Transfer device

Abstract

The transfer device for fluids has an inlet (12), an outlet (14) and a transfer part (10) connected therebetween and operable by a drive part (18), characterized in that the transfer part (10) comprises a fluid-tight media separation device (16) having a variable chamber volume, the media separation device being fluidly connected via its receiving chamber (21) to the inlet (12) or the outlet (14) and adapted by the drive part (18) to receive fluid via the inlet (12) while increasing the chamber volume as part of a suction stroke and to expel the received fluid via the outlet (14) while decreasing the chamber volume as part of a discharge stroke.

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a fluid transfer device having an inlet, an outlet, and a transfer portion connected between the inlet and the outlet and operable by a driving unit. [Background Art]

[0002] Patent Document 1 discloses a transfer device for improving energy efficiency in a hydraulic system, comprising: an actuator that operates as a consumer of hydraulic energy in one operating state and operates as a producer of hydraulic energy in another operating state; and a hydraulic accumulator that can be charged by the actuator to store energy in one operating state of the actuator and can be discharged to supply energy to the actuator in another operating state. A discontinuously adjustable hydraulic piston accumulator, in which a plurality of pressure chambers adjacent to working regions of different sizes on the fluid side of an accumulator piston are formed, functions as the hydraulic accumulator. Furthermore, an actuating device is provided that connects one or more selected pressure chambers of the piston accumulator to the actuator in accordance with respective pressure levels applied to the gas side of the piston accumulator and the actuator.

[0003] As a result, energy can be reused regardless of the pre-filling pressure on the gas side of the accumulator and regardless of the respective load pressures. This is because, by selecting an effective area of ​​appropriate size, each desired pressure level in the accumulator can be utilized for charging or discharge. This enables optimal energy conversion in all operating conditions. Known multi-piston arrangements for piston accumulators require seals, such as metal piston rings or rubber elastic plastic seals, to seal the individual piston chambers from each other. Due to the large forces and pressures generated during operation, the use of lubricants is usually additionally required to minimize the generated frictional forces, reduce wear, and create a seal that is as leak-free as possible. Nevertheless, leakage cannot be avoided, and both the individual pistons and associated seals wear down due to friction. These wear particles are usually small, but still contaminate the gas or liquid being transported, some of which are of high purity and can only be removed by extremely sophisticated filtering means in the fluid flow. [Prior art documents] [Patent Documents]

[0004] [Patent Document 1] International Publication No. 2013 / 079222 [Overview of the project] [Problems that the invention aims to solve]

[0005] Based on this prior art, the object of the present invention is to improve upon known solutions to provide a leak-free transfer device that can prevent contaminants from entering the fluid being transferred or compressed. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] This problem is solved by a transfer device that has all the features of claim 1 of the patent.

[0007] Based on the feature portion of claim 1, the transfer unit has a fluid-tight medium separator having a variable chamber volume, which is connected to an inlet or outlet by fluid conduction via its containment chamber, and is driven by a unit that contains fluid through the inlet as part of an intake stroke, increasing the chamber volume, and discharges the contained fluid through the outlet as part of the stroke, decreasing the chamber volume, thus ensuring that no leaks occur in the transfer unit and that no contaminants enter the fluid being transferred or compressed. The fluid-tight medium separator prevents the medium from the drive side from reaching the fluid on the transfer side, thus also preventing contaminants from entering the transfer fluid side. The transfer device according to the present invention can transfer not only incompressible fluids such as all kinds of liquids, but also compressible media in the form of high-purity gases such as hydrogen that are compressed during the process. It can also transfer or compress fluids composed of compressible and incompressible parts. In this respect, the undesirable ingress of working gas into the liquid side is also prevented.

[0008] In a preferred embodiment of the transfer device according to the present invention, the medium separator is formed of a bellows, which is driven externally by a drive unit such that the internal chamber volume of the bellows increases during the suction stroke and decreases during the discharge stroke. In practice, a bellows of the form of a conventional bellows, typically used as a medium separator, is considered to completely seal the medium. That is, the medium cannot pass through the bellows wall from the inside to the outside or vice versa, and because it is properly constructed of stainless steel, the medium separator is also considered to be resistant to embrittlement in hydrogen applications. Based on the folded shape of the bellows, the storage and discharge volumes are relatively small in terms of volume compared to other hydraulic accumulators, such as bladder accumulators; compared to elastomer accumulators, transfer operations can be achieved with a high cycle time, during which the individual bellows pleats are in complete contact with each other while the bellows is contracted, thus stabilizing the overall arrangement of the bellows and avoiding malfunctions.

