Dual-Strainer Fuel Gas Supply Pipe for Ice Crystal Blockage
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Solution Overview
Problem
In fuel cell systems, ice crystals formed from water vapor in the fuel gas supply pipe can block strainers, preventing sufficient fuel gas supply to the gas destination.
Innovation Solution
A dual-strainer system with an upstream strainer featuring a pocket portion and a gas passage portion with larger slits, and a downstream strainer with a meshed design, where the pocket portion collects ice crystals while allowing gas passage, and the slits prevent blockage, combined with metallic mesh material for enhanced heating and dissolution.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a meshed strainer is provided in the fuel gas supply pipe to capture foreign matter, then the filtration capability is improved, but ice crystals are collected in the strainer which blocks the fuel gas passage
Solution Approach 1:
The strainer is divided into two functional regions: a pocket portion with fine mesh for capturing ice crystals and foreign matter, and a wall portion with larger openings for maintaining fuel gas flow. This segmentation allows different parts of the strainer to serve different purposes, preventing blockage while maintaining filtration capability.
Solution Approach 2:
Different portions of the strainer have different mesh sizes and functions. The pocket portion has fine mesh for capturing particles, while the wall portion has larger openings for gas passage. This local differentiation ensures that ice crystals are captured in the pocket portion without blocking the overall fuel gas flow through the wall portion.
2Manufacturing precision
If the strainer mesh size is reduced to improve filtration, then foreign matter capture is improved, but ice crystals block the passage more easily
Solution Approach 1:
The strainer is segmented into a pocket portion with fine mesh for high-precision filtration of ice crystals and foreign matter, and a wall portion with larger openings for maintaining high fuel gas flow rate. This segmentation resolves the contradiction between filtration precision and flow rate.
Solution Approach 2:
The ice crystal capture function is extracted and concentrated in the pocket portion, while the main fuel gas passage function is maintained through the wall portion with larger openings. This extraction allows the fine mesh to be localized where it is most needed without compromising overall flow.
3Quantity of substance
If a single entirely meshed strainer is used to capture ice crystals, then ice crystal collection is improved, but fuel gas passage is blocked
Solution Approach 1:
The strainer is divided into a pocket portion for collecting ice crystals and a wall portion for allowing fuel gas passage. The pocket portion captures ice crystals while the wall portion with larger openings ensures sufficient fuel gas flow, resolving the contradiction between collection amount and passage blockage.
Solution Approach 2:
The wall portion acts as an intermediary structure that allows fuel gas to pass through while the pocket portion captures ice crystals. The larger openings in the wall portion prevent blockage while the pocket portion performs the collection function.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
Ensures continuous and appropriate fuel gas supply to the gas destination by effectively collecting and dissolving ice crystals, maintaining unobstructed flow paths even at low temperatures.
Implementation Method 1
the mesh portion is constituted of a metal material... the temperature of the mesh portion easily rises... ice crystals captured in the mesh portion become easy to dissolve
Data Source
AI summary
The fuel gas supply system includes a fuel tank that stores fuel gas, a fuel gas supply pipe that connects the fuel tank and a gas supply destination to which the fuel gas is supplied, an upstream strainer that is provided in the fuel gas supply pipe, and a downstream strainer that is entirely mesh-shaped and is provided in a fuel gas supply pipe that is downstream of the upstream strainer. The upstream strainer has a pocket portion having a mesh portion defined by a plurality of first openings and a wall portion having a plurality of second openings that are larger in size than the first openings. When the upstream strainer is viewed along the axial direction of the upstream strainer, the plurality of first openings and the plurality of second openings do not overlap.