Method and apparatus for providing medium
By using a combination of common coolant storage equipment and multiple heat exchangers in hydrogen refueling stations, the problem of low thermal management efficiency under multiple supply paths is solved, and efficient, energy-saving thermal management and space optimization are achieved.
Patent Information
- Application Number
- CN202480011905.0
- Authority / Receiving Office
- CN · China
- Patent Type
- Applications(China)
- Current Assignee / Owner
- Priority Date
- 2023-03-10
- Filing Date
- 2024-03-05
- Publication Date
- 2025-09-16
AI Technical Summary
The thermal management system of existing hydrogen refueling stations is inefficient under multiple supply paths and requires complex coolant storage and control systems, resulting in low equipment efficiency and large space occupation.
A common first coolant storage device and a common second coolant storage device are used to provide the first cooling medium and the second cooling medium for multiple supply paths respectively, and thermal management is achieved through multiple heat exchangers, which reduces mechanical interconnection and control complexity and improves equipment efficiency and space utilization.
The overall thermal efficiency and equipment availability of the hydrogen refueling station are improved, power consumption and space requirements are reduced, and the complexity and control difficulty of the cooling system are simplified.
Smart Images
Figure CN120659946A_ABST
Abstract
Description
[0001] The present invention relates to a method for providing a medium, in particular hydrogen, and in particular to heat management thereof. The invention also relates to a corresponding device, in particular a hydrogen filling station, and to the use of such a device.
[0002] For example, hydrogen used as a vehicle fuel can be supplied via so-called hydrogen refueling stations. In the case of hydrogen refueling stations, two system areas can generally be distinguished. The first system area involves the compression, storage, conditioning, and cooling of the hydrogen. The second system area includes the dispenser and associated refueling equipment, such as disconnect and refueling couplings and refueling hoses.
[0003] A particular challenge of such hydrogen filling stations or other equipment for supplying a medium is often thermal management. Summary of the Invention
[0004] This object is achieved by a method and a device for providing a medium and a use of the device having the features of the independent patent claims. Preferred embodiments are the subject matter of the dependent claims and the following description.
[0005] Advantages of the present invention
[0006] The present invention relates to providing a medium, particularly hydrogen, for example, at a hydrogen refueling station. A method and apparatus for providing a medium will be described below. In this context, the invention will also primarily be described with reference to hydrogen as the medium, using the example of a hydrogen refueling station. However, it should be noted that the method and apparatus are also applicable to other media, particularly gases or (initially) liquefied gases. In this context, oxygen or nitrogen, for example, are suitable, particularly by further utilizing the released heat energy to control their temperature.
[0007] The basic structure of such an apparatus comprises a first medium storage device, such as a tank for liquefied medium or hydrogen, a second medium storage device, such as one or more high-pressure reservoirs, and a distributor. A delivery unit, such as a pump, in particular a cryogenic pump, can then be provided, by means of which the medium is supplied from the first medium storage device to the second medium storage device. From there, the medium can then be supplied to the distributor in order to deliver the medium or hydrogen to a vehicle (or other consumer), for example as part of a refueling operation.
[0008] As mentioned previously, thermal management (or heat management) is an important aspect for such equipment or its operation, particularly in order to operate the equipment as efficiently and energy-efficiently as possible. For example, thermal management ensures that a medium, such as compressed hydrogen, can be supplied to the vehicle at a controlled temperature of, for example, up to -40°C. Furthermore, cooling of various components can be performed as part of thermal management. The required cooling capacity can be recovered, in particular, from the medium or hydrogen itself.
[0009] Hydrogen is typically stored in liquid form in the first medium storage device at a pressure of approximately 3 bar. However, under these conditions, hydrogen has a very low temperature, for example, approximately -253°C. For media other than hydrogen, the exact conditions such as temperature and pressure may also be different. Therefore, before buffering in the second medium storage device, the medium or hydrogen must generally first be heated to a higher temperature, for example, room temperature. For this purpose, a first heat exchanger (or heat exchangers) can be provided, and preferably a second heat exchanger can also be provided, through which the medium or hydrogen is supplied from the first medium storage device to the second medium storage device by means of a conveying unit.
