High Pressure Gas Storage Systems

Abstract

To suppress an increase in the manufacturing cost of a high pressure gas storage system.SOLUTION: The high pressure gas storage system for storing high pressure gas filled from a gas filling device includes a plurality of tanks having the same volume, and a common gas filling path to which the plurality of tanks are connected in parallel to one another, where the high pressure gas to be supplied to the plurality of tanks flows. In the tanks out of the plurality of tanks, including at least the tank closest to an inflow port of the common gas filling path into which the high pressure gas flows and having a number smaller than the total number of the plurality of tanks, temperature sensors are provided for measuring the temperature of the internal of the tank, respectively.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present disclosure relates to high pressure gas storage systems. [Background technology]

[0002] Fuel cell vehicles may be equipped with multiple tanks for storing high-pressure gas such as hydrogen gas. Such tanks are filled with high-pressure gas from a gas station. A high-pressure gas filling method is known in which a sensor installed in advance in each tank measures the temperature of the gas filled in each tank, and the gas station measures the pressure of the gas being supplied, and determines whether or not filling of each tank with high-pressure gas has been completed based on these measured values ​​(Patent Document 1). [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] JP 2017-53458 A Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] However, installing sensors in all tanks increases the manufacturing costs of the high-pressure gas storage system. [Means for solving the problem]

[0005] The present disclosure can be realized in the following forms. [Mode 1] A high-pressure gas storage system for storing high-pressure gas filled from a gas filling device, comprising: a plurality of tanks each having the same volume; and a common gas filling line through which the plurality of tanks are connected in parallel to each other and through which the high-pressure gas supplied to the plurality of tanks flows; the common gas filling line includes at least one of the plurality of tanks that is closest to an inlet through which the high-pressure gas flows in the common gas filling line; and a number of tanks less than the total number of the plurality of tanks are provided with temperature sensors for measuring temperatures within the tanks; A high-pressure gas storage system, wherein the temperature sensor is provided in a tank among the plurality of tanks that is furthest from the inlet.

[0006] (1) According to one embodiment of the present disclosure, there is provided a high-pressure gas storage system for storing high-pressure gas filled from a gas filling device, the high-pressure gas storage system comprising: a plurality of tanks having the same volume; a common gas filling path in which the plurality of tanks are connected in parallel to each other and through which the high-pressure gas supplied to the plurality of tanks flows; and a number of tanks, including at least a tank that is closest to an inlet through which the high-pressure gas flows in the common gas filling path, that is less than the total number of the plurality of tanks, that are provided with temperature sensors for measuring temperatures inside the tanks. According to this form of high-pressure gas storage system, since the number of temperature sensors is less than the total number of the installed tanks, the increase in manufacturing cost of the high-pressure gas storage system can be suppressed compared to a configuration in which a temperature sensor is provided in every tank. In addition, since at least the temperature sensor is provided in the tank closest to the inlet where the density of the high-pressure gas is the highest, the filling rate of the high-pressure gas can be suppressed from becoming higher than a predetermined filling rate by monitoring the temperature measured by the temperature sensor. (2) In the above embodiment, the multiple tanks may be arranged in parallel with each other such that their central axes are parallel to one another. According to this form of high-pressure gas storage system, by arranging multiple tanks in parallel with their respective central axes parallel to each other, the space required for arranging the tanks can be reduced, and a reduction in the freedom of arrangement of the high-pressure gas storage system can be suppressed. (3) In the above embodiment, the temperature sensor may be provided only in a tank that is closest to the inlet among the plurality of tanks. According to this form of high-pressure gas storage system, only the tank closest to the inlet is equipped with a temperature sensor, so that increases in the manufacturing costs of the high-pressure gas storage system can be further suppressed. (4) In the above embodiment, the temperature sensor may be provided in a tank among the plurality of tanks that is farthest from the inlet. In this form of high-pressure gas storage system, a temperature sensor is provided in the tank which is farthest from the inlet and where the temperature of the high-pressure gas is the highest. By monitoring the temperature measured by this temperature sensor, the temperature of the high-pressure gas can be prevented from becoming excessively high. (5) In the above embodiment, a filling nozzle of the gas filling device may be connected to the inlet, and the gas filling device may further include a communication device for notifying the gas filling device of information indicating the temperature measured by the temperature sensor. According to this embodiment of the high-pressure gas storage system, when the temperature measured by the temperature sensor becomes excessively high, the temperature information can be notified to the gas filling device. The gas filling device can use the received temperature information to control the supply amount of high-pressure gas and stop the supply, thereby preventing a decrease in the safety of the high-pressure gas storage system. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0007] [Figure 1] 1 is an explanatory diagram showing the configuration of a high-pressure gas storage system according to a first embodiment. [Diagram 2] FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view showing the installation position of a temperature sensor in the tank. [Diagram 3] FIG. 11 is an explanatory diagram showing the configuration of a high-pressure gas storage system according to a second embodiment. [Figure 4] FIG. 11 is an explanatory diagram showing the configuration of a high-pressure gas storage system according to another embodiment. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0008] A. First embodiment: 1 is an explanatory diagram showing a schematic configuration of a high-pressure gas storage system 10 of the first embodiment. The high-pressure gas storage system 10 of this embodiment is a system that stores hydrogen gas supplied from a hydrogen station 20. The high-pressure gas storage system 10 is mounted, for example, on a fuel cell vehicle that uses a fuel cell as a drive source, and supplies the stored hydrogen gas as fuel gas for the fuel cell. The hydrogen station 20 corresponds to the "gas filling device" in this disclosure.

