Integrated Fuel and SCR Tank for Ice Pressure Protection
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Solution Overview
Problem
The existing container assemblies for motor vehicles face issues with the freezing of liquid auxiliary agents like AdBlue at low temperatures, leading to ice pressure damage due to volume expansion, which can affect sensitive components in the reducing agent tank.
Innovation Solution
Integrating a second container for the liquid auxiliary agent into a first container for fuel, with a bottom-mounted removal device and heating elements, ensuring that sensitive components are protected from ice pressure by being in close proximity to warm fuel, and providing a delivery module with a pump, filters, and sensors to manage the auxiliary agent effectively.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the second container for liquid auxiliary agent is integrated into the first fuel container, then the spatial proximity to warm fuel protects sensitive components from ice pressure, but the device complexity increases due to integration requirements
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines the auxiliary agent container (second container) with the fuel container (first container) into a single integrated assembly. The bottom-mounted removal device of the auxiliary agent container is positioned in spatial proximity to the warm fuel, allowing the fuel's thermal energy to prevent freezing and ice pressure damage to sensitive components. This merging resolves the contradiction by achieving protection through integration while managing the complexity through functional consolidation.
Solution Approach 2:
The auxiliary agent container is nested within or adjacent to the fuel container, with the bottom-mounted removal device positioned to utilize the warm fuel environment. This nesting arrangement allows the smaller auxiliary agent system to benefit from the thermal environment of the larger fuel container, protecting sensitive components from ice pressure while maintaining a compact integrated structure.
2Temperature
If heating devices are provided for the reducing agent tank, then the reducing agent can be thawed at low temperatures, but the energy consumption increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system uses the warm fuel itself as the heating source for the auxiliary agent container. The fuel's thermal energy naturally prevents freezing and thaws the auxiliary agent without requiring external heating devices. This self-service approach resolves the contradiction by achieving thawing capability while eliminating the need for additional energy-consuming heating systems.
Solution Approach 2:
The warm fuel acts as an intermediary thermal medium that transfers heat to the auxiliary agent container. Instead of using external heating devices, the fuel serves as the heat source that prevents freezing and enables thawing. This intermediary approach resolves the contradiction by providing temperature control through the fuel's natural thermal properties rather than through energy-consuming heating devices.
3Adaptability or versatility
If the bottom-mounted removal device is integrated into the second container, then the shape of the tank can be independently implemented, but the manufacturing precision requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The removal device is segmented as a separate bottom-mounted module that can be independently designed and manufactured. This segmentation allows the tank body to be formed with various shapes without being constrained by the removal device geometry, while the removal device itself can be precisely manufactured as a separate component. The integration of this modular removal device into different tank configurations achieves shape flexibility while managing manufacturing precision through modular design.
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
This configuration prevents ice pressure damage by keeping sensitive components near warm fuel, facilitates efficient thawing of the auxiliary agent, and allows for reliable operation of the auxiliary agent system even at low temperatures.
Implementation Method 1
by virtue of combination with or integration into the fuel tank, those components of the auxiliary agent container which are sensitive to ice pressure are in spatial proximity to warm fuel
Implementation Method 2
a bottom-mounted removal device having at least one pump for the auxiliary agent is provided in the second container
Implementation Method 3
Owing to the fact that the auxiliary agent solution freezes at low outside temperatures, at −11° C. in the case of a reducing agent solution (e.g. AdBlue®), for example, the auxiliary agent volume expands by about 10% at the phase transition
Data Source
AI summary
A container assembly for a motor vehicle comprises a first container (20) for a fuel for the motor vehicle and a second container (10) for a liquid auxiliary agent, in particular for the reducing agent solution of an SCR catalyst. The second container (10) is integrated into the first container (20). A bottom-mounted removal device having at least one pump (11) for removing the auxiliary agent is provided in the second container (10).