Hydrostatic Gas Storage Tanks with Liquid Separation
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Current gas storage technologies face challenges in maintaining constant pressure during storage and retrieval operations, limiting energy storage capacity and efficiency, especially in industrial applications where high pressures are desired but not easily achievable due to geological and environmental constraints.
Innovation Solution
A device that stores gas in a rigid enclosure with a liquid, allowing for independent pressure control and maintaining almost constant pressure, enabling installation on land or underwater without specific geological conditions, and incorporating a gas-liquid separation system to prevent mixing and leaks.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Quantity of substance
If underground cavities are used for gas storage, then large capacity storage is achieved, but pressure cannot be maintained constant and location flexibility is limited
Solution Approach 1:
A liquid intermediary substance is introduced between the gas storage system and the external environment. The liquid acts as a pressure buffer that maintains constant gas pressure while allowing the system to be located anywhere, eliminating the need for specific geological conditions required by underground cavities.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention uses hydraulic principles by introducing a liquid into the storage system. The liquid column creates hydrostatic pressure that balances the gas pressure, enabling constant pressure maintenance through hydraulic equilibrium rather than relying on underground cavity characteristics.
2Quantity of substance
If underground cavities are used for gas storage, then large capacity storage is achieved, but pressure varies during storage and retrieval operations
Solution Approach 1:
The liquid intermediary substance absorbs pressure variations during gas storage and retrieval. When gas is injected or extracted, the liquid level adjusts accordingly while maintaining constant gas pressure through hydrostatic balance, eliminating the pressure variability inherent in underground cavity systems.
Solution Approach 2:
The system changes the pressure maintenance mechanism from relying on fixed geological conditions to using adjustable liquid levels. By varying the liquid column height, the system can maintain constant gas pressure regardless of the amount of gas stored or retrieved.
3Quantity of substance
If maximum pressure is used for gas storage, then energy storage density is improved, but mechanical stresses and required thickness increase
Solution Approach 1:
The liquid in the system provides external hydrostatic pressure that counterbalances the internal gas pressure. This pressure compensation allows the enclosure to withstand high gas pressures with reduced wall thickness, as the liquid pressure offsets the mechanical stress on the container walls.
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
Enables efficient and cost-effective storage and retrieval of gas at high pressures, optimizing energy storage density and reducing the size of storage facilities while allowing for flexible installation locations, thereby enhancing industrial gas usage and energy production.
Implementation Method 1
maintain the pressure of a gas almost constant thanks to a liquid, this pressure being able to be chosen independently of the pressure conditions in the storage environment, in particular the hydrostatic pressure in the case of underwater storage
Implementation Method 2
incorporating a gas-liquid separation system to prevent mixing and leaks
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2
Figure 3
AI summary
The invention relates to a device for storing and releasing fluids at a near-constant pressure, said fluids including a gas and a liquid, which includes a set of substantially identical tanks (1), said tanks including: a portion (G) containing the gas and a portion (L) containing the liquid; a means (23) for separating the gas and the liquid in the tank (1); a gas inlet (36) and outlet (36); and a liquid inlet (35) and outlet (35). The tanks (1) have an outer cylindrical shell (100) consisting of at least one metal tube (101) of the type used for gas and oil pipelines, having an outer diameter larger than 32" (813 mm), and a ratio of the length to the outer diameter thereof that is greater than 8.