed air energy storage system by integrating renewable energy sources

The present work aims to store renewable energy from wind and sun in the form of compressed air. Several scenarios to find the best operating conditions for a small scale compressed air energy storage system has been analyzed in this paper. The results show a primary efficiency of 52% to 68% for a configuration in which the heat extracted from the air during compression is returned to it during expansion. While for a configuration in which the heat is used for other purposes the theoretical primary efficiency has been found between 37% and 51%, but in this configuration the system it´s able to provide an important amount of hot and cold. According to consumer needs the current system can be configured to deliver hot, cold and electricity or only electricity.