SustainX's ICAES™

SustainX's isothermal compressed air energy storage (ICAES™) technology enables a site-anywhere, zero-emissions storage solution. Through superior thermodynamics, SustainX technology frees compressed air storage from the risks of caverns and the emissions of natural gas.

Isothermal compression allows air to reach high pressures without the inherent challenges of high temperatures or high thermal losses. Compressed air at near ambient temperature can be stored until needed with minimal energy losses. When power is needed, isothermal expansion can deliver electrical energy with no requirement for natural gas combustion

SustainX achieves isothermal cycling by combining patented innovations with a design centered on mature industrial components and principles. A mechanical drivetrain utilizes an electric machine and a crankshaft, the latter proven through decades of service in other industries. This efficient mechanical link powers a two-stage, mixed-phase (water-in-air) heat-transfer process within pneumatic cylinders. During piston strokes, water is sprayed into the air-filled chamber of each cylinder, allowing heat to be transferred from water to air during expansion or from air to water during compression. The same ICAES power unit provides both isothermal compression and expansion, eliminating the cost of separate compressor and expander subsystems.

This patented approach achieves high round-trip efficiency, proven long lifetime, and low cost, allowing SustainX to deliver a levelized cost of energy (LCOE) disruptively low in comparison to competing storage technologies.

Key advantages of ICAES™:

• SITE ANYWHERE
  ICAES provides the freedom to site zero-emissions storage where it's needed—not where geology mandates.
• FLEXIBILITY
  Independent scalability of power and energy allows ICAES to address applications across the electricity market value chain, from generation through transmission and distribution.
• SUPERIOR VALUE
  ICAES’s inherently low capital cost, long lifetime, and high efficiency result in a disruptively low levelized cost of energy as compared to conventional storage solutions such as batteries.
• PROVEN CORE TECHNOLOGY
  An energy storage solution utilizing proven mechanical systems and comprised almost entirely of steel, water, and air.