This week I worked on an accumulator sizing calculator for BOPs, so I have recovered my thermodynamic knowledge and just would like to note somewhere the materials summary and my thoughts about generic accumulator sizing for energy storage applications.

Let’s get generic formula

First of all, all accumulator calculations based on a generic formula of the polytropic process (Ideal Gas Law):

##pV^{n}=const \hspace{35pt} (1)##

Where the specific value of #n# corresponds to particular cases:
#n=0# for isobaric process
#n=+\infty# for isochoric process
#n=1# for isothermal process
#n=\gamma# for adiabatic process

Now, take a look at the image and apply this formula for the accumulator’s 3 major work stages:

Sizing Accumulators