[0009] In a further preferred embodiment of the transfer device according to the present invention, the drive unit has a hydraulic working cylinder controllable by a hydraulic drive and a main valve. In this way, the operation of the transfer unit, which can also act as a compressor, is controlled using conventional hydraulic components for the drive unit. The aforementioned components of the drive unit are standardized and therefore can be easily adapted to desired transfer and compression outputs for the transfer unit or compressor.

[0010] In a further preferred embodiment of the transfer device according to the present invention, the hydraulic working cylinder having a piston-rod unit is provided to preferably use a metering chamber of a predefined metering volume on the piston side to predefined the suction and discharge strokes for the transfer section, and preferably on the rod side, the working cylinder is actuated via a main valve. This metering volume is substantially incompressible, and as a result, the motion of the hydraulic working cylinder as a so-called pump cylinder is transmitted to the media separator without loss or delay. In particular, in the case of low flow rates and low pressures, the function can also be switched from the piston side to the rod side. In this way, bidirectional pressure transmission is possible.

[0011] In a particularly preferred embodiment of the transfer device according to the present invention, a further transfer section is provided that performs a discharge stroke to obtain a uniform transfer flow rate, while the other transfer section performs an intake stroke, and vice versa. In this way, the transfer device can be operated substantially continuously by ensuring that one transfer section always discharges pressurized fluid and the other transfer section fills with fluid in the intake stroke for the next discharge stroke. In this case, it is advantageous that the further transfer section is connected to a working cylinder having a second piston connected to a piston rod via a first piston for one metering chamber, thereby forming a further metering chamber having a predetermined metering volume. In this way, the transfer device can be operated by synchronizing the two transfer sections with only one working cylinder or pump cylinder.

[0012] In a further preferred embodiment of the transfer device according to the present invention, each transfer section functions as a compression section for transferring gas, two compression sections form a single-stage compressor, and connecting multiple single-stage compressors together results in a single multi-stage compressor. In this way, the low pressure present on the gas inlet side becomes a relatively high intermediate pressure by the first compressor stage, and this intermediate pressure is converted to a high pressure by the second compressor stage on the gas outlet side.

[0013] In a further preferred embodiment of the transfer device according to the present invention, at least one metering unit is provided to introduce or extract a small amount of metering volume into or from each metering chamber, particularly to compensate for leakage in the working cylinder. This metering unit can preferably be used to add a small amount of volume to the metering volume of the working cylinder or pump cylinder, or, if necessary, to extract volume from this metering volume. For this purpose, each metering unit is preferably connected to a metering addition unit or a metering extraction unit by a metering valve, and each metering unit may be protected by a secondary pressure protection device. The metering valve can be used to perform a very precise metering process and may preferably consist of a pressure relief valve. The aforementioned secondary pressure protection device serves to protect against overload.

[0014] Furthermore, preferably, the position of the working cylinder can be detected via an end position monitoring device. In this way, it is possible to monitor the function of the working cylinder or pump cylinder, and in this case, other types of cylinder monitoring devices can be used instead of the end position monitoring device.

[0015] In a further preferred embodiment of the transfer device according to the present invention, the transfer flow is homogenized by a hydraulic accumulator, particularly in the form of a medium-pressure and high-pressure gas accumulator. Therefore, even with only one transfer section having an intermittent transfer stroke, it is possible to achieve a homogenized transfer flow within the range of gas transfer.

[0016] In a further preferred embodiment of the transfer apparatus according to the present invention, at least one cooling device is inserted between each compressor stage. In particular, when multi-stage compression is used to transfer and compress a gas such as hydrogen, the temperature rises significantly, leading to undesirable expansion of the gas, which in turn results in an increase in the driving force required in each transfer or compression section. It has been shown that this can be prevented by the aforementioned intermediate cooling between the compressor stages.

