Under high-pressure operation, cracks inevitably form in the concrete lining of compressed air energy storage (CAES) caverns, causing stress concentrations that can tear the sealing layer and lead to air leakage. To tackle this issue, this study introduces a novel dual-flexible composite material (DFCM) composed of butyl rubber (IIR) reinforced with carbon fiber. Comprehensive high-pressure permeation and mechanical tests were performed on both IIR and DFCM to evaluate key properties, including permeability coefficient, tensile strength, and elastic modulus. Using these parameters, a multiphysics-coupled computational model was developed and validated against operational data from the Huntorf Power Plant and a CAES facility in Hokkaido. Detailed analysis based on the Yungang Mine CAES project showed that DFCM significantly enhances performance: tensile strength increased from 10.1 to 30.9 MPa, and the daily air leakage rate decreased from 0.143% to 0.129%, an improvement of 9.79%. Under typical operational conditions—such as a 10 mm sealing layer, 21.5 °C injection temperature, and 2.4 m cavern radius—DFCM demonstrated a pressure limit of 22.6 MPa and maintained integrity even with lining cracks, whereas IIR failed at 6.8 MPa with a maximum crack width tolerance of only 0.24 mm. These findings provide important theoretical and practical support for enhancing the safety and feasibility of CAES technology.
Liang et al. (Thu,) studied this question.
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