Sealing leakage monitoring device for liquid-driven hydrogen compressor

Abstract

The invention discloses a sealing leakage monitoring device for a liquid-driven hydrogen compressor. The technical problems that an existing leakage monitoring device is poor in reliability and safety and cannot detect hydrogen leakage are solved. The device comprises a cylindrical device shell provided with an annular groove, a partition plate embedded in the annular groove, a limiting switch arranged at the top of the annular groove, a hydrogen diffusing opening / hydraulic oil diffusing opening correspondingly formed in the top / bottom of the device shell, a gas inlet correspondingly communicated with a gas leakage opening of a compressor, a hydrogen flow visual column, a floating ball, a hydrogen detector and a hydraulic oil inlet. The liquid level window is communicated with a cavity of the device shell below the partition plate, the overflow opening is formed in the corresponding position of the device shell above the hydraulic oil inlet, and the controller is in communication connection with the hydrogen detector and the liquid level meter. The compressor sealing leakage monitoring device has the advantages of high monitoring reliability, excellent use safety and the like.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to the technical field of hydrogen compressors, and in particular to a seal leakage monitoring device for a liquid-driven hydrogen compressor. Background Art

[0002] The liquid-driven compressor of a hydrogen refueling station is an important equipment used in a hydrogen refueling station to compress low-pressure hydrogen into high-pressure hydrogen. The liquid-driven compressor of a hydrogen refueling station converts the pressure of a liquid (such as hydraulic oil) into mechanical energy through a hydraulic pump, thereby driving the piston inside the compressor to reciprocate, sucking in low-pressure hydrogen and compressing it into high-pressure hydrogen before discharging it, thereby increasing the pressure level of hydrogen.

[0003] During the operation of the hydrogen compressor, hydrogen is flammable and explosive, and leakage may cause serious accidents. Therefore, the sealing performance of the hydrogen compressor is directly related to the safe operation of the compressor and the safety of the surrounding environment. Figure 1 The diaphragm head part of the existing compressor includes an oil chamber 10, an air chamber 11 and an isolation chamber 12 arranged between the oil chamber 10 and the air chamber 11, wherein an air seal 13 and an isolation seal 14 are arranged between the air chamber 11 and the isolation chamber 12, a hydraulic oil port 15 is arranged on the top of the diaphragm head, a hydraulic oil leakage port 16 connected to the isolation chamber 12, a hydrogen compression outlet 17 connected to the air chamber 11, and an air leakage port 18 arranged between the air seal 13 and the isolation seal 14 are arranged on the bottom of the diaphragm head.

[0004] In order to monitor the leakage when the air seal and / or isolation seal of the hydrogen compressor partially or completely fails, the inventor knows a leakage monitoring device, which includes an oil collecting box 19 connected to the hydraulic oil leakage port 16, a liquid level gauge is provided in the box body for detecting the liquid height of the hydraulic oil in the box body, and a vent connected to a vent pipeline is provided on the top of the box body to achieve the release of hydrogen entering the box body; in addition, the air leakage port 18 is directly connected to the vent pipeline for direct release.

[0005] However, in the process of implementing the technical solution in the embodiments of the present application, the inventors of the present application found that the above technology has at least the following technical problems: when the liquid in the oil collecting box is full and is not discharged in time (such as the failure of the liquid level gauge or the influence of human factors), the hydraulic oil will directly enter the release pipeline through the release port on the top of the oil collecting box, polluting the release pipeline and the hydrogen in the pipeline. Since the corresponding valve body in the pipeline is connected during release, the hydraulic oil is very likely to flow back into the pipeline system, affecting the normal and safe operation of the equipment pipeline; in addition, since its gas leakage port is directly connected to the release pipeline, the device cannot detect hydrogen leakage.

[0006] The information disclosed in this background technology section is only used to deepen the understanding of the background technology of the present disclosure, and should not be regarded as acknowledging or suggesting in any form that the information constitutes the prior art known to those skilled in the art. Summary of the invention

[0007] In view of at least one of the above technical problems, the present disclosure provides a liquid-driven hydrogen compressor seal leakage monitoring device, aiming to solve the technical problems that the existing leakage monitoring devices have poor reliability and safety and cannot detect hydrogen leakage.