[0017] In a further preferred embodiment of the transfer device according to the present invention, it is provided that the fluid flow, particularly the gas flow, is monitored at the discharge side of each compression section using a contaminant sensor. If even unlikely contaminants are detected, the relevant equipment part of the transfer device must be able to be immediately shut down so that the contaminated or unusable part can be replaced as part of maintenance. In particular, when transferring or transporting high-purity gases such as hydrogen, particulate contaminants must not be introduced into the gas flow, within the scope of intended use, for example, in fuel cell drives.

[0018] The compressor solution according to the present invention, through its modular design, facilitates not only the adaptation of the compressor to the required mass flow by appropriately scaling the media separator according to size and number, but also the adaptation of the compression ratio itself. Furthermore, in the field of control, the associated hydraulic control circuit with its components is single and is not executed multiple times for multiple transfer and compression units. Therefore, a preferred use of the transfer device is to provide stepwise compression of hydrogen gas using individual identical compressor components, which is not found in the prior art.

[0019] The transfer device according to the present invention will be described in more detail below with reference to embodiments shown in the drawings. The drawings are shown in principle and do not indicate scale: [Brief explanation of the drawing]

[0020] [Figure 1] Figure 1 shows the constituent elements of the transfer part of a transfer device. [Figure 2] Figure 2 shows a transfer device having two transfer parts controlled by a common drive part. [Figure 3] Figure 3 shows an implementation of the solution according to Figure 2 with a fluid component. [Figure 4] Figure 4 shows a sequence of two transfer devices shown in Figure 2, which form the entire transfer device. [Figure 5] Figure 5 shows a transfer device implemented by individual constituent elements based on the principle diagram shown in Figure 4. [Figure 6] Figure 6 shows one type of contaminant sensor. [Figure 7] Figure 7 shows another type of contaminant sensor. MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

[0021] In Figure 1, the transfer part, indicated generally by reference numeral 10, is connected to an inlet 12 and an outlet 14 in a fluid-conducting manner. Furthermore, the transfer part 10 comprises a media separation device 16 in the form of a bellows, particularly in the form of a pleated bellows. The media separation device 16 in the form of a bellows is preferably made of metal, and separates the liquid in the metering volume outside the bellows from the fluid transferred or compressed inside the bellows in a sealed manner. As long as the transfer part 10 is used for transferring a gas such as hydrogen gas, the transfer part 10 functions similarly as a compression part. In one embodiment, the pleated bellows itself is made of a very thin metal sheet, and is configured to be highly elastic such that the pressure applied from the outside and the pressure prevailing inside the bellows differ by less than 0.1 bar (less than 10 kPa). This means that the externally hydraulically applied pressure, which can be on the order of almost 1000 bar (100,000 kPa), is transmitted to the fluid inside the bellows with almost no loss.

[0022] The stroke volume of the media separator 16 or the bellows is designed to be greater than the displacement of the metered volume that can occur due to the maximum movement of the pump cylinder of the drive unit 18 (Figure 2) with a defined clearance at the end position, so as not to cause forced over-expansion of the bellows as a result of the pressure difference generated through the bellows. Therefore, it is designed to be greater than the displacement of the metered volume that can occur due to the maximum movement of the pump cylinder of the drive unit 18 (Figure 2) with a defined clearance at the end position. To monitor this condition, the drive unit 18 is provided with a monitoring device, which will be described in detail later, and two end position monitoring devices 20 for the media separator 16, which are positioned opposite each other and can detect any deviation at this point. This type of deviation occurs because a leak occurs in the drive unit 18, causing an increase or decrease in the metered volume of the transfer unit 10. This also inevitably results in a displacement of the bellows, which, if it exceeds its allowable expansion, can lead to damage to the bellows.

[0023] The media separation device 16 shown in Figure 1 performs essentially two functions: On the one hand, it separates the two fluids of the system—hydraulic fluid used in the metered volume and high-purity gas that is transported and compressed as needed—from each other, while on the other hand, it performs the actual transport and compressor functions.

[0024] To separate the fluid system, the bellows-type media separator 16 enables sealed separation, and for transfer and compression functions, the bellows maintain high elastic deformability with a large stroke volume. Furthermore, during the compression process, extremely high gas temperatures are generated in the gas chamber, i.e., in the internal space of the bellows or in the containment chamber 21, depending on the desired compression ratio, and this gas chamber must withstand this without damage. This requirement can be met with a well-designed metal bellows.

