Stackable Natural Gas Hydrate Tank Container With Automated Power And BOG Connections
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Solution Overview
Problem
The existing natural gas hydrate transportation methods face challenges in efficiently managing boil-off gas (BOG) and maintaining phase equilibrium during long-distance transportation, requiring manual and individual connection of electric power lines and boil-off gas pipes, which is inconvenient and costly, and poses risks of pressure increase, fire, and environmental pollution.
Innovation Solution
A natural gas hydrate tank container loading system that enables automated connection of electric power lines and boil-off gas pipes by stacking containers, utilizing a photovoltaic array, electric generator, and sensor-controlled system to supply power and manage boil-off gas, eliminating the need for separate electric power and preventing external discharge of BOG.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If manual connection of electric power lines and boil-off gas pipes is performed for each container, then reliable power supply and BOG management are achieved, but operation complexity and time consumption increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines multiple containers into a modular stackable structure where the upper container integrates the electric power supply unit and boil-off gas processing unit. This merging allows automatic connection of power lines and BOG pipes through stacking, eliminating manual connection operations while maintaining reliable power supply and BOG management across multiple containers.
Solution Approach 2:
The stacking mechanism enables self-service connection where the act of stacking containers automatically connects the electric power lines from the upper container to lower containers and automatically connects the boil-off gas pipes. The system performs its own connection operations without external manual intervention, significantly reducing operation complexity and time consumption.
2Reliability
If separate electric power supply units are installed in each container, then each container can independently maintain phase equilibrium, but system complexity and cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent consolidates the electric power supply function into the upper container only, which contains the photovoltaic array, electric generator, and battery. This single power supply unit serves multiple lower containers through automatic connection during stacking, reducing the total number of power supply units from N (one per container) to 1 (one for the stack), thereby simplifying the overall system while maintaining phase equilibrium in all containers.
Solution Approach 2:
The upper container's power supply unit is designed with multi-functionality to serve both its own refrigerator and the refrigerators of multiple lower containers simultaneously. This universal power supply approach eliminates the need for separate power systems in each container, reducing device complexity and cost while ensuring reliable phase equilibrium maintenance across the entire stack.
3Stress or pressure
If boil-off gas is discharged externally from each container, then pressure control is achieved, but environmental pollution and fire risks increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges the boil-off gas processing function into the upper container, which contains a BOG tank and electric generator. Boil-off gas from all lower containers is automatically collected and processed through the upper container's BOG management system, enabling centralized pressure control while preventing external discharge that would cause environmental pollution and fire hazards.
Solution Approach 2:
The system converts the potentially harmful boil-off gas into a useful resource by using it as fuel for the electric generator in the upper container. The BOG is collected in the BOG tank, combusted to generate electricity, and this electrical energy is then used to power the refrigerators in all containers. This approach transforms a harmful emission into a beneficial energy source, achieving pressure control while eliminating environmental pollution and fire risks associated with external discharge.
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
The system automatically connects electric power lines and boil-off gas pipes during stacking, maintaining phase equilibrium, reducing the risk of pressure increase, fire, and environmental pollution, while simplifying operations and reducing costs by using self-sustaining power generation and internal BOG management.
Implementation Method 1
a photovoltaic array 21 which generates electric power by using sunlight
Implementation Method 2
the natural gas hydrate may accommodate methane gas as much as up to 170 times a volume of the natural gas hydrate, and the phase equilibrium may be maintained when the natural gas hydrate is stored and transported at a temperature of about -20°C
Implementation Method 3
an electric generator 23 which generates electric power by using fuel
Implementation Method 4
a compressor 24 which mixes fuel supplied from the fuel tank 25 with boil-off gas generated from the natural gas hydrate tank container 11 and supplies the mixed fuel and boil-off gas to the electric generator 23
Data Source
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AI summary
The present invention relates to a natural gas hydrate tank container loading system for transporting natural gas hydrate, and the present invention provides a natural gas hydrate tank container loading system which enables automated connection of an electric power line and a boil-off pipe, and may automatically connect an electric power line and automatically connect the pipe by simultaneously stacking respective natural gas hydrate tank containers, in order to solve problems of a transportation method using the existing natural gas hydrate tank containers in the related art in that an operation of connecting an electric power line to a refrigerator for minimizing the occurrence of boil-off gas and maintaining a phase equilibrium condition in the tank containers and an operation of connecting the pipe for discharging the boil-off gas need to be manually and individually performed for long-distance transportation of a large amount of natural gas hydrate by using a ship, which causes an inconvenience.