Hydrogen Fueling Vessel Banks for Temperature-Controlled Filling
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing hydrogen refueling systems for vehicles face challenges in achieving optimal filling times and temperature management in composite cylinders, leading to potential vessel damage and reduced lifetime due to temperature fluctuations during gas transfer.
Innovation Solution
An apparatus and method that divides a plurality of vessels into banks, allowing selective and sequential connection to a receiving vessel while controlling gas flow rates and pressures to optimize filling time and temperature, using a control means to manage gas transfer through restrictions and banks.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If gas is transferred rapidly to the receiving vessel to reduce filling time, then productivity is improved, but temperature increases causing vessel damage and reduced lifetime
Solution Approach 1:
The system divides the plurality of storage vessels into multiple banks (first bank, second bank, etc.) that can be selectively connected to the receiving vessel. This segmentation allows controlled gas transfer from different banks in sequence, managing the rate of gas addition and resulting temperature increase while maintaining efficient filling operations.
2Productivity
If gas is emptied rapidly from storage vessels to increase filling speed, then productivity is improved, but temperature drops causing vessel wall damage
Solution Approach 1:
By organizing storage vessels into separate banks that can be operated independently, the system controls the rate of gas withdrawal from each bank. This prevents excessive temperature drops in individual vessels while maintaining overall filling speed through coordinated operation of multiple banks.
Solution Approach 2:
The system pre-configures multiple banks of storage vessels with appropriate pressure levels before the fueling operation. This preliminary arrangement allows the control system to select and connect appropriate banks in advance, optimizing the gas transfer rate to prevent temperature drops while maintaining high filling speed.
3Stress or pressure
If multiple storage vessels are used in pressure cascade to increase final pressure, then the receiving vessel pressure is improved, but filling time increases significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The system divides storage vessels into multiple banks that can be connected in sequence or parallel to the receiving vessel. This segmentation enables the control system to manage pressure cascade operations more efficiently by selecting which banks to connect and in what order, reducing the total time required to achieve the desired final pressure compared to traditional sequential single-vessel cascading.
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 approach reduces the risk of vessel damage by managing temperature fluctuations and optimizes filling time, ensuring efficient and safe hydrogen transfer to receiving vessels.
Implementation Method 1
The addition of the gas into a vessel compresses the gas already present in the vessel leading to an increase in temperature
Implementation Method 2
as gas is emptied from a vessel the gas remaining inside the vessel expands which causes the temperature to drop
Data Source
AI summary
An apparatus and a method for fueling. The apparatus 10 comprising a plurality of vessels 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 for containing a fuel gas, each vessel of the plurality of vessels being selectively fluidly connectable to at least one receiving vessel 6 and a control means configured to selectively divide the plurality of vessels 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 into a plurality of banks each comprising one or more of the plurality of vessels 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. The control means is further configured to sequentially fluidly connect the plurality of banks to the at least one receiving vessel 6 such that when one of the plurality of banks is fluidly connected to the at least one receiving vessel 6 the one or more of the plurality of vessels 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 within that bank are fluidly connected to the at least one receiving vessel 6 but are fluidly isolated from the one or more of the plurality of vessels 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 of the remaining ones of the plurality of banks.