[0025] For transfer and compression functions, the media separator 16 is equipped with valves in the form of two check valves 22 acting in opposite directions, acting as so-called compression valves. To allow the bellows-type media separator 16 to be easily removed during maintenance without significant gas loss, the media separator has a switchable directional control valve 24 on the inlet 12 side of the associated fluid duct, which, in the shut-off state, blocks fluid access to the interior of the bellows through the inlet 12, according to the diagram shown in Figure 1. Since maintenance should be performed as easily and quickly as possible, for this purpose, a defined separation joint 26 is provided as a standardizable interface, allowing for the rapid replacement of each media separator 16. In a preferred embodiment, such a separation point 27 may also extend directly above the bellows. Similarly, a discharge device 28 is provided to safely discharge fluids such as residual gas in the transfer section 10 before disassembling the media separator 16. The two check valves 22 are associated with independent fluid lines, the inlet 12 and the outlet 14, respectively, leading to the media separator 16. However, there is also an option (not shown) to provide only a single line connected to the media separator 16, branching in a T-shape at opposing ends, with one branch of the line forming an inlet 12 and the other branch of the line forming an outlet 14. Similar to the check valve 22, one check valve is used for each associated branch of the line to ensure unobstructed supply and discharge of fluid and to prevent unwanted backflow toward the fluid source during the transfer stroke by the media separator 16.

[0026] The proper functioning of the media separator 16 is constantly monitored, in particular, by two signal transmitters 20 of the end position monitoring device that notify when the relevant end position is reached during the stroke of the metal bellows. When the metal bellows is in the fully extended position at the maximum chamber volume, the lower end position monitoring device 20, as viewed from the direction in Figure 1, is activated, and when it reaches the minimum chamber volume at the maximum transfer stroke, the upper end position monitoring device 20 is activated.

[0027] Furthermore, as illustrated in Figures 6 and 7, for example, a contaminant sensor 30 is positioned on the outlet side of the transfer unit 10, and the contaminant sensor 30 monitors the leak-proof sealing of the metal bellows.

[0028] The upper end of the bellows is connected to a separation plate 32 that divides the housing 34 of the transfer unit 10 into two separate chambers, and a contaminant sensor 32 is located in the upper chamber and also at a detection point for the discharge device 28 on the inlet side of the transfer unit. The second lower chamber houses the bellows, which is sealed at the bottom by a bellows plate 36, and between the outside of the bellows and the inside of the associated housing portion, there is an intermediate chamber or fluid chamber 38 which communicates with the drive unit 18 via a fluid conduction connection 40 and forms a connection for the drive metering volume of the drive unit 18 for operating the transfer unit or compression unit 10.

[0029] The possible directions of fluid flow are indicated by arrows in Figure 1. Therefore, when the bellows is extended by the drive unit 18 and the directional control valve 24 is switched to its fluid-transmitting position, the fluid to be transferred flows into the bellows' housing chamber 21 via the inlet 12 and the right-side compression valve 22 in the line of sight of Figure 1. At this point, the suction stroke is achieved via the media separator 16. Here again, with proper control of the drive unit 18, the bellows plate 36 moves upward, reducing the bellows volume, so that the fluid stockpiled in the bellows during the suction stroke passes through the contaminant sensor 30 and, when the left-side compression valve 22 is forcibly opened, reaches the outlet 14 of the transfer or compression unit 10. During the corresponding discharge stroke via the outlet 14, the right-side check valve or compression valve 22 is closed to prevent the fluid from unintentionally flowing back into the inlet 12 during the discharge stroke. The execution of these suction and discharge strokes is achieved rapidly and continuously by the drive unit 18, which will be described in detail below.

