10159077Fluid Characterization for Energy Storage: Measuring Stability and Performance in Mineral SuspensionsClosedGrant for R&DInnovate UKThe worldwide transition to renewable energy will require a significant increase in energy storage capacity over the next 10-20 years. To date, pumped hydropower is the dominant energy storage technology. At times of low energy demand, with associated low costs, water is pumped from a lower reservoir several hundred meters uphill to an upper reservoir. As energy prices rise, water is released through turbines, regenerating electricity to supply the grid. While conventional pumped hydropower offers best-in-class economics, the site requirement of significant elevation gain, regulations, and large project sizes often lead to planning and implementation cycles of more than a decade per project. As such, pumped hydropower energy storage cannot be deployed at the scale and rate required to support the energy transition. RheEnergise is bringing scalability to pumped energy storage with our solution: High-Density Hydro (HD Hydro(r)). Instead of water, our projects use a fluid with 2.5x the density of water, enabling projects to be feasible on small hills instead of mountains. Therefore, the number of potential project sites is two orders of magnitude higher than that of conventional pumped hydropower. The core of RheEnergise's technology is the proprietary high-density fluid "R-19". R-19 is a dense, water-based mineral suspension, optimized to be low-cost and low-viscosity whilst displaying a high degree of stability. R-19 is an existing product developed in partnership with the University of Greenwich. The high-density fluid is currently being deployed at scale (2500t) on RheEnergise's 500kW demonstrator project site in Plymouth, UK. Other than the fluid, the component design of the HD Hydro technology can leverage over a century of experience with conventional hydropower. However, all components (including pipes, pumps, turbines, valves, and control systems) are specifically designed and optimised for operation with R-19\. The common objective is to minimise project costs while maximising project efficiency and longevity. Therefore, the properties of the high-density fluid directly impact the system design and project economics. In this vein, RheEnergise is thrilled to partner with experts at NEL to develop a thorough characterisation and monitoring process of R-19\. This provides crucial feedback to engineers designing HD Hydro systems for optimal efficiency. Furthermore, RheEnergise will use developed analysis techniques to streamline development of next-generation high-density fluids to incorporate locally available feedstock. The ability to utilise mineral already at a project site would further improve the compelling economic and environmental case to deploy the HD Hydro solution to the energy transition emergency.