Hydrogen Delivery System Pressure Bank Control
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current hydrogen station systems require a long time to start delivering hydrogen to subsequent vehicles after completing delivery to a first vehicle, due to the need to fully recharge pressure storage banks, which becomes more significant as the number of vehicles increases.
Innovation Solution
A gas delivery system that includes a controller to manage the operation of pressure storage containers, allowing a specified container to reach a reference pressure before shifting to others, enabling efficient hydrogen delivery to multiple vehicles by alternating the use of pressure storage containers based on set pressures, thereby shortening the time between deliveries.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If all pressure storage banks are fully recharged with hydrogen gas from the compressor after delivery to a first vehicle, then the pressure of each pressure storage bank is maintained, but the time required before delivery to a second vehicle can start increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system pre-charges only the necessary pressure storage bank (the one that will be used next) to the reference pressure before delivery to the second vehicle, rather than waiting for all banks to be fully recharged. This preliminary action of charging only the needed bank reduces the idle time between deliveries while ensuring reliable pressure maintenance for the upcoming delivery.
Solution Approach 2:
The system divides the pressure storage banks into different functional groups: banks currently in use, banks being recharged, and banks available for next use. This segmentation allows parallel operations where different banks are at different stages of the charge-delivery cycle, optimizing overall system throughput and reducing the bottleneck of full recharging before next delivery.
2Stress or pressure
If the compressor supplies hydrogen gas to all pressure storage banks to fully charge them, then each bank reaches maximum pressure, but the delivery time to subsequent vehicles increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system applies partial action by charging only the necessary amount of hydrogen gas in the necessary pressure storage banks to reach the reference pressure needed for the next delivery, rather than fully charging all banks to maximum pressure. This partial charging approach maintains sufficient pressure for reliable delivery while significantly reducing the time and energy required, thereby improving delivery throughput.
Solution Approach 2:
The system changes the pressure parameter target from maximum pressure for all banks to reference pressure for specific banks based on their usage sequence. This parameter change allows the system to optimize the balance between pressure storage adequacy and delivery speed, improving overall productivity without compromising delivery reliability.
3Reliability
If multiple vehicles are served sequentially with full recharging of pressure storage banks, then pressure reliability is ensured, but the system cannot handle increasing number of vehicles efficiently
Solution Approach 1:
The controller performs preliminary actions by identifying and pre-charging the specific pressure storage bank that will be needed for the next vehicle delivery, based on the usage sequence. This targeted preliminary charging ensures pressure reliability for the upcoming delivery while enabling the system to handle multiple vehicles in sequence without requiring all banks to be fully recharged, thus improving adaptability to increasing vehicle throughput demands.
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 significantly reduces the time from completing hydrogen delivery to one vehicle to starting delivery to the next, ensuring a constant pressure difference and efficient hydrogen flow, even as the number of vehicles increases.
Implementation Method 1
a first pressure storage container in the plurality of pressure storage containers is used in a low pressure region of the tank, a second pressure storage container in the plurality of pressure storage containers is used in a medium pressure region of the tank, and further a third pressure storage container in the plurality of pressure storage containers is used in a high pressure region of the tank
Data Source
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AI summary
One of the objectives of the present invention is to shorten a period of time (filling interval) required from the end of filling gas into a device including a device to the start of filling gas into a next device including a tank. In order to address the objective, this gas filling system comprises a supply facility (11) that supplies gas to a tank (9a), a pressure accumulator unit (23) that has a plurality of pressure accumulators (231-233) and sends gas to the supply facility (11), a gas sending unit (21), and a control unit (29). The control unit (29) performs: a reserving operation for reserving gas in the pressure accumulators until the pressure of only the pressure accumulator (233) that is specified in advance from among the plurality of the pressure accumulators reaches or exceeds a standard pressure after completion of filling gas into a device (9) including the tank; and a sending operation for sending gas from a pressure accumulator different from the specified pressure accumulator (233) to the supply facility (11), and sending gas from the specified pressure accumulator (233) to the supply facility (11) in response to a switching instruction from the supply facility (11), so as to fill gas into a next device (9) including a tank.