Tank system

Abstract

The invention relates to a tank system (10) for storing fuel and supplying it to a consumer, comprising: a plurality of tank bottles (11), each of which has a shut-off valve (12) for closing or opening the corresponding tank bottle (11); at least one safety valve (14) for controlled discharge of fuel from at least one of the plurality of tank bottles (11) in an emergency; a sensor network (20) for monitoring the plurality of tank bottles (11); a main controller (31) for actuating the shut-off valve (12); and a sub-controller (32) for actuating the at least one safety valve (14) and / or the shut-off valve (12), wherein the sub-controller (31) is designed for actuating the sensor network (20).

Description

Background Art

[0001] Known tank systems for hydrogen vehicles, especially fuel cell vehicles, usually have a single, cylindrical hydrogen tank (or simply tank) with additional components such as a shut-off valve, a pressure regulator connected downstream, and a safety valve. Typically, the hydrogen tank is made of carbon fiber composite material. This creates special requirements for the safety valve, which must react to a strong temperature increase (e.g. due to a fire) and discharge the contents of the hydrogen tank into the surrounding environment in a controlled manner. In known hydrogen tanks made of carbon fiber composite materials, the above process must be designed to be irreversible, because it must be assumed that the matrix of the carbon fiber composite tank has changed at the corresponding temperature, and therefore the integrity of the tank can no longer be guaranteed when it is put back into operation. Irreversible triggering forces the search for a workshop, where an inspection must be carried out and, if necessary, the tank must be replaced. In such hydrogen tanks, the safety valve is typically implemented as a fuse to meet these requirements.

[0002] In other tank systems, a plurality of elongated tank bottles with a smaller diameter are used instead of a single tank. This arrangement allows for better space utilization and greater flexibility in the installation space. Due to the smaller diameter, a design made of steel can be considered for these bottles, which can additionally bring about significant cost advantages. Due to the steel design, no damage can occur due to the detected temperature range, so that the requirement for irreversible triggering of the safety valve can be omitted. However, in the case of a plurality of tank bottles, a valve is required for each tank (here bottle). Summary of the invention

[0003] According to a first aspect, the present invention provides a tank system for storing and supplying fuel to a consumer, in particular a fuel cell system, having the features of an independent device claim. Furthermore, according to a second aspect, the present invention provides a corresponding vehicle, in particular a fuel cell vehicle, having the features of a parallel independent device claim, and according to a third aspect, a use of a corresponding tank system for a fuel cell system, which can be used in mobile and / or stationary systems, having the features of an independent application claim. Further advantages, features and details of the invention are derived from the dependent claims, the description and the drawings. Here, the features and details described in conjunction with the tank system according to the invention naturally also apply in conjunction with the vehicle according to the invention and / or the fuel cell according to the invention, and vice versa, respectively, so that the disclosures concerning the various aspects of the invention always refer to each other or can refer to each other.

[0004] The present invention provides a tank system for storing and supplying fuel to a consumer, in particular a fuel cell system, comprising: a plurality of tanks, each of which has a shut-off valve for closing or opening the corresponding tank; at least one safety valve for controlled discharge of fuel from at least one of the plurality of tanks in an emergency; a sensor network for monitoring the plurality of tanks; a main controller for actuating the shut-off valves and a sub-controller for actuating at least one safety valve and / or the shut-off valve, wherein the sub-controller is implemented for actuating the sensor network.

[0005] The fuel cell system according to the invention can be designed in the form of a fuel cell stack, a so-called fuel cell stack, which has a plurality of stacked fuel cells, preferably PEM fuel cells.

[0006] The idea of ​​the invention is that within the scope of the tank system according to the invention, at least one safety valve and the sensor network are functionally linked. Advantageously, the temperature in the tank system according to the invention can be monitored in a distributed manner over the entire tank assembly. Exceeding at least one measuring point can then be used to activate at least one shut-off valve, a plurality of or all shut-off valves that are controlled in cooperation with the at least one safety valve. For this purpose, the main controller and the secondary controller can be in a communication connection, which can be realized wired, for example via a bus, or wirelessly, for example via radio.