[0008] According to one aspect of the present disclosure, a seal leakage monitoring device for a liquid-driven hydrogen compressor is provided, which includes a cylindrical shell having an annular groove corresponding to the inner edge surface, a baffle movably embedded in the annular groove for axial movement along the shell, a limit switch arranged at the top of the annular groove for detecting the maximum movement amplitude of the baffle, a hydrogen release port / hydraulic oil release port respectively arranged at the top / bottom of the shell, an air inlet arranged at the shell above the annular groove and correspondingly connected to the compressor gas leakage port, and a gas inlet connected to the shell cavity above the baffle and connected to the gas inlet through an air pipe. A connected hydrogen flow sight column, a float arranged in the hydrogen flow sight column for axial movement along the hydrogen flow sight column under hydrogen pressure, a hydrogen detector for monitoring the hydrogen concentration in the hydrogen flow sight column, a hydraulic oil inlet arranged at the lower position of the shell and correspondingly connected to the hydraulic oil leakage port of the compressor, a liquid level window connected to the shell cavity below the partition, a liquid level gauge for monitoring the hydraulic oil level height in the shell, an overflow port arranged at a corresponding position of the shell above the hydraulic oil inlet, and a controller respectively connected to the hydrogen detector and the liquid level gauge for communication.

[0009] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, a sealing ring is provided at the end surface of the partition plate that is in contact with the annular groove.

[0010] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the hydrogen flow sight column is arranged axially along the shell, and the gas pipe is connected to a corresponding position on the bottom end side of the hydrogen flow sight column.

[0011] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, a tray for carrying the float and having an air through hole in the center is provided above the corresponding bottom end surface in the hydrogen flow sight column; the air pipe is connected at the corresponding position between the tray and the bottom end surface of the hydrogen flow sight column.

[0012] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the bottom end surface of the hydrogen flow sight column is threadedly connected to the corresponding hydrogen flow sight column.

[0013] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the diameter of the float is smaller than the corresponding cross-sectional diameter of the hydrogen flow sight column.

[0014] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the hydraulic oil drain port is correspondingly connected to a manual valve or a solenoid valve that is communicatively connected to the controller.

[0015] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the overflow port is arranged at the corresponding shell below the annular groove.

[0016] One or more technical solutions provided in the embodiments of the present application have at least any of the following technical effects or advantages: 1. The inner cavity of the monitoring device shell is divided into an air cavity and an oil cavity by a partition, thereby separating the hydraulic oil from the hydrogen, effectively preventing the hydraulic oil from contacting the hydrogen and entering the discharge pipeline with the hydrogen.

[0017] 2. The annular groove that cooperates with the partition can realize the lifting and movement of the partition under the pressure of hydraulic oil within a certain range, thereby playing a buffering role when a large amount of hydraulic oil leaks; in addition, the partition cooperates with the limit switch as a redundant setting when the liquid level gauge fails, ensuring the reliability of the operation of this monitoring device.

[0018] 3. The overflow port can discharge the hydraulic oil automatically when the hydraulic oil leaks in large quantities and exceeds the set capacity limit, and cooperate with the mobile buffering effect of the partition to discharge the hydraulic oil together with the hydraulic oil release port when the hydraulic oil leaks in large quantities, effectively preventing overpressure of the sealing device.

[0019] 4. The leaked hydrogen entering the monitoring device through the gas inlet is first guided by the gas pipe to the hydrogen flow sight column, from which the float and hydrogen detector in the sight column can be used to determine whether there is a hydrogen leak; in addition, the gas-liquid separation of hydrogen mixed with hydraulic oil is achieved under the action of gravity through the air cavity space above the corresponding partition of the shell, preventing the hydraulic oil from entering the discharge pipeline and affecting the safe operation of the system. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0020] Figure 1 It is a schematic diagram of a hydrogen compressor and an existing leakage monitoring device in the background technology of this application.

[0021] Figure 2 It is a half-section view of a hydrogen compressor seal leakage monitoring device in one embodiment of the present application.

[0022] Figure 3 It is a cross-sectional view of a hydrogen compressor seal leakage monitoring device in one embodiment of the present application.