[0030] Of course, during the operation of the transfer unit or compression unit 10 shown in Figure 1, a transfer pause occurs, which is inevitably formed by the suction stroke by the bellows through the inlet 12. In this respect, the transfer unit 10 or compression unit only allows intermittent transfer operation. On the other hand, in the embodiments shown in Figures 2 and 3, two transfer units 10 are connected in parallel and are alternately controlled by a common drive unit 18. As shown in Figure 2, fluid is supplied to the inlets 12 of one and the other transfer unit 10 via a common supply conduit 42. The outlets 14 of each transfer unit 10 are sequentially connected to a common discharge conduit 44. In this way, a nearly continuous transfer operation for the medium to be transferred or transported can be achieved by having one transfer unit 10 always transfer fluid into the discharge conduit 44 and the other transfer unit 10 take in fluid from the supply conduit 12 by suction stroke. For example, if a gas with a lower pressure is supplied via the supply conduit 42, the two transfer units or compression units 10 achieve high-pressure gas discharge in the discharge conduit 44. In this case, for example, a high compression ratio of 1:10 can be achieved.

[0031] The drive unit 18 has a hydraulic work cylinder or pump cylinder 46 that can be driven by a hydraulic drive 48 and a main valve 50. Furthermore, Figure 4 discloses a metering unit 52 that can introduce small amounts of correction volume into connecting conduits between the pump cylinder 46 and the metering volumes 54 and 56, or take small amounts of correction volume from these connecting conduits. Figure 3 shows the individual components of the drive unit 18 in detail. In particular, the drive unit 18 includes a hydraulically driveable work cylinder or pump cylinder 46 driven by the flow rate of a driveable hydro pump 58 as the main pump, and the piston-rod unit 60 of the cylinder 46 moves back and forth as shown by the bidirectional arrows according to the switching position of the main valve 50. The main pump 58 is driven by a motor M with a variable rotational speed and can thereby be adjusted to the desired transfer output and compression output. The cylinder 46 supplies the power necessary to compress and further transfer a fluid or gas by moving constant metering volumes 54, 56 located between the cylinder 46 and the respective medium separators 16 of the transfer unit 10 in the forward and backward directions. In addition to the main pump 58, there is a control pump 62 that can supply hydraulic energy to various auxiliary functions, namely, the entire metering unit 52 as shown in Figure 3, and pilot control of the main valve 50 in the form of an electromagnetically actuated 4 / 3-way valve.

[0032] In the case of a relatively small transfer and compression section 10, the main valve 50 can be formed as a single-stage type, as only a relatively small flow rate, such as <100 l / min, is required. However, in the multi-stage compressor shown in Figures 4 and 5, each compressor stage has a main pump 58, and only one single stage has an additional control pump 62 (Figure 5) that also supplies the other stages. The drive unit 18 can alternatively consist of a piston machine, for example, in the form of an in-line piston pump (not shown), which is rotationally driven via a crankshaft.

[0033] Between the working cylinder or pump cylinder 46 and the respective media separator 16, which are connected to each other via their respective connection points 40, there exist liquid volumes referred to as metering volumes 54 and 56, which are pushed in the forward and backward directions between the cylinder 46 and the respective media separator 16. These metering volumes 54 and 56 are substantially incompressible, and the movement of the cylinder 46 can be transmitted to the respective media separator 16 without loss or delay. In this case, the respective metering volumes 54 and 56 are defined by the piston surface of the piston-rod unit 60, and the rod side is connected to the outlet of the main valve 50 by a fluid conduit. In this respect, the rod of the piston-rod unit 60 divides the cylinder 46 into two rod-side fluid chambers 64 and 66.

[0034] The measuring unit 52 can add a small volume to or draw a small volume from each of the measuring volumes 54, 56, and is used to compensate for leakage from the working cylinder or pump cylinder 46. In this respect, the measuring unit 52 consists of two small, self-contained reciprocating pistons, which move from one terminal position to the other with a defined small stroke volume (preferably <10 cm) 3 The metered volume 54 or 56 can be taken in on one side and discharged on the other, which is initiated by switching the associated directional control valves 68, 79 to meter in or meter out. A metered in unit having a reciprocating piston and associated directional control valve is shown by reference numeral 72 in Figure 3, and the corresponding metered off unit is shown by reference numeral 74. Thus, the metered volume 54 or 56, which can be increased or decreased as appropriate, is controlled by the associated metering valves 68 or 70. After the completion of the required metering process, each metering valve 68, 70 can be shut off again. To protect from overload, the metered volumes 54, 56 are further protected by a secondary pressure protection device 76 consisting of a pressure limiting valve connected to both metered volumes 54, 56 via a check valve 78. An end position monitoring device 80 or stroke measuring device (not shown) of the piston-rod unit 60 is used in conjunction with an end position monitoring device 20 of the media separator 16 as part of the overall control system to monitor the cylinder 46.

