Pumped heat electric storage system with recirculation

A method of operating a pumped heat energy storage system, the method comprising:

• opening a first charge isolation valve in a first working fluid path between an outlet of a charge compressor system and an inlet of a hot-side heat exchanger (“HHX”) system;
• opening a second charge isolation valve in the first working fluid path between an outlet of a recuperator heat exchanger (“RHX”) system and an inlet of a charge turbine system;
• closing a first generation isolation valve in a second working fluid path between an outlet of a generation compressor system and an inlet of the RHX system;
• closing a second generation isolation valve in the second working fluid path between an outlet of the HHX system and an inlet of a generation turbine system;
• circulating a working fluid in the first working fluid path through, in sequence, the charge compressor system, the HHX system, the RHX system, the charge turbine system, a cold-side heat exchanger (“CHX”) system, the RHX system, and back to the charge compressor system;
• opening a valve that permits recirculation of a quantity of the working fluid through the generation turbine system without circulating the quantity of the working fluid through the RHX system, the CHX system, the generation compressor system, and the HHX system;
• and
• recirculating the quantity of the working fluid through the generation turbine system without circulating the quantity of the working fluid through the RHX system, the CHX system, the generation compressor system, and the HHX system.

A method of operating a pumped heat energy storage system, the method comprising:

• closing a first charge isolation valve in a first working fluid path between an outlet of a charge compressor system and an inlet of a hot-side heat exchanger (“HHX”) system;
• closing a second charge isolation valve in the first working fluid path between an outlet of a recuperator heat exchanger (“RHX”) system and an inlet of a charge turbine system;
• opening a first generation isolation valve in a second working fluid path between an outlet of a generation compressor system and an inlet of the RHX system;
• opening a second generation isolation valve in the second working fluid path between an outlet of the HHX system and an inlet of a generation turbine system;
• and
• circulating a working fluid in the second working fluid path through, in sequence, the generation compressor system, the RHX system, the HHX system, the generation turbine system, the RHX system, a cold-side heat exchanger (“CHX”) system, and back to the generation compressor system;
• and
• opening a valve that permits recirculation of a quantity of the working fluid through the charge turbine system without circulating the quantity of the working fluid through the CHX system, the RHX system, the charge compressor system, and the HHX system;
• and
• recirculating the quantity of the working fluid through the charge turbine system without circulating the quantity of the working fluid through the CHX system, the RHX system, the charge compressor system, and the HHX system.

A pumped heat energy storage system, the system comprising:

• a charge compressor system;
• a charge turbine system;
• a generation compressor system;
• a generation turbine system;
• a hot-side heat exchanger (“HHX”) system;
• a recuperator heat exchanger (“RHX”) system;
• a cold-side heat exchanger (“CHX”) system;
• a hot-side thermal storage (“HTS”) system;
• a cold-side thermal storage (“CTS”) system;
• a working fluid loop comprising:
• a first working fluid path arranged to circulate a working fluid through, in sequence, the charge compressor system, the HHX system, the RHX system, the charge turbine system, the CHX system, the RHX system, and back to the charge compressor system,
• a second working fluid path arranged to circulate the working fluid through, in sequence, the generation compressor system, the RHX system, the HHX system, the generation turbine system, the RHX system, the CHX system, and back to the generation compressor system, and
• a third working fluid path arranged to recirculate at least a portion of the working fluid through the generation turbine system without circulating at least the portion of the working fluid through the RHX system, the CHX system, the generation compressor system, and the HHX system.