[0009] The hydrogen station 20 includes a storage tank 210 , a compressor 220 , a delivery valve 230 , a precooler 240 , a filling nozzle 250 , a receiver 260 , and a station controller 270 .

[0010] The storage tank 210 stores hydrogen gas to be supplied to the high-pressure gas storage system 10. The compressor 220 compresses the hydrogen gas stored in the storage tank 210 and adjusts the rate at which the hydrogen gas is pressurized. The delivery valve 230 changes the opening and closing degree of the valve to deliver or block the hydrogen gas delivered from the compressor 220, thereby adjusting the amount of hydrogen gas delivered and stopping the delivery. The precooler 240 cools the hydrogen gas below the freezing point in order to suppress an excessive temperature rise of the hydrogen gas when the hydrogen gas is supplied to the high-pressure gas storage system 10. The hydrogen gas cooled by the precooler 240 is supplied to the high-pressure gas storage system 10 through the filling nozzle 250. In addition, a pressure sensor P for measuring the pressure of the hydrogen gas to be delivered is provided in the piping connecting the precooler 240 and the filling nozzle 250. The pressure information acquired by the pressure sensor P is transmitted to the station controller 270.

[0011] The station controller 270 controls the compressor 220 and the delivery valve 230 so that the pressure increase rate and delivery amount do not exceed the temperature (85°C) and filling rate (100%) specified by the SAE standard. In addition to the pressure information described above, the station controller 270 also acquires temperature information sent from the high-pressure gas storage system 10, which will be described later, via the receiver 260. The station controller 270 uses this acquired information to calculate the hydrogen filling rate in the high-pressure gas storage system 10. When the filling rate reaches a preset value, the station controller 270 controls the delivery valve 230 to stop the delivery of hydrogen gas.

[0012] The high pressure gas storage system 10 includes a receptacle 110, a manifold 120, tanks 131 to 140, a communication filling ECU 150, and a transmitter 160.

[0013] The receptacle 110 is connected to the filling nozzle 250, and allows the hydrogen gas supplied from the filling nozzle 250 to flow into the high-pressure gas storage system 10. The receptacle 110 is connected to an inlet 121 of the manifold 120, and allows the hydrogen gas to flow from the receptacle 110 to the manifold 120.

[0014] Manifold 120 has common gas filling passage 122 therein. One end of common gas filling passage 122 is connected to inlet 121, and hydrogen gas flowing in from inlet 121 flows through common gas filling passage 122. The other end of common gas filling passage 122 branches into multiple paths, and at each of the branched ends, common gas filling passage 122 is connected to tanks 131-140. In this way, tanks 131-140 are connected to hydrogen station 20 via receptacle 110 and manifold 120, and are supplied with hydrogen gas.

[0015] The tanks 131-140 are arranged in order from the tank 131 such that the distance between the inlet 121 and the connection parts J1-J10 between each tank 131 and the common gas filling path 122 increases. Also, the tanks 131-140 are arranged in parallel with each other such that their central axes are parallel to each other.

[0016] Each of the tanks 131-140 is manufactured to comply with the specifications defined by SAEJ2601. In this embodiment, each of the tanks 131-140 has the same outer shape with a diameter of 100 mm and a length of 1800 mm, and the tanks have the same volume. The outer shape of the high-pressure gas storage system 10 in which the tanks 131-140 having such shapes are arranged in parallel is approximately the same size as a battery generally mounted on an electric vehicle, so that the reduction in the degree of freedom in the arrangement of the high-pressure gas storage system 10 is suppressed. This makes it possible to design a vehicle body shape that has been designed exclusively for fuel cell vehicles in the past so that it can be used with electric vehicles.