[0035] As further shown in Figure 3, the supply pump 62, like the main pump 58, is equipped with a primary pressure protection device 82, and a tank accumulator 84 of the form of a conventional hydraulic accumulator is also connected to the fluid inlet side for the main pump 58 and the control pump 62. Furthermore, a filter 86 and a cooler 88 are provided on the inlet side for each of the individual pumps 58 and 62. To homogenize the transfer flow, a hydraulic accumulator 90 is connected to a discharge conduit 44.

[0036] According to the solution of the present invention shown in Figure 3, the transfer device substantially consists of a drive unit 18 and a transfer unit or compression unit 10, and the fluid on the compression unit side, in the form of regularly compressed gas, is separated from the fluid on the drive unit side, which is a regularly measured volume in the form of a hydraulic medium, by respective medium separators 16 in the form of bellows. The modular design for the compressor facilitates expansion to relatively large single-stage compression units, as shown in the diagrams in Figures 2 and 3, and to multi-stage units, as shown in the diagrams in Figures 4 and 5.

[0037] In the multi-stage, and especially two-stage, compressor design shown in Figure 4, the transfer device shown in Figure 2 is connected twice in series fluidly, and a cooling device 92, in particular in the form of a heat exchanger, is incorporated between the two compressor stages. The gas supplied via the supply conduit 42 is in the low-pressure region and is increased to an intermediate pressure by the first compressor, which is upstream of the intercooler 92 acting as a cooling device. In this case, the working cylinder 46 of the first compressor stage functions as the aforementioned intermediate-pressure pump cylinder or generator. After passing through the intercooler 92, the gas sequentially reaches the suction or inlet side of the second compressor stage, which has two transfer or compression sections 10, via the intermediate-pressure conduit 94. Thus, at the outlet side of the second compressor stage, the gas discharge pressure is increased to a high pressure in the high-pressure conduit 96. In this way, the two-stage compressor shown in Figure 4 increases the low gas pressure of 50 bar (5,000 kPa) to, for example, an intermediate pressure of approximately 160 bar (16,000 kPa), and to a discharge pressure of 500 bar (50,000 kPa) on the high-pressure side. In this way, a compression ratio of 1:3.16 can be expected in the two compression stages of the two-stage compression. When the two-stage compressor solution shown in Figure 4 is extended to three-stage compression by adding another single-stage compressor shown in Figure 3, which has a compression ratio of less than 1:3 per stage, pressures in the range of 1,000 bar (100,000 kPa) can be achieved, especially in the case of hydrogen. Even starting from an extremely low pressure of 15 bar, outlet pressures of 500 bar (50,000 kPa) to 600 bar (60,000 kPa) can be achieved with three-stage compression.

[0038] The basic configuration of the two-stage compressor shown in Figure 4 is shown in the component configuration in Figure 5, and the information previously described for each individual component also applies to the multi-stage compressor shown in Figure 5. This solution differs from the earlier solution shown in Figure 3 in that a hydraulic accumulator 90 connected to the intermediate pressure conduit 94 forms an intermediate pressure gas accumulator, and an accumulator 90 connected to the high pressure conduit 96 forms a high pressure gas accumulator for the entire device. Both the intermediate pressure gas accumulator and the high pressure gas accumulator are used to homogenize the transport flow. Insofar as electrical cables are shown in Figure 5 for the individual transport and compression units 10, these cables relate to the sensor pickup for the end position monitoring device 20 and the electronic evaluation of the contaminant sensor 30.

[0039] Embodiments of such contaminant sensors 30 are shown in detail in Figures 6 and 7. As already described, leakage at the separation point between the metering volumes 54 and 56 and the gas volume to be transferred can result in high indirect costs. Therefore, a contaminant sensor 30 is positioned immediately downstream of the metal bellows in the conduit for the outflowing gas stream on the outlet 14 side to monitor the purity of the gas.

[0040] This type of contaminant sensor 30 can be constructed according to various principles, but in this embodiment, it must satisfy at least two functions: 1. Identify the contaminants at the initial stage when contamination began to occur. 2. Capture of initial contaminants by filtering.