[0007] In other words, the idea of ​​the invention is that, on the one hand, the functional connection between the temperature information and the triggering of the safety valve is implemented by corresponding circuits and / or software on a specially designed control unit. On the other hand, the actuator of the shut-off valve which is already present on each tank in the tank system is used to discharge the fuel, for example hydrogen.

[0008] The invention offers a great potential for cost reduction due to the use of already existing hardware. On the other hand, the invention meets high safety standards because a corresponding redundancy consisting of a shut-off valve and at least one safety valve is provided in the tank system. In addition, the tank system according to the invention is significantly simpler and more cost-effective to implement overall than a similar tank system with an irreversible safety valve. According to a further advantage, modern additional functions are integrated by the secondary control unit according to the invention and its software, such as, for example, warning rescue personnel by electronic call in the event of triggering or imminent triggering of at least one safety valve and / or adding further vehicle data in order to carry out a plausibility check on the presence of a safety-critical situation and thus minimize the possibility of erroneous triggering of at least one safety valve.

[0009] Furthermore, the invention can be provided in a tank system in which the at least one safety valve comprises only one safety valve which is arranged at the common fluid outlet of the shut-off valves. In this way, the basic structure or design of the tank system can be configured simply and cost-effectively.

[0010] Furthermore, the invention can provide in a tank system that a pressure regulator is provided for the shutoff valve, which is fluidically connected upstream of the consumer in order to supply the fuel to the consumer at a suitable pressure, wherein the at least one safety valve is arranged at a common fluid outlet of the shutoff valves before the pressure regulator or at a common fluid outlet of the shutoff valves after the pressure regulator. In the region before the pressure regulator, the fuel can be discharged as quickly as possible in an emergency. In the region after the pressure regulator, the pressure reduction through the pressure regulator can be utilized to discharge the fuel as diluted as possible into the surroundings.

[0011] Furthermore, the invention can provide in the tank system that the at least one safety valve comprises only one safety valve which is arranged at an independent, common fluid end of the tank bottle which faces away from the shut-off valve. In this way, in an emergency, only the at least one safety valve has to be actuated in order to discharge the fuel to the surroundings.

[0012] Furthermore, the invention can provide in the tank system that the at least one safety valve comprises a safety valve for each of the plurality of tank bottles, which safety valve is arranged at the fluid end of the respective tank bottle, which end faces away from the shut-off valve. Thus, the safety valve can be selectively actuated so that, if necessary, only tank bottles that are subject to emergency situations, such as a strong temperature increase, are emptied.

[0013] In addition, the present invention can be provided in a tank system, provided with a common battery for the main controller and the secondary controller, for example a vehicle battery. Therefore, the secondary controller can be supplied with energy together with the main controller.

[0014] In addition, the present invention can be provided in the tank system, provided with a separate backup battery for the secondary controller. In this way, it can be ensured that the at least one safety valve can be reliably actuated even when all other systems in the vehicle may be without energy.

[0015] In addition, the present invention can be arranged in a tank system, the main controller and the secondary controller being implemented for operating the sensor network. In this way, a certain degree of backup for the sensor network can be provided so that emergency situations in the tank system can be reliably sensed.

[0016] Furthermore, the invention can be provided in a tank system in which the sensor network has at least two (at least at the end of the respective tank) or more sensors for each of a plurality of tanks, which are arranged distributed on the respective tanks. In this way, emergency situations can be detected precisely, without time delay or even in advance.

[0017] Furthermore, the invention can be provided in a tank system, wherein the sensor network has a single-use or multiple-use temperature sensor. Single-use temperature sensors, such as fusible nets, can be set relatively sensitively. Multiple-use temperature sensors can provide a multiple-use, cost-effective sensor network.

