Abstract: [Objectives] As an important supporting technology for large-scale energy storage, advanced adiabatic compressed air energy storage (AA-CAES) is an effective means to improve the grid’s capacity for renewable energy consumption. However, compressors are prone to adverse dynamics such as surge and choke during startup, posing safety hazards to the compression system. Therefore, aiming for the high-efficiency startup of AA-CAES system compressors and addressing the limited flexibility of anti-surge valves in practical engineering, a compressor startup strategy considering variable flow control is proposed. [Methods] A dynamic model of the compressor under variable operating conditions is established, and the anti-surge valve is modeled. The phenomena of surge and choke are characterized using the least squares method. Based on the adjustment potential of the anti-surge valve, a startup strategy considering flow regulation flexibility is proposed, and its effectiveness is validated through simulation. [Results] Compared to the conventional anti-surge operation with the anti-surge valve fully open, adjusting the surge margin to 75% can improve compressor efficiency by over 1% while reducing redundant safety margins. [Conclusions] The proposed strategy enables the compressor to maintain certain safety margins while achieving efficiency improvement, realizing safe and efficient compressor startup.

Key words: renewable energy, power grid, advanced adiabatic compressed air energy storage, compressor startup, surge, choke, anti-surge valve