[0023] In the above figures, 10 is an oil chamber, 11 is an air chamber, 12 is an isolation chamber, 13 is an air seal, 14 is an isolation seal, 15 is a hydraulic oil port, 16 is a hydraulic oil leakage port, 17 is a hydrogen compression outlet, 18 is a gas leakage port, 19 is an oil collecting box, 21 is a device shell, 22 is an annular groove, 3 is a partition, 31 is a limit switch, 32 is an overflow port, 41 is a hydraulic oil inlet, 42 is a hydraulic oil release port, 51 is a liquid level window, 52 is a liquid level gauge, 61 is a gas inlet, 62 is an air pipe, 63 is a hydrogen release port, 71 is a hydrogen flow window, 72 is a float, 73 is a tray, and 74 is a hydrogen detector. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0024] In the description of this application, it should be understood that the terms "upper", "lower", "front", "back", "left", "right", "top", "bottom", "inside", "outside", "vertical", "horizontal", "clockwise", "counterclockwise", etc., indicating the orientation or position relationship, are based on the orientation or position relationship shown in the drawings, and are only for the convenience of describing this application and simplifying the description, rather than indicating or implying that the device or element referred to must have a specific orientation, be constructed and operate in a specific orientation, and therefore cannot be understood as a limitation on this application. The "connection" and "coupling" involved in this application, unless otherwise specified, include direct and indirect connections (couplings).

[0025] The programs involved or relied upon in the following embodiments are all conventional programs or simple programs in the technical field, and those skilled in the art can make conventional selections or adaptive adjustments according to specific application scenarios. The sensors and other devices involved in the following embodiments are all conventional commercially available products unless otherwise specified.

[0026] In order to better understand the technical solution of the present application, the above technical solution will be described in detail below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and specific implementation methods.

[0027] Since the existing compressor seal leakage monitoring device has the risk of hydraulic oil entering the venting pipeline and cannot monitor hydrogen leakage, in order to achieve reliable and effective monitoring of hydrogen compressor seal leakage, this example discloses a liquid-driven hydrogen compressor seal leakage monitoring device, see Figure 2 and Figure 3 , which includes a hollow shell 21. In this embodiment, the shell 21 is a cylindrical structure. Among them, an annular groove 22 is opened on the inner edge surface of the middle part of the shell 21, and a partition 3 is movably embedded in the annular groove 22. The shape contour of the partition 3 matches the inner edge surface contour of the shell 21 at the position of the annular groove 22. Therefore, the hollow internal space of the shell 21 is divided into an upper air cavity and a lower oil cavity through the partition 3, which are respectively used to realize the sealing leakage monitoring of hydraulic oil and the sealing leakage monitoring of hydrogen; and because the partition 3 matches the annular groove 22, the partition 3 can be limited by the upper and lower groove walls of the annular groove 22, so that the partition 3 can move axially along the shell 21 within the range of the annular groove body. In addition, in this embodiment, a sealing ring is fixed on the end surface of the partition 3 for contacting the annular groove 22, so that the elastic action of the sealing ring ensures the close contact between the partition 3 and the annular groove 22.

[0028] In order to monitor the leakage of hydraulic oil when the seal of the hydrogen compressor fails, in this embodiment, a hydraulic oil inlet 41 is provided at the bottom of the shell 21. Considering that the hydrogen compressor has two hydraulic oil leakage ports 16, two hydraulic oil inlets 41 are provided in this embodiment. The two hydraulic oil inlets 41 are symmetrically arranged on both sides of the shell 21, and the two hydraulic oil inlets 41 are respectively connected to the two hydraulic oil leakage ports 16 of the compressor through pipelines. Therefore, when the seal of the compressor fails, the hydraulic oil flows into the hydraulic oil inlet 41 of the shell through the hydraulic leakage port and is stored in the lower oil chamber of the shell 21. Among them, considering that the oil chamber space of the shell 21 is limited and it is impossible to accommodate an unlimited amount of leaked hydraulic oil, in this embodiment, a hydraulic oil release port 42 is provided at the bottom end surface of the shell 21, and the hydraulic oil in the oil chamber is discharged and emptied through the hydraulic oil release port 42. In this embodiment, the compressor seal leakage monitoring device also includes a controller, and in this embodiment, the controller is specifically a PLC, wherein, in order to realize the control of the release timing of the hydraulic oil release port 42, the hydraulic oil release port 42 is connected to a solenoid valve, and a communication connection is established between the solenoid valve and the PLC to respond to the control instruction of the PLC, and when the oil chamber capacity of the device exceeds the limit, the solenoid valve is turned on to release the hydraulic oil. In some other embodiments, the hydraulic oil release port 42 is connected to a manual valve, and the staff discharges the hydraulic oil according to the hydraulic oil level height in the monitoring device.

