US 11,993,403 B2 · Advanced cooling for cryogenic powered vehicles

Abstract

In one or more embodiments, a disclosed method for cooling a vehicle involves routing, by