[0018] Furthermore, the invention also provides a vehicle with a tank system which can be implemented as described above. The same advantages as described above in connection with the tank system according to the invention are achieved by means of the vehicle according to the invention. Reference is made here in full to these advantages.

[0019] In a vehicle according to the invention, it is conceivable that the main control unit and / or the secondary control unit are designed to send an electronic call signal via a sensor network when an emergency situation is detected, and / or the main control unit and / or the secondary control unit are designed to verify the emergency situation by taking into account vehicle-internal and / or vehicle-external data. In this way, the functionality of the vehicle according to the invention can be expanded.

[0020] Furthermore, the present invention provides a use of a tank system which may be implemented as described above for storing and supplying fuel to a fuel cell system. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0021] The present invention and its improved solutions and advantages are described in detail below with the aid of the accompanying drawings. The accompanying drawings schematically show:

[0022] Figure 1 Exemplary structure of a known tank system,

[0023] Figure 2 An exemplary structure of a tank system in the sense of the invention, in which a safety valve is located at a common outlet with a shut-off valve,

[0024] Figure 3 An exemplary structure of a tank system in the sense of the invention, in which a safety valve is located at a common outlet with a shut-off valve after the passage of a pressure regulator,

[0025] Figure 4 An exemplary design of a tank system in the sense of the invention, in which a safety valve is located at a different end of the tank bottle than the shut-off valve,

[0026] Figure 5 An exemplary structure of a tank system in the sense of the invention, in which a plurality of safety valves are located at a different end of the tank bottle than the stop valve,

[0027] Figure 6 A variant of a tank system in the sense of the invention with a backup battery for a secondary controller, and

[0028] Figure 7Another variant of a tank system within the meaning of the invention has a backup battery and backup wiring of the sensor network to the primary and secondary controllers.

[0029] In the different figures, identical components of the invention are always provided with the same reference symbols, so that these components are usually described only once. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0030] Figure 1 A known tank system 10* is shown, for example, for a hydrogen vehicle, which has a single, cylindrical hydrogen tank 11*, a shut-off valve 12*, a pressure regulator 40* connected downstream of the shut-off valve 12*, and a safety valve 14*. The known hydrogen tank 11* can be made of a carbon fiber composite material, for example. In the event of a strong temperature increase (e.g. due to a fire), the safety valve 14* melts and the contents of the hydrogen tank 11* are discharged in a controlled manner to the surroundings. This process is irreversible. In addition, the matrix of the carbon fiber composite tank is changed by the strong temperature increase, which requires the tank to be replaced.

[0031] exist Figure 2 1 shows the division of the storage volume into a plurality of sub-volumes within the scope of the tank system 10 according to the invention, for example with five tank bottles 11. Each of these tank bottles 11 is provided with its own electrically activatable shut-off valve 12 in accordance with legal regulations, which is activated accordingly by the master control 31. According to the invention, at least one active or controllable (i.e. not passive, e.g. fusible) safety valve 14 is located at the opposite end E2 of the tank bottle 11. According to Figure 2 Only one common safety valve 14a is provided for all tanks 11. The shut-off valves 12 lead to a pressure regulator 40 at their common outlet A1. In this case, in an emergency, fuel can be discharged to the surroundings by jointly activating the shut-off valve 12 and the safety valve 14. Figures 3 to 5 Detailed Description of the Invention Further variants for arranging at least one safety valve 14 or a plurality of safety valves 14 within the scope of the tank system 10 according to the invention are shown in FIG.

[0032] according to Figures 2 to 7 A common feature of each variant of the tank system 10 is that a sensor network 20 is provided in order to monitor the tank bottles 11 preferably for undesired temperature increases. Figures 2 to 7 Here, at least two sensors 21, preferably temperature sensors, are arranged on each can 11. The temperature sensors can be designed to be reusable multiple times. It is also conceivable that a plurality of temperature sensors can be distributed on the can 11. In addition, easily usable sensors 21, such as melting sensors, which can at least partially surround the can 11 are conceivable within the scope of the invention.

