During charging, air is drawn from the atmosphere, filtered, cooled to a liquid for storage. During discharge, the liquid air is pressurized, evaporated, heated and use to produce power before being returned to the atmosphere.

1. Cryogenic Refrigerator. During charging, a cryogenic refrigeration system uses low-cost or excess renewable energy to cool air to the liquid state. Various processes have been developed and perfected, but all rely on compressors, heat exchangers, and expanders to cool gas, and reject heat to the environment. In an LACC application, the compressors are motor driven to consume electricity.
2. Storage Tank. Liquid air is stored at atmospheric pressure in an insulated tank. Losses are low, less than 0.1% per day, which permits long-term storage of weeks or months.
3. Cryopump. A conventional cryopump, such as used for LNG send-out, pressurizes liquid air from the storage tank.
4. Regasification. The pressurized liquid air is converted back to vapor by absorbing heat rejected from an Organic Rankine Cycle (ORC).
5. Pre-heating. The pressurized regasified air is warmed by a closed cooling loop that circulates anti-freeze. The anti-freeze in heated by Air used for energy discharge.
6. Exhaust gas heating. The pressurized air is then heated to high temperature using exhaust gas, from a combustion turbine, steam boiler, or other heat source.
7. Air Turbine Generator. Pressurized hot air flows through a turbine generator, similar to a steam turbine, to produce power. The clean, dry air is exhausted to atmosphere.

During discharge, ambient air is heated to drive the discharge process. A combustion turbine produces exhaust heat at a useful temperature, starts quickly, and can burn Hydrogen to avoid GHG emissions.

8. Inlet Air Cooling. Ambient air is cooled, increasing the air density to allow the combustion turbine to operate at its maximum power point and maximize the exhaust heat available for extracting stored energy. Heat absorbed from the inlet air is transferred via a cooling loop, filled with anti-freeze, to pre-heat the regasified air.
9. Combustion Turbine Generator. Any suitable combustion turbine can provide the exhaust heat used to drive the discharge cycle. By controlling the inlet air temperature via cooling loop, this turbine can always operate at optimum conditions to maximize the cycle efficiency.
10. Exhaust Heat Recovery. Exhaust heat from the combustion turbine is extracted by two heat exchanger coils. The first coil heats pressurized air from the Cooling Loop pre-heater; the second coil heats the ORC working fluid.

The ORC uses refrigerant, such as R-290 (propane), in a closed cycle to extract additional power to improve the efficiency of the LACC.

11. Pump. Liquid refrigerant is pumped to pressure.
12. Pre-heating. The pressurized liquid refrigerant is preheated in a recuperator by low pressure refrigerant exhausted from the ORC Turbine.
13. Exhaust gas heating. The refrigerant is evaporated and superheated by combustion turbine exhaust.
14. ORC Turbine Generator. The pressurized hot refrigerant produces power in a turbine, and exhausts as low-pressure refrigerant.
15. Pre-cooling. The low-pressure refrigerant vapor is cooled in the recuperator.
16. Condenser. Finally, the ORC loop is closed in the condenser, where refrigerant transfers its latent heat to the liquid air, which absorbs latent heat.