Compressed air energy storage technology program. Annual report for 1979

The objectives of the Compressed Air Energy Storage (CAES) program are to establish stability criteria for large underground reservoirs in salt domes, hard rock, and porous rock used for air storage in utility applications, and to develop second-generation CAES technologies that have minimal or no dependence on petroleum fuels. During the year reported reports have been issued on field studies on CAES on aquifers and in salt, stability, and design criteria for CAES and for pumped hydro-storage caverns, laboratory studies of CAES in porous rock reservoris have continued. Research has continued on combined CAES/Thermal Energy Storage, CAES/Solar systems, coal-fired fluidized bed combustors for CAES, and two-reservoir advanced CAES concepts. (LCL)