[0033] Figure 3A variant of the invention is shown in which at least one safety valve 14 (here only one safety valve 14a) is placed downstream of the pressure regulator 40. This variant offers the advantage that a lower pressure must be switched on. It is also possible to integrate the function with the pressure limiting valve typically present at this location. By passing through the pressure regulator 40, a limited emergency discharge mass flow can be set.

[0034] Figure 4 A variant of the invention is shown in which, instead of the existing shut-off valve 12, a separate line complex is used for emergency discharge, which connects the opposite ends E2 of the tank bottles 11 to one another. At least one safety valve 14 in the form of a central safety valve 14a closes the line complex from the surroundings and emergency discharge can be achieved with only one central safety valve 14a.

[0035] Figure 5 Show according to Figure 4 A modification of the tank system 10 of FIG. 1 is provided, wherein a separate safety valve 14 b is provided on each tank bottle 11 .

[0036] The activation and / or control of the at least one safety valve 14 is carried out according to a logic device, which is implemented by electrical signals and / or data signals in the sub-controller 32. For this purpose, the temperature information from the sensor network 20 is collected in the sub-controller 32 via suitable temperature sensors (e.g. thermocouples) distributed at suitable measuring positions over the entire tank system 10. Therefore, in principle, the main controller 31 and the sub-controller 32 must be separated (or separated into separate areas in the same controller housing or integrated into an already existing controller such as a VCU), because the safety function in the sense of the present invention must be available even when the main controller 31 is not powered in a stopped vehicle (separated via connector 15). In addition, the separation of the main controller 31 and the sub-controller 32 makes it possible to provide the sensor network 20 with additional system redundancy, such as a backup battery 52 (see Figure 6 as well as Figure 7 ) or alternate device.

[0037] The temperature information from the sensor network 20 is converted in the main control unit 31 and / or the secondary control unit 32 according to a logic device stored there in the form of a circuit or a computer program to generate a corresponding actuator signal or a plurality of corresponding actuator signals for at least one safety valve 14 and / or shut-off valve 12. An example of such a logic device is the activation of all valves 12, 14 if at least one measured temperature exceeds a predetermined triggering threshold value indicating a fire. Since the secondary control unit 32 can be provided with further vehicle-specific data, the logic device can be further supplemented in order to further plausibly check the recognition of safety-critical situations, for example using information from acceleration sensors, airbag triggering devices, seat occupancy sensors, environmental sensors, position determination devices, etc.

[0038] The secondary controller 32 can be connected to the (single) main battery 51. It can be considered that if the remaining energy in the battery is no longer sufficient to activate the valve, then (for example in the case of very long parking times) emergency discharge is no longer possible. In order to minimize the occurrence of this situation, a warning message can be sent in real time to the vehicle operator or other locations (for example, an electronic call center, fire department, road breakdown assistance service, etc.) via an electronic call or other data connection.

[0039] According to the present invention, at least or only the sub-controller 32 generates the actuator signal and can control the stop valve 12 or the safety valve 14. At least or only the sub-controller 32 receives and processes the temperature information. In addition, redundancy can be set in the main controller 31. To this end, the following Figure 2 Embodiments are described with reference to examples of variations of the tank system 10 in FIG. 1 , however, these embodiments may also be used with Figures 3 to 5 All other variants shown so far are combined.

[0040] Figure 6 A variant of the invention is shown, in which a tank system 20 is implemented with Figure 2 The main battery 51 is additionally supplemented by a secondary battery, a so-called backup battery 52. ​​This avoids a situation where an emergency discharge is no longer possible due to a low battery voltage. For this purpose, the secondary battery can be optimized for long charge maintenance and isolated from all non-safety-critical electrical consumers.