[0041] When contaminants are detected, the relevant equipment must be able to be immediately stopped to remove the source of the contaminants and replace the contaminated parts, thus interrupting the equipment operation for only a short time. In the technical solution of the contaminant sensor 30 shown in Figure 6, contaminants on the clean surface of the filter fleece 98 cause a significant color change detectable by the optical sensor system. For this purpose, a light source having reference numeral 100 emits a light beam over the filter fleece 98, which forms a contaminant-sensitive surface, and the reflected light beam is detected by the optical sensor 102. The light beam guide is shown in Figure 6 as well as the direction of passage through the contaminant sensor 30, indicated by the arrow. To prevent the filter fleece 98 from being pulled out of the sensor housing 103 at the outlet side as the flow passes through, the filter fleece is supported on a reinforced base layer 104.

[0042] The contaminant sensor 30 shown in Figure 7 operates with a similar structure, but the pressure difference as it passes through the filter fleece 98 is measured by two pressure measuring devices 106, one upstream and one downstream of the filter fleece 98. A signal is output when a corresponding increase in flow resistance is detected in the presence of contaminants. The pressure difference measurement by the pressure measuring devices 106 is performed by the circuit output, and the filter fleece 98 can be impregnated with oil to become an impregnable filter mat that produces a higher flow resistance than the clean filter fleece 98 shown in Figure 6.

[0043] In the two sensor principles, the filter fleece 98 that generates a signal due to contaminants can be replaced, so that each sensor 30 can continue to be used as needed.

[0044] At high compression ratios, for example, ≥ , the thermal characteristics of the compressor require excessive driving force; therefore, multi-stage compressors, as shown in the embodiments of Figures 4 and 5, are generally used. In this case, the gas temperature also becomes very high, so special materials must be used. Multi-stage compressors with intercoolers between the compressor stages can be controlled with less driving force and are energetically more efficient.

[0045] The transfer system is particularly suitable for hydrogen applications, but it can also be used for the transfer and transport of other fluids, including fluids that are completely incompressible and cannot be compressed during transfer. According to embodiment (1), a fluid transfer device having an inlet (12), an outlet (14), and a transfer unit (10) connected thereto and operable by a drive unit (18), The transfer unit (10) has a fluid-tight medium separator (16) having a variable chamber volume, the medium separator is connected to the inlet (12) or the outlet (14) by a fluid conduction method via its containment chamber (21), and the transfer device is characterized in that it contains fluid through the inlet (12) as part of the intake stroke while increasing the chamber volume using the drive unit (18), and discharges the contained fluid through the outlet (14) as part of the discharge stroke while decreasing the chamber volume. According to embodiment (2), the medium separator (16) is formed by a bellows that is fluidly controlled from the outside using the drive unit (18) such that the chamber volume inside the bellows increases during the intake stroke and decreases during the discharge stroke. According to embodiment (3), the drive unit (18) has a hydraulic work cylinder (46) that can be controlled using a hydraulic drive (48) and a main valve (50). According to embodiment (4), the hydraulic working cylinder (46) having a piston-rod unit (60) preferably uses a metering chamber of a predefined metering volume (54) to predefined the intake stroke and discharge stroke for the transfer unit (10) on either the piston side or the rod side, and preferably the working cylinder (46) is actuated via the main valve (50) on either the rod side or the piston side. According to embodiment (5), a further transfer unit (10) is provided that performs a discharge stroke in order to obtain a uniform transfer flow rate, and the other transfer unit (10) performs an intake stroke and the reverse. According to embodiment (6), the further transfer unit (10) is similarly connected to the working cylinder (46) having a second piston connected to a piston rod via a first piston for one of the measuring chambers, thereby forming a further measuring chamber of a predetermined measuring volume (56). According to embodiment (7), in order to transfer the gas, each of the transfer units (10) functions as a compression unit, The two compression sections (10) form a single-stage compressor, and Connecting multiple single-stage compressors (10) results in a multi-stage compressor. According to embodiment (8), in particular, a transfer device that performs the following corrections, To compensate for leakage in the working cylinder (46), at least one measuring unit (52) is provided that introduces a small amount of measuring volume into each measuring chamber of the working cylinder (46) or discharges it from the measuring chamber. According to embodiment (9), each of the metering units (52) is connected to a metering in unit (72) and a metering off unit (74) using metering valves (68, 70); -Each of the aforementioned measuring units (52) is protected by a secondary pressure protection device (76); - The position of the work cylinder (46) is detectable by the monitoring device (80); -In particular, the transfer flow is homogenized using a hydraulic accumulator (90) of the medium-pressure and high-pressure gas accumulator type; -At least one cooling device (92) is used during each compressor stage (10); and / or, -The fluid flow, particularly the gas flow, is monitored at the discharge side of each compression section (10) using a contaminant sensor (30). According to embodiment (10), in the use of any one of the transfer devices from embodiment 1 to embodiment 9, This transfer device is characterized by the use of separate compression sections (10) of the same structure to compress a gas, such as hydrogen, in stages.

