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US 10,245,940 B2Granted
Dual fuel tank for locomotive and marine applications
AssigneeCngmotive, Inc.
InventorsDavid I. Scott, Pedro T. Santos
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A dual-fuel tank houses one or more compressed natural gas (CNG) vessels and one or more diesel fuel vessels. The diesel fuel vessels are generally disposed laterally outwardly from the CNG vessels to provide a buffer that protects the CNG vessels from side impacts. The dual-fuel tank may be retrofit onto a diesel locomotive in place of the locomotive's diesel fuel tank to convert the locomotive into a dual-fuel locomotive. The dual-fuel tank may be provided in a ship.
Claims40
A dual-fuel railroad locomotive comprising:
- a chassis;
- a plurality of railroad wheels mounted to the chassis;
- a dual-fuel diesel cycle engine supported by the chassis and operatively connected to the wheels to drive the wheels to propel the locomotive along a railroad track;
- and
- a dual-fuel tank mounted to the chassis and in fluid communication with the dual-fuel diesel cycle engine, the dual-fuel tank including:
- at least one liquid fuel vessel, and
- at least one pressurized fuel vessel,
- wherein the at least one liquid fuel vessel is positioned to form a side-impact buffer that protects the at least one pressurized fuel vessel from side-impacts.
5 more elements
A method of converting a railroad locomotive into a dual fuel locomotive, the method comprising:
- removing a single-fuel tank from the railroad locomotive;
- and
- mounting a dual-fuel tank to the railroad locomotive in place of the single-fuel tank, the dual-fuel tank including:
- at least one liquid fuel vessel and at least one pressurized fuel vessel,
- wherein the at least one liquid fuel vessel is positioned to form a side-impact buffer that protects the at least one pressurized fuel vessel from side-impacts after said mounting.
2 more elements
A dual-fuel tank comprising:
- a frame housing one or more liquid fuel vessels and one or more pressurized fuel vessels;
- wherein the pressurized fuel vessels are disposed laterally inward of the liquid fuel vessels such that each of the liquid fuel vessels protect the pressurized fuel vessels from a lateral impact to the frame,
- wherein the frame includes a first end plate and a second end plate and both of the first end plate and the second end plate support the pressurized fuel vessels.
A dual-fuel tank comprising:
- a frame housing one or more liquid fuel vessels and one or more pressurized fuel vessels;
- wherein the pressurized fuel vessels are disposed laterally inward of the liquid fuel vessels such that each of the liquid fuel vessels protect the pressurized fuel vessels from a lateral impact to the frame,
- wherein the liquid fuel vessels include voids at least partially defined by the frame, wherein the voids are at least partially defined by curved internal plates longitudinally extending inside the frame, and
- wherein the curved internal plates are C-shaped and form a barrier between the liquid fuel vessels and the pressurized fuel vessels.
1 more element
A dual-fuel tank comprising:
- a frame housing one or more liquid fuel vessels and one or more pressurized fuel vessels;
- wherein the pressurized fuel vessels are disposed laterally inward of the liquid fuel vessels such that each of the liquid fuel vessels protect the pressurized fuel vessels from a lateral impact to the frame,
- wherein at least one of the pressurized vessels includes an inner rubber bladder encased in a non-sulfur reactive layer.
A vehicle including:
- an engine;
- and
- a duel fuel tank, the dual-fuel tank comprising:
- a frame housing one or more liquid fuel vessels and one or more pressurized fuel vessels,
- wherein the pressurized fuel vessels are disposed laterally inward of the liquid fuel vessels such that each of the liquid fuel vessels protect the pressurized fuel vessels from a lateral impact to the frame,
- wherein the engine is configured to draw and combust fuel from each of the liquid fuel vessels and the pressurized fuel vessels, and
- wherein the engine is configured to vary the ratio of combusted liquid fuel to the ratio of combusted pressurized fuel.
4 more elements
A ship comprising:
- a dual-fuel engine configured to draw both liquid fuel and pressurized fuel from a dual-fuel tank, the duel-fuel tank comprising:
- a frame housing one or more liquid fuel vessels and one or more pressurized fuel vessels;
- wherein the pressurized fuel vessels are disposed laterally inward of the liquid fuel vessels such that each of the liquid fuel vessels protect the pressurized fuel vessels from a lateral impact to the frame.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.