[0017] In this embodiment, among the tanks 131-140, only the tank 131 closest to the inlet 121 is provided with a temperature sensor T1. Fig. 2 is a cross-sectional view showing the installation position of the temperature sensor T1 inside the tank 131. In this embodiment, as shown in Fig. 2, the temperature sensor T1 is installed inside the tank 131 at an end portion facing the connection part J1.

[0018] The temperature sensor T1 measures the temperature inside the tank 131. The temperature sensor T1 transmits the measured temperature information inside the tank 131 to the communication filling ECU 150. The communication filling ECU 150 transmits the received temperature information to the hydrogen station 20 via the transmitter 160. Furthermore, if the temperature sensor T1 detects an excessive rise in temperature, the communication filling ECU 150 may transmit an abort signal to the hydrogen station 20 requesting that the supply of hydrogen gas be stopped. In this embodiment, the transmitter 160 and the above-mentioned receiver 260 are configured as infrared communication devices. Note that the transmitter 160 and the receiver 260 are not limited to this, and may be configured, for example, as communication devices connected to each other by a signal line.

[0019] In this embodiment, since the tank 131 is closest to the inlet 121, the flow rate of the hydrogen gas flowing into the tank 131 is faster than that of the hydrogen gas flowing into the other tanks 132 to 140. Since the pressure loss increases as the flow rate increases, the filling pressure of the hydrogen gas into the tank 131 is smaller than that of the hydrogen gas supplied to the other tanks 132 to 140. The hydrogen gas is adiabatically compressed when supplied to the tank, and the gas temperature increases. Since the degree of temperature increase due to adiabatic compression decreases as the filling pressure decreases, the temperature of the hydrogen gas supplied to the tank 131 is lower than that of the hydrogen gas supplied to the other tanks 132 to 140. Therefore, the density of the hydrogen gas supplied to the tank 131 is higher than that of the hydrogen gas supplied to the other tanks 132 to 140. Therefore, if the filling rate of the hydrogen gas in the tank 131 does not exceed the specified filling rate, it can be said that the filling rate of the other tanks 132 to 140 does not exceed the specified filling rate either. Therefore, by providing a temperature sensor T1 at least in the tank 131 and monitoring the temperature, the filling rate of hydrogen gas in the entire high-pressure gas storage system 10 can be prevented from becoming higher than a predetermined filling rate.

[0020] According to the high pressure gas storage system 10 described above, only the tank 131 is provided with the temperature sensor T1, which makes it possible to suppress an increase in the manufacturing cost of the high pressure gas storage system 10 compared to a configuration in which a temperature sensor is provided in all of the tanks 131 to 140. In addition, since the temperature sensor T1 is provided in the tank 131 which is closest to the inlet 121 and has the highest hydrogen gas density, by monitoring the temperature measured by the temperature sensor T1, it is possible to prevent the hydrogen gas filling rate from becoming higher than a predetermined filling rate.

[0021] Furthermore, by arranging the tanks 131 to 140 in parallel with their respective central axes being parallel to one another, the space required for arranging the tanks 131 to 140 can be reduced, and the degree of freedom in arranging the high-pressure gas storage system 10 can be prevented from decreasing.

[0022] Furthermore, since the high-pressure gas storage system 10 is equipped with a transmitter 160, if the temperature measured by the temperature sensor T1 becomes excessively high, such temperature information can be notified to the hydrogen station 20. The hydrogen station 20 can use the received temperature information to control the amount of hydrogen gas supply or stop the supply, thereby preventing a decrease in the safety of the high-pressure gas storage system 10.

[0023] B. Second embodiment Fig. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing a schematic configuration of a high-pressure gas storage system 10A of the second embodiment. As shown in Fig. 3, the high-pressure gas storage system 10A of the second embodiment is different from the high-pressure gas storage system 10 of the first embodiment in that the high-pressure gas storage system 10A of the second embodiment is provided with a temperature sensor T2 in the tank 140 in addition to the temperature sensor T1 installed in the tank 131. Note that other configurations of the high-pressure gas storage system 10A of the second embodiment are the same as those of the high-pressure gas storage system 10 of the first embodiment, so the same configurations are denoted by the same reference numerals and detailed description thereof will be omitted.

[0024] Temperature sensor T2 is disposed inside tank 140 at an end opposite connecting part J10, similar to the installation position of temperature sensor T1 inside tank 131 shown in Fig. 2. Temperature sensor T2 measures the temperature inside tank 140. Temperature information measured by temperature sensor T2 is transmitted to hydrogen station 20 via communicative filling ECU 150 and transmitter 160, similar to temperature information measured by temperature sensor T1.