Claims

1. A fluid transfer device having an inlet (12), an outlet (14), and a transfer unit (10) connected between them and operable by a drive unit (18), The transfer unit (10) has a fluid-tight medium separator (16) having a variable chamber volume, the medium separator is connected to the inlet (12) or the outlet (14) via its containment chamber (21) in a fluid conduction manner, and uses the drive unit (18) to increase the chamber volume while containing fluid through the inlet (12) as part of the intake stroke, and to decrease the chamber volume while discharging the contained fluid through the outlet (14) as part of the discharge stroke. The transfer unit (10) is equipped with a contaminant sensor configured to monitor particulate contaminants in the gas flow on the discharge side of the transfer unit, The contaminant sensor (30) comprises a filter fleece (98), a light source (100), and a light sensor (102), or The filter fleece (98) and two pressure measuring devices (106) positioned upstream and downstream of the filter fleece (98) are provided. A transfer device characterized by the following features.

2. The transfer device according to claim 1, characterized in that the medium separation device (16) is formed by a bellows that is fluidly controlled from the outside using the drive unit (18) such that the chamber volume inside the bellows increases during the intake stroke and decreases during the discharge stroke.

3. The transfer device according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the drive unit (18) has a hydraulic work cylinder (46) that can be controlled using a hydraulic drive (48) and a main valve (50).

4. The transfer device according to claim 3, wherein the hydraulic working cylinder (46) having a piston-rod unit (60) uses a metering chamber of a predetermined metering volume (54) to pre-define the suction stroke and discharge stroke for the transfer unit (10) on the piston side or the rod side.

5. The transfer device according to claim 4, characterized in that the hydraulic work cylinder (46) is operated via the main valve (50) on the rod side or the piston side.

6. The transfer device according to claim 1, characterized in that a further transfer unit (10) is provided that performs a discharge stroke in order to obtain a uniform transfer flow rate, and the other transfer unit (10) performs an intake stroke and also performs the reverse.

7. The transfer device according to claim 4, wherein the further transfer unit (10) is similarly connected to the hydraulic working cylinder (46) having a second piston connected to a piston rod via a first piston for one of the measuring chambers, thereby forming a further measuring chamber of a predetermined measuring volume (56).

8. To transfer the gas, each of the transfer units (10) functions as a compression unit. The two compression units (10) form a single-stage compressor, and The transfer device according to claim 1, characterized in that the connection of multiple single-stage compressors (10) results in a multi-stage compressor.

9. A transfer device that performs the following corrections, The transfer device according to claim 4, characterized in that at least one measuring unit (52) is provided to introduce a small amount of metered volume into each measuring chamber of the hydraulic work cylinder (46) or to discharge it from the measuring chamber, in order to compensate for leakage in the hydraulic work cylinder (46).

10. - Each of the aforementioned metering units (52) is connected to a metering in unit (72) and a metering off unit (74) using metering valves (68, 70); - Each of the aforementioned measuring units (52) is protected by a secondary pressure protection device (76); - The position of the hydraulic work cylinder (46) can be detected by the monitoring device (80); - The transfer flow is homogenized using a hydraulic accumulator (90), including medium-pressure and high-pressure gas accumulator types; - At least one cooling device (92) is used between each compressor stage (10), The transfer device according to feature 9.

11. In using the transfer device described in claim 1, The use of a transfer device characterized by the use of separate compression units (10) of the same structure to compress a gas, such as hydrogen, in stages.

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