[0029] In order to monitor the hydraulic oil level in the oil chamber below the partition, so that the PLC can output control instructions at an appropriate time or the staff can observe when the manual valve is used to control the hydraulic oil release. In this embodiment, a liquid level window 51 for observing the hydraulic oil level in the oil chamber is set at the wall below the partition 3 of the shell 21. In this example, the liquid level window 51 is a hollow cylindrical member arranged along the axial direction of the shell, and is a transparent material member. The two ends of the cylindrical liquid level window are respectively provided with connecting pipes fixed to the outer edge of the shell 21 and connected to the oil chamber inside the shell 21. The hydraulic oil in the shell 21 enters the hollow cylinder of the liquid level window through the connecting pipe of the liquid level window 51, and the liquid level in the oil chamber is reflected to the liquid level window. Therefore, the staff can judge the hydraulic oil level in the shell 21 through the liquid level window 51 according to the liquid level in the liquid level window 51, and then decide whether to open the hydraulic oil release port 42 for release.

[0030] In this embodiment, considering the uncertainty of hydraulic oil leakage, it is impossible to have a dedicated person to manually monitor the hydraulic oil level in the device around the clock. In order to be able to grasp the hydraulic oil level in the device shell in real time, this example fixes a liquid level gauge 52 at the cylindrical liquid level window 51, and a communication connection is established between the liquid level gauge 52 and the PLC. The liquid level in the device shell 21 is monitored in real time through the liquid level gauge 52, and then an alarm is triggered when the set limit is reached, and the solenoid valve at the hydraulic oil drain port 42 is controlled to be turned on to drain the hydraulic oil.

[0031] Then, considering the risk of failure of the liquid level meter 52, when the liquid level meter 52 fails, the hydraulic oil in the device will continue to accumulate, affecting the safe use of the device. For this reason, in this embodiment, a limit switch 31 is set at the upper groove wall position of the annular groove 22, and the limit switch 31 is connected to the PLC for communication, so that when the liquid level meter 52 fails to monitor, the partition 3 moves upward along the annular groove 22 under the hydraulic oil pressure accumulated in the oil chamber until the maximum capacity that the oil chamber can bear is reached, that is, when the partition 3 contacts the upper groove wall of the annular groove 22 and triggers the limit switch 31, the limit switch 31 outputs a signal to the PLC, and then the PLC controls the solenoid valve at the hydraulic oil release port 42 to conduct the discharge of hydraulic oil. Therefore, through the redundant setting of the limit switch relative to the liquid level meter, the adverse effect of the failure of the liquid level meter on the normal operation of the device is avoided.

[0032] In addition, in this embodiment, considering that there is a risk of a large amount of hydraulic oil leakage in the compressor in a short period of time, and it takes a certain process for the liquid level gauge of the monitoring device to detect that the liquid level exceeds the limit and conduct the solenoid valve 42, it is very likely that the oil chamber of the device exceeds its carrying capacity during this process. To this end, in this embodiment, on the one hand, a partition 3 that can move along the annular groove 22 is provided, and the partition 3 moves along the axial direction of the shell 21 to buffer the large amount of hydraulic oil pouring in; on the other hand, in this example, an overflow port 32 is provided at the shell 21 below the annular groove 22. In this example, the setting height of the overflow port 32 is consistent with the alarm liquid level height of the PLC, so that when the hydraulic oil in the oil chamber of the shell of the device reaches the alarm liquid level height and the PLC responds to it, the hydraulic oil is discharged through the overflow port 32. After the device responds to the PLC instruction, the hydraulic oil is discharged simultaneously by the overflow port 32 and the hydraulic oil release port 42, thereby avoiding the adverse consequences caused by the hydraulic oil exceeding the limit in the device.