[0025] As shown in FIG. 3, since the tank 140 is the furthest from the inlet 121, the flow rate of the hydrogen gas flowing into the tank 140 is slower than that of the hydrogen gas flowing into the other tanks 131-139. Therefore, the pressure loss is small, and the filling pressure of the hydrogen gas into the tank 140 is higher than that of the hydrogen gas supplied to the other tanks 131-139. The higher the filling pressure, the greater the degree of temperature rise due to adiabatic compression, so the temperature of the hydrogen gas supplied to the tank 140 is higher than that of the hydrogen gas supplied to the other tanks 131-139. Therefore, if the temperature inside the tank 140 does not exceed a specified temperature, it can be said that the temperatures inside the other tanks 131-139 do not exceed a specified temperature. Therefore, by providing a temperature sensor T2 in the tank 140 to monitor the temperature, it is possible to prevent the temperature of the hydrogen gas from becoming excessively high in the entire high-pressure gas storage system 10A.

[0026] The high-pressure gas storage system 10A of the second embodiment described above provides the same effects as the high-pressure gas storage system 10 of the first embodiment. In addition, since the temperature sensor T2 is provided in the tank 140 which is the furthest from the inlet 121 and where the temperature of the hydrogen gas is the highest, the temperature measured by the temperature sensor T2 can be monitored to prevent the temperature of the hydrogen gas from becoming excessively high.

[0027] C. Other Embodiments (C1) In the first embodiment, the high-pressure gas storage system 10 includes only one temperature sensor, but the present disclosure is not limited to this. In the high-pressure gas storage system 10, a temperature sensor may be provided in any number of tanks including at least the tank 131, which number is less than the total number of the tanks 131-140. Even in this embodiment, the increase in manufacturing costs of the high-pressure gas storage system 10 can be suppressed compared to the case where a temperature sensor is provided in all of the tanks 131-140.

[0028] (C2) In the above embodiment, the tanks 131-140 are arranged in parallel in order from the tank 131 so that the distance from the inlet 121 to the connection parts J1-J10 with the common gas filling path 122 increases, but the present disclosure is not limited to this. FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing a schematic configuration of a high-pressure gas storage system 10B of another embodiment. As shown in FIG. 4, in the high-pressure gas storage system 10B, the tanks 131-140 may be arranged symmetrically with respect to the inlet 121B. Even in such a configuration, by installing a temperature sensor T1 in at least one of the tanks 131, the tank 135 and the tank 136, which are closest to the inlet 121B, the same effect as the high-pressure gas storage system 10 of the first embodiment can be achieved. In the example shown in FIG. 4, the tank 136 is equipped with a temperature sensor T1. Also, by installing a temperature sensor T2 in at least one of the tanks 131 and the tank 140, which are farthest from the inlet 121B, the same effect as the high-pressure gas storage system 10A of the second embodiment can be achieved. In the example shown in FIG. 4, the tank 131 is equipped with a temperature sensor T2.

[0029] The present disclosure is not limited to the above-mentioned embodiment, and can be realized in various configurations without departing from the spirit of the present disclosure. For example, the technical features in the embodiments corresponding to the technical features in each aspect described in the Summary of the Invention column can be appropriately replaced or combined to solve some or all of the above-mentioned problems or to achieve some or all of the above-mentioned effects. Furthermore, if the technical feature is not described as essential in this specification, it can be appropriately deleted. [Explanation of symbols]

[0030] 10, 10A, 10B...High pressure gas storage system, 20...Hydrogen station, 110...Receptacle, 120...Manifold, 121...Inlet, 122...Common gas filling path, 131-140...Tank, 150...Communication filling ECU, 160...Transmitter, 210...Storage tank, 220...Compressor, 230...Delivery valve, 240...Precooler, 250...Filling nozzle, 260...Receiver, 270...Station controller, J1-J10...Connection, P...Pressure sensor, T1, T2...Temperature sensor

Claims

1. A high-pressure gas storage system that stores high-pressure gas filled from a gas filling device, A plurality of tanks having the same volume; a common gas filling passage through which the plurality of tanks are connected in parallel to each other and through which the high-pressure gas supplied to the plurality of tanks flows; Equipped with Among the plurality of tanks, at least the tank closest to an inlet through which the high-pressure gas flows in the common gas filling path is provided with a temperature sensor for measuring a temperature inside the tank, the number of tanks being less than the total number of the plurality of tanks; The temperature sensor is provided in a tank among the plurality of tanks that is farthest from the inlet. High pressure gas storage systems.

2. 2. The high pressure gas storage system of claim 1, The plurality of tanks are arranged in parallel such that their respective central axes are parallel to each other. High pressure gas storage systems.

3. The high pressure gas storage system according to claim 1 or 2, A filling nozzle of the gas filling device is connected to the inlet, and a communication device for notifying the gas filling device of information indicating the temperature measured by the temperature sensor. High pressure gas storage systems.

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