[0041] Figure 7A variant of the invention is shown, in which additional redundancy is provided in the tank system 20. For this purpose, in particular, all functions of the slave controller 32 are additionally duplicated in the master controller 31. In this case, both controllers 31, 32 can both receive and evaluate the temperature information of the sensor 21 and also generate actuator signals for activating the valves 12, 14. In this way, a hardware failure of one of the two controllers 31, 32 can be fully compensated. This redundancy can be correspondingly combined with Figure 6 The redundancy described in the energy supply is combined. Combinations of different redundancies on the energy supply side and the controller side (not shown) as well as further divisions at the functions (temperature measurement, computer, power output stage, ...) and combinations with different redundancies within these sub-functions are also conceivable.

[0042] The above description of the drawings describes the invention only within the scope of examples. Of course, the individual features of the embodiments can be freely combined with one another as long as it is technically meaningful, without departing from the scope of the invention.

Claims

1. A tank system (10) for storing and supplying fuel to a consumer, comprising: A plurality of tanks (11), each of which has a shut-off valve (12) for closing or opening the corresponding tank (11); at least one safety valve (14) for controlled discharge of fuel from at least one of the plurality of tanks (11) in an emergency; a sensor network (20) for monitoring the plurality of tanks (11); a main controller (31) for controlling the shut-off valve (12); and a sub-controller (32) for controlling the at least one safety valve (14) and / or the shut-off valve (12), wherein the sub-controller (32) is implemented for controlling the sensor network (20), and wherein the main controller (31) and the sub-controller (32) can both receive and evaluate temperature information from the sensor network (20) and generate actuator signals for activating the shut-off valve (12) and the at least one safety valve (14), so that in an emergency, the fuel can be discharged to the surrounding environment by jointly activating the shut-off valve (12) and the at least one safety valve (14).

2. The tank system (10) according to claim 1, characterized in that The at least one safety valve (14) comprises only one safety valve (14a) which is arranged at a common fluid outlet (A1, A2) of the shut-off valve (12).

3. The tank system (10) according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that A pressure regulator (40) is provided for the shut-off valve (12), which is fluidically connected upstream of the consumer in order to supply fuel to the consumer at a suitable pressure, wherein the at least one safety valve (14) is arranged at a common fluid outlet (A1) of the shut-off valve (12) before the pressure regulator (40) or at a common fluid outlet (A2) of the shut-off valve (12) after the pressure regulator (40).

4. The tank system (10) according to claim 1, characterized in that The at least one safety valve (14) comprises only one safety valve (14a) which is arranged at an independent, common fluid end (E2) of the tank (11), the end (E2) facing away from the shut-off valve (12).

5. The tank system (10) according to claim 1, characterized in that The at least one safety valve (14) comprises a safety valve (14b) for each of the plurality of tanks (11), the safety valves being arranged at the fluid end (E2) of the corresponding tank (11), the end (E2) facing away from the stop valve (12).

6. The tank system (10) according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that A common battery (51) is provided for the main controller (31) and the sub-controller (32).

7. The tank system (10) according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that An independent backup battery (52) is provided for the secondary controller (32).

8. The tank system (10) according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that The main controller (31) and the secondary controller (32) are designed to control the sensor network (20).

9. The tank system (10) according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that The sensor network (20) has at least two or more sensors (21) for each of the plurality of bottles (11), the sensors being arranged in a distributed manner on the corresponding bottles (11), and / or the sensor network (20) has a temperature sensor that can be used once or multiple times.

10. A vehicle having a tank system (10) according to any one of the preceding claims.

11. The vehicle according to claim 10, characterized in that The main controller (31) and / or the sub-controller (32) are implemented to send an electronic call signal via the sensor network (20) when an emergency situation is detected, and / or the main controller (31) and / or the sub-controller (32) are implemented to verify the emergency situation by taking into account data inside and / or outside the vehicle.

12. Use of a tank system (10) according to any one of the preceding claims for storing and supplying fuel to a fuel cell system.

Images