[0033] In order to realize hydrogen leakage monitoring of the compressor, in this embodiment, an air inlet 61 is provided at the shell wall above the annular groove 22 of the shell 21. In this example, considering that the hydrogen compressor is provided with two air leakage ports 18, two air inlets 61 are provided in this embodiment, and the two air inlets 61 are symmetrically provided on both sides of the shell 21. In order to be able to visually observe whether there is hydrogen leakage, in this embodiment, a hydrogen flow sight column 71 is fixedly provided at the outer edge of the shell 21 along the axial direction of the shell 21. The hydrogen flow sight column 71 is a hollow cylindrical transparent material part. The two air inlets 61 are respectively connected to the bottom position of the hydrogen flow sight column 71 through the air pipe 62 and the three-way pipe fitting. When there is hydrogen leakage, the leaked hydrogen will be introduced into the hydrogen flow sight column 71. A floating ball 72 is provided in the hydrogen flow sight column 71. The diameter of the floating ball 72 is smaller than the hollow diameter of the hydrogen flow sight column 71, and the weight of the floating ball 72 is smaller than the maximum load that the hydrogen pressure can bear. This ensures that the floating ball 72 can overcome its own gravity under the hydrogen pressure, be blown up by the hydrogen, and move axially in the hydrogen flow sight column 71. Then, whether the floating ball 72 is blown up can be judged whether there is a hydrogen leakage problem. In this embodiment, in order to facilitate the floating ball 72 to be blown up by the leaked pressurized hydrogen in the initial state, see Figure 2 In this embodiment, a tray 73 is provided on the inner edge surface at the corresponding height position at the bottom of the hydrogen flow sight column 71. A gas through hole is provided in the center of the tray 73. The diameter of the gas through hole is smaller than the diameter of the float 72, thereby supporting the float 72 in a natural state and ensuring the flow path of hydrogen. Accordingly, the air pipe 62 connected to the two gas inlets 62 is connected to the side wall of the hydrogen flow sight column below the tray 73, so that in the initial state, the leaked hydrogen passes through the gas through hole and exerts a supporting force on the float 72 directly below the float 72, ensuring that the float 72 can be effectively blown up and moved.

[0034] Similarly, considering the randomness of hydrogen leakage, it is impossible for a dedicated security personnel to monitor the movement state of the float 72 in real time around the clock. For this reason, in this embodiment, a hydrogen detector 74 connected to the sight column 71 is fixedly provided on the side wall of the hydrogen flow sight column 71, and a communication connection is established between the hydrogen detector 74 and the PLC to transmit hydrogen concentration monitoring data to the PLC in real time. When hydrogen leakage occurs, the PLC outputs an alarm signal and controls the system to shut down.

[0035] In addition, considering that hydrogen leakage may be accompanied by hydraulic oil leakage, the hydrogen will be mixed with hydraulic oil at this time. In order to avoid the hydraulic oil from entering the release pipe along with the hydrogen and affecting the safety of the hydrogenation system. In this embodiment, the top of the hydrogen flow sight column 71 is connected to the air cavity space above the corresponding partition 3 in the shell 21 through a connecting pipe, and a hydrogen release port 63 is provided on the top of the shell 21, and the hydrogen release port 63 is connected to the release pipeline. Therefore, after the leaked hydrogen blows up the float 72 in the hydrogen flow sight column 71, it enters the device shell 21 through the gap between the float 72 and the inner edge surface of the hydrogen flow sight column 71 and the connecting pipe at the top of the hydrogen flow sight column 71, gathers in the corresponding air cavity above the partition 3, and is released in time when the hydrogen release port 63 is opened. In this process, hydrogen mixed with hydraulic oil enters the air cavity in the shell 21. Under the action of gravity, the hydraulic oil mixed in the hydrogen is deposited at the partition at the bottom of the air cavity, thereby achieving gas-liquid separation. The separated hydrogen enters the release pipeline from the hydrogen release port 63 at the top of the shell 21.

[0036] In addition, in the present embodiment, considering the possibility that part of the hydraulic oil may be separated from the hydrogen in the hydrogen flow sight column 71, which will cause the hydraulic oil to be deposited at the bottom of the hydrogen flow sight column 71, as the working time of the device accumulates, the hydraulic oil at the bottom of the hydrogen flow sight column 71 will affect the hydrogen flow path. For this reason, in the present embodiment, the bottom end face of the hydrogen flow sight column is threadedly connected to the column body of the hydrogen flow sight column, so that when hydraulic oil accumulates at the bottom of the hydrogen flow sight column, the bottom end face of the hydrogen flow sight column 71 can be opened in time for emptying.

[0037] Although some preferred embodiments of the present application have been described, those skilled in the art may make other changes and modifications to these embodiments once they have learned the basic creative concept. Therefore, the appended claims are intended to be interpreted as including the preferred embodiments and all changes and modifications that fall within the scope of the present application.

[0038] Obviously, those skilled in the art can make various changes and modifications to the present application without departing from the spirit and scope of the inventive concept. Thus, if these modifications and variations of the present application fall within the scope of the claims of the present application and their equivalents, the present application is also intended to include these modifications and variations.

Claims

1. A liquid-driven hydrogen compressor seal leakage monitoring device, characterized in that: The invention comprises a cylindrical shell having an annular groove corresponding to the inner edge surface, a baffle movably embedded in the annular groove for axial movement along the shell, a limit switch arranged at the top of the annular groove for detecting the maximum movement amplitude of the baffle, a hydrogen release port / hydraulic oil release port respectively arranged at the top / bottom of the shell, an air inlet arranged at the shell above the annular groove and correspondingly connected to the compressor air leakage port, a hydrogen flow sight column connected to the shell cavity above the baffle and connected to the air inlet through an air pipe, and a hydrogen flow sight column arranged at the top of the shell. A float in the sight column for moving along the axial direction of the hydrogen flow sight column under hydrogen pressure, a hydrogen detector for monitoring the hydrogen concentration in the hydrogen flow sight column, a hydraulic oil inlet located at the lower position of the shell and correspondingly connected to the hydraulic oil leakage port of the compressor, a liquid level window connected to the shell cavity below the partition, a liquid level gauge for monitoring the hydraulic oil level height in the shell, an overflow port located at a corresponding position of the shell above the hydraulic oil inlet, and a controller respectively connected to the hydrogen detector and the liquid level gauge for communication.

2. The seal leakage monitoring device for a liquid-driven hydrogen compressor according to claim 1 is characterized in that: The partition plate is provided with a sealing ring at the end surface corresponding to the contact with the annular groove.

3. The seal leakage monitoring device for a liquid-driven hydrogen compressor according to claim 1 is characterized in that: The hydrogen flow sight column is arranged along the axial direction of the shell, and the air pipe is connected to the corresponding position on the bottom end side of the hydrogen flow sight column.

4. The seal leakage monitoring device for a liquid-driven hydrogen compressor according to claim 3 is characterized in that: A tray for carrying the float and having a gas through hole at the center is provided above the corresponding bottom end surface in the hydrogen flow sight column; the gas pipe is connected at the corresponding position between the tray and the bottom end surface of the hydrogen flow sight column.

5. The seal leakage monitoring device for a liquid-driven hydrogen compressor according to claim 1 or 4, characterized in that: The bottom end surface of the hydrogen flow sight column is threadedly connected to the hydrogen flow sight column.

6. The seal leakage monitoring device for a liquid-driven hydrogen compressor according to claim 1 is characterized in that: The diameter of the float ball is smaller than the corresponding cross-sectional diameter of the hydrogen flow sight column.

7. The seal leakage monitoring device for a liquid-driven hydrogen compressor according to claim 1 is characterized in that: The hydraulic oil release port is correspondingly connected to a manual valve or a solenoid valve that is in communication with the controller.

8. The seal leakage monitoring device for a liquid-driven hydrogen compressor according to claim 1 is characterized in that: The overflow port is arranged at the corresponding container shell below the annular groove.

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