Mixed Gas Supply Device for Leak Inspection
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Solution Overview
Problem
The use of helium gas cylinders for leak inspections is inefficient due to the need for frequent cylinder replacement, high transportation and management costs, and the expense of helium gas, while hydrogen gas poses safety risks and procurement challenges when used as an alternative.
Innovation Solution
A mixed gas supply device that generates hydrogen gas through water decomposition and separates nitrogen gas from air, integrating these components to produce a mixed gas with a hydrogen and nitrogen mixture, reducing the reliance on high-pressure gas cylinders and minimizing costs.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If helium gas cylinders are used for leak inspections, then the inspection gas supply is reliable, but the transportation and management costs increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary action by generating and storing mixed gas in an indoor tank before it is needed for inspection. This eliminates the need for frequent cylinder replacements during inspections, as the gas is produced on-demand and stored locally, ensuring continuous supply without interruption.
Solution Approach 2:
The system implements self-service by automatically generating hydrogen gas through water decomposition and mixing it with nitrogen gas from the air. This self-generating capability removes the dependency on external cylinder delivery and replacement services, allowing the system to serve itself continuously.
2Reliability
If helium gas cylinders are used for leak inspections, then the inspection quality is maintained, but the management burden increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs self-service by automatically generating and mixing the inspection gas. The control unit manages the water decomposition, hydrogen generation, and mixing with nitrogen gas automatically, eliminating the need for manual cylinder handling, storage, and exchange operations.
Solution Approach 2:
The system extracts the essential function of gas supply from the complex cylinder management process. By separating the gas generation function from the storage and handling functions, the system simplifies the overall management while maintaining inspection quality through controlled gas composition.
3Quantity of substance
If hydrogen gas cylinders are used instead of helium, then the cost is reduced, but safety risks increase due to flammability
Solution Approach 1:
The system uses composite gas composition by mixing hydrogen gas with nitrogen gas. This creates a non-flammable mixed gas that retains the cost advantages of hydrogen while eliminating the safety risks through nitrogen dilution, achieving both economic and safety objectives simultaneously.
Solution Approach 2:
The system changes the concentration parameter of hydrogen gas by controlling the mixing ratio with nitrogen gas. By adjusting the hydrogen concentration to appropriate levels, the system maintains cost effectiveness while ensuring the mixed gas remains safely non-flammable for inspection use.
4Measurement precision
If diluted helium gas is used for leak inspections, then the inspection accuracy is maintained, but the running costs increase due to expensive helium gas
Solution Approach 1:
The system replaces expensive helium gas with cheaper hydrogen gas that is generated on-demand through water decomposition. Although hydrogen has shorter storage stability, the continuous generation capability ensures fresh gas supply without the high costs associated with helium procurement and storage.
Solution Approach 2:
The system changes the gas type parameter from helium to hydrogen-nitrogen mixed gas. This substitution maintains the functional requirements for leak detection accuracy while dramatically reducing the material cost through the use of abundant and inexpensive hydrogen and nitrogen gases.
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 solution enables cost-effective and efficient leak inspections by eliminating the need for frequent cylinder replacements and expensive helium or hydrogen gas cylinders, allowing for on-site operations with reduced management burdens and safer hydrogen gas usage.
Implementation Method 1
a hydrogen gas generation unit that generates hydrogen gas
Implementation Method 2
a nitrogen gas generation unit that generates nitrogen gas
Implementation Method 3
a gas mixing unit that mixes hydrogen gas introduced from the hydrogen gas generation unit and nitrogen gas introduced from the nitrogen gas generation unit
Data Source
AI summary
A mixed gas supply device includes: a hydrogen gas generation unit that includes a hydrogen generator, the hydrogen generator generating hydrogen gas by decomposition of water and supplying the hydrogen gas; a nitrogen gas generation unit that includes a filter, the filter separating nitrogen gas from air and supplying the nitrogen gas; a gas mixing unit that mixes the supplied hydrogen gas and the supplied nitrogen gas and generates mix gas including the hydrogen gas and the nitrogen gas; and a single base on which the hydrogen gas generation unit, the nitrogen gas generation unit, and the gas mixing unit are mounted, the hydrogen gas generation unit, the nitrogen gas generation unit, and the gas mixing unit being integrated. The gas mixing unit supplies the generated mixed gas to outside.