[0010] In the first heat exchanger, the medium is heated with the help of a first coolant from a first coolant storage device (e.g., a coolant container, a so-called cold coolant container), for example, to approximately -90°C in the case of hydrogen. In this case, the first coolant is then cooled to, for example, approximately -43°C while flowing through the first heat exchanger, thereby recovering the cold heat energy of the hydrogen for further internal use. In the second heat exchanger, the medium is heated with the help of a second coolant from a second coolant storage device (e.g., a coolant container, a so-called hot coolant container), for example, to room temperature in the case of hydrogen. In this case, further cold heat energy is recovered, allowing the second coolant storage device to be maintained at approximately 20°C, for example. The second (or hot) coolant can be used to cool further components in the process, such as a delivery unit, such as an electrically or hydraulically driven pump or cryogenic pump (compressor). The first (or cold) coolant can be used to cool hot compressed hydrogen (or another medium) from a second medium storage device in a dispenser (or a refueling station during vehicle refueling). For this purpose, a dispenser heat exchanger can be provided, for example, as part of the dispenser.
[0011] The interconnection of various media flows and the resulting recovery of heat and cold energy enable high overall thermal efficiency. Furthermore, there is no need to install an additional chiller to cool the hot hydrogen to the required refueling temperature at the refueling tower. This improves the overall efficiency of the system due to reduced power consumption.
[0012] However, using only one distributor and one pump in a system only allows for a limited medium throughput. Therefore, to increase the throughput of such a system (e.g., a hydrogen refueling station), multiple delivery units can be used to supply the medium from the first medium storage device to the second medium storage device. To this end, multiple supply paths can be provided, each with one of the multiple delivery units. Furthermore, it is also possible to provide several distributors instead of just one, especially in the case of multiple supply paths, so that these distributors can also be fully supplied.
[0013] This is thus a compressed system with multiple parallel operations, allowing for high availability and flexibility. However, the thermal management system described above is customized for a single delivery unit; a simple multiple use of the thermal management described would in principle allow the operation of the device for each of the multiple supply paths, but would leave room for efficiency improvements and could also lead to certain problems.
[0014] In this context, it is recommended to provide each of the multiple supply paths with a delivery unit, such as a pump (e.g., a cryogenic pump or compressor) and a first heat exchanger, and in one embodiment, also with a second heat exchanger. However, for the multiple supply paths, a common first coolant reservoir with a first cooling medium is provided (only), wherein each of the first heat exchangers is supplied with the first cooling medium via the first coolant reservoir. In the case of a second heat exchanger, a common second coolant reservoir with a second cooling medium is also provided (only) for the multiple supply paths, wherein each of the second heat exchangers is supplied with the second cooling medium via the second coolant reservoir.
[0015] The first coolant storage device can then also supply the first cooling medium to one or each of the plurality of distributor heat exchangers.The second cooling medium from the second cooling device can also be used to cool one or more further components, such as a delivery unit.
[0016] The use of a common (or combined) first coolant reservoir, and in particular a common (or combined) second coolant reservoir, for all individual supply paths with delivery units ensures that all individual pumps can be thermally connected to one another without any problems. At the same time, the mechanical interconnection effort is significantly reduced compared to using several separate first or second coolant reservoirs (e.g., coolant containers), as valve blocks are not required. Furthermore, complex congestion monitoring and protection concepts with sophisticated control software are unnecessary. All of these measures ensure that every dispenser connected to the system is available at all times and is independent of the operation of the individual delivery units.
[0017] The use of a common first coolant storage device minimizes the ambient heat input into the first coolant circuit with the first coolant, since the total surface area facing the environment is significantly reduced by using a common first coolant storage device instead of a plurality of small interconnected coolant storage devices or containers. This improves the overall thermal efficiency of the device. Any remaining low heat input can be compensated by the above-mentioned cooling devices, such as integrated small cooling units. Thus, on the one hand, it is ensured that the common first coolant storage device can be kept at a constant temperature, regardless of the operation of the delivery unit. This makes it possible to provide the medium as needed, for example by refueling. On the other hand, the total consumption of the medium, in particular the liquefied hydrogen, is reduced, since repeated operation of the pump to maintain the temperature of the first (cold) coolant is no longer necessary. This improves the overall performance and efficiency of the device.
[0018] Furthermore, the use of a common first coolant storage device and a common second coolant storage device reduces the overall area of the device, ie the space requirement of a hydrogen filling station, for example, in particular compared to the use of several separate first or second coolant storage devices.
[0019] In this case, the first cooling medium and / or the second cooling medium are each preferably a liquid cooling medium, i.e. a coolant. The first and second heat exchangers are then correspondingly arranged to transfer thermal energy between the medium (e.g. hydrogen) and the liquid first and second cooling media. In cryogenic technology, so-called slat heat exchangers (or conventional air-to-medium heat exchangers or heat exchangers) can usually be used, which evaporate or heat the cryogenic medium by heat input from the environment. Due to the limited heat transfer on the air side, these usually have to be designed to be very large. In addition, the slats may freeze, which usually leads to a redundant design of such slat heat exchangers. Compared to the use of air (or other gaseous cooling media), the use of a liquid cooling medium or a correspondingly arranged heat exchanger or heat exchanger, i.e. a so-called cold carrier to medium heat exchanger or heat exchanger improves heat transfer while eliminating the need for redundant design.
[0020] The invention is schematically illustrated in the drawings based on exemplary embodiments and is described below with reference to the drawings. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0021] Figure 1 The device according to the invention is shown schematically in a preferred embodiment. DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0022] Figure 1 The schematic diagram shows a device 100 according to the invention in a preferred embodiment, in which the method according to the invention can also be carried out. The device 100 is used to provide a medium, such as hydrogen. For example, the device is a hydrogen filling station.
[0023] The system comprises a first medium storage device 111, a second medium storage device 112, and, for example, two distributors 140.1 and 140.2. The first medium storage device 111 can, in particular, be a tank for a liquefied medium M, such as liquefied hydrogen or another liquefied gas. For example, hydrogen can be stored at approximately 3 bar and a temperature of -253°C. The second medium storage device 112 can be a high-pressure storage device; it can, for example, comprise one or more high-pressure storage devices, particularly for a gaseous medium such as hydrogen. As an example, the second medium storage device 112 comprises two high-pressure storage devices 112.1 and 112.2, which can be operated in parallel.
[0024] As an example, each of the two dispensers 140.1 and 140.2 is supplied with a medium, such as hydrogen, from the second medium storage device 112. Hydrogen is supplied from the second medium storage device 112 to the dispenser. Dispenser 140.1, for example, includes a dispenser heat exchanger 141.1 and a refueling connection 142.1. Dispenser heat exchanger 141.1 allows the medium to be cooled to a desired or required temperature, for example, for the refueling process. For example, refueling connection 142.1 allows a connection to vehicle 190.1 or its fuel tank. It should be understood that dispenser 140.1 may optionally include other components required for refueling operations, but these are not relevant here. Dispenser 140.2, for example, includes a dispenser heat exchanger 141.2 and a refueling connection 142.2 to enable refueling of vehicle 190.2. The operating mode of dispenser 140.2 may correspond to the operating mode of dispenser 140.1. Thus, the apparatus 100 is configured to supply medium M from the second medium storage device 112 to each of the plurality of dispensers 140.1, 140.2. It will be appreciated that additional dispensers of this type (or other types) may also be provided, which would then also be supplied with medium from the second medium storage device 112 and could be used to refuel vehicles. It will be appreciated that, if desired, only one of the two dispensers shown may be used, for example, if one of the dispensers is defective, requires maintenance, or is otherwise unavailable. Similarly, any desired subset of more than two dispensers may be used.
[0025] Furthermore, the device 100 includes multiple supply paths, for example, two supply paths 120.1 and 120.2. In this context, a supply path can be understood to be a separate connection between the first media storage device 111 and the second media storage device 112, via which medium can be supplied from the first media storage device 111 to the second media storage device 112. Each supply path can operate independently of the other paths.
[0026] For each of the multiple supply paths, the apparatus 100 includes a conveying unit, such as a pump, in particular a cryogenic pump, a first heat exchanger, and, in one embodiment, a second heat exchanger. In the illustrated example, the supply path 120.1 includes a conveying unit 121.1, a first heat exchanger 131.1, and a second heat exchanger 132.1. By means of the conveying unit 121.1, the medium M can be supplied from the first medium storage device 111 via the first heat exchanger 131.1 to the second medium storage device 112, and then to the second heat exchanger 132.1. Furthermore, in the illustrated example, the supply path 120.2 includes a conveying unit 121.2, a first heat exchanger 131.2, and a second heat exchanger 132.2. By means of the conveying unit 121.2, the medium M can be supplied from the first medium storage device 111 via the first heat exchanger 131.2 to the second medium storage device 112, and then to the second heat exchanger 132.2. Thus, the two supply paths 120.1, 120.2 can in particular be constructed in the same way and can also be used in parallel in the same way. It will be appreciated that further supply paths of this type can also be provided, which can also be similar and parallel to the supply path shown.
[0027] The device 100 is configured to supply media M from the first media storage device 111 to the second media storage device 112 via each of a plurality of supply paths 120.1 and 120.2, as described above. It will be appreciated that, if desired, only one of the two supply paths shown may be used, for example, if one of the supply paths is defective, requires maintenance, or is otherwise unavailable. Similarly, in the case of more than two supply paths, any desired subset may be used.
[0028] Furthermore, for multiple supply paths, here two supply paths 120.1 and 120.2, the apparatus 100 includes a common first coolant reservoir 151 containing a first coolant K1. The second medium reservoir 112 can be, for example, a coolant tank. The apparatus 100 is configured to supply each first heat exchanger, i.e., first heat exchangers 131.1 and 131.2, with the first coolant K1 via the first coolant reservoir 151. This means, in particular, that the first coolant K1 is passed through each of the first heat exchangers 131.1 and 131.2 in order to heat the medium M, which is also passed through or through each of the first heat exchangers 131.1 and 131.2, to a desired temperature, as described above. In this case, the hydrogen serving as the medium can be heated to, for example, approximately -90°C, thereby cooling the first coolant K1 to, for example, approximately -43°C. Heat transfer occurs in the heat exchangers. As previously mentioned, a liquid first coolant is preferred. Suitable examples are mixtures of water and antifreeze agents, such as glycols (eg, ethylene glycol, propylene glycol, etc.) or salts (eg, potassium formate, etc.).
[0029] In one embodiment, the apparatus 100 is further configured to supply a first cooling medium K1 to each of the plurality of distributor heat exchangers, here distributor heat exchangers 141.1 and 141.2, via a first coolant storage device 151. In particular, this should also be understood to mean that the first cooling medium K1 is passed through each of the distributor heat exchangers 141.1 and 141.2 in order to cool the medium M, which is also passed or passed through each of the distributor heat exchangers 141.1 and 141.2, to the desired temperature for refueling. In this case, the hydrogen medium can be cooled to approximately -40°C, for example. Heat transfer occurs in the heat exchangers.
[0030] In one embodiment, the device 100 further comprises a cooling device 153, by means of which the first coolant K1 in the first coolant storage device 151 is cooled. The cooling device 153 can be, for example, an integrated small cooling unit with which any remaining low heat input, for example from the environment, can be compensated.
[0031] Furthermore, in one embodiment, the apparatus 100 includes a common second coolant reservoir 152 containing a second coolant medium K2 for multiple supply paths, in this case two supply paths 120.1 and 120.2. The second coolant reservoir 152 may be, for example, a coolant tank. The apparatus 100 is configured to supply each second heat exchanger, i.e., second heat exchangers 132.1 and 132.2, with the second coolant reservoir 152. This means, in particular, that the second coolant medium K2 is passed through each of the second heat exchangers 132.1 and 132.2 in order to heat the medium M, which is also passed through or through each of the second heat exchangers 132.1 and 132.2, to the desired temperature as described above. In this case, the hydrogen serving as the medium may, for example, be heated to approximately room temperature; in this case, the second coolant K2 may be maintained at approximately 20°C, for example. Heat transfer occurs in the heat exchangers. As previously mentioned, a liquid second coolant is preferred. Suitable examples are mixtures of water and antifreeze agents, such as glycols (eg, ethylene glycol, propylene glycol, etc.) or salts (eg, potassium formate, etc.).
[0032] For the first and second cooling media, in particular so-called cold carriers are used as cooling media, which have an operating temperature that is as low as possible.
[0033] In one embodiment, the device 100 is also configured to use the second cooling medium K2 from the second cooling device 152 to cool one or more other components; such a component is denoted here by 160 as an example and representative. Thus, for example, the conveyor units 121.1, 121.2 or their components (e.g., electronics, hydraulics) can be effectively cooled in this way.
Claims
1. A method for providing a medium (M), in particular hydrogen, wherein: The medium (M) is supplied from a first medium storage device (111) to a second medium storage device (112) via a plurality of supply paths (120.1, 120.2), wherein the medium (M) is supplied from the second medium storage device (112) to one or more dispensers (140.1, 140.2), for providing the medium, in particular for refueling a vehicle (190.1, 190.2), wherein, in each of the plurality of supply paths, the medium is supplied from the first medium storage device (111) to the second medium storage device (112) via a corresponding first heat exchanger (131.1, 131.2) by means of a conveying unit (121.1, 121.2), and Each of the first heat exchangers (131.1, 131.2) is supplied with a first, in particular liquid, cooling medium (K1) via a common first coolant storage device (151).
2. The method according to claim 1, wherein The medium (M) is supplied from the second medium storage device (112) to the one distributor through a distributor heat exchanger, or is supplied to the plurality of distributors through each of the plurality of distributor heat exchangers (141.1, 141.2) for supply.
3. The method according to claim 2, wherein: The first cooling medium (K1) is further supplied to one or each of the plurality of distributor heat exchangers (141.1, 141.2) via the first coolant storage device (151).
4. A method according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein The first coolant (K1) in the first coolant storage device (151) is also cooled by means of a cooling device (153).
5. A method according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein In each of the plurality of supply paths (120.1, 120.2), the medium is supplied from the first medium storage device (111) to the second medium storage device (112) by means of the conveying unit through the corresponding first heat exchanger (131.1, 131.2) and then through the corresponding second heat exchanger (132.1, 132.2), and Each of the second heat exchangers (132.1, 132.2) is supplied with a second, in particular liquid, cooling medium (K2) via a common second coolant storage device (152).
6. The method according to claim 5, wherein: The second cooling medium (K2) from the second cooling device is further used to cool one or more further components, in particular the conveyor unit.
7. The method according to claim 5 or 6, wherein: The first cooling medium (K1) is used at a temperature lower than that of the second cooling medium (K2).
8. A method according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein The medium (M) is stored in a liquefied form in the first medium storage device (111).
9. A method according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein Hydrogen was used as medium (M).
10. A device (100) for providing a medium (M), in particular hydrogen, wherein: The device (100) comprises a first medium storage device (111), a second medium storage device (112) and one or more dispensers (140.1, 140.2), The device (100) comprises a plurality of supply paths (120.1, 120.2), and for each of the plurality of supply paths, a conveying unit (121.1, 121.2) and a first heat exchanger, wherein the device (100) is configured to supply the medium from the first medium storage device (111) to the second medium storage device (112) via the first heat exchanger in each case by means of the conveying unit via each of the plurality of supply paths, wherein the device (100) is configured to supply the medium from the second medium storage device (112) to one or each of the plurality of dispensers (140.1, 140.2) for supply, in particular for refueling a vehicle, The device (100) has a common first coolant storage device (151) for the multiple supply paths, which has a first, in particular liquid, cooling medium, and wherein the device is configured to supply the first cooling medium to each of the first heat exchangers via the first coolant storage device.
11. The apparatus (100) according to claim 10, further comprising a respective second heat exchanger (132.1, 132.2) for each of the plurality of supply paths, in, The device (100) is configured to supply the medium from the first medium storage device to the second medium storage device, in each case by means of the conveying unit via each of the plurality of supply paths through the first heat exchanger and subsequently through the second heat exchanger, The device (100) has a common second coolant storage device (152) for the plurality of supply paths, which has a second, in particular liquid, cooling medium, and the device is configured to supply each of the second heat exchangers with the second cooling medium via the second coolant storage device.
12. The device (100) according to claim 10 or 11, which is arranged to perform the method according to any one of claims 1 to 9.
13. The device (100) according to any one of claims 10 to 12, which is configured as a hydrogen filling station.
14. Use of the device (100) according to any one of claims 10 to 12 for refueling a vehicle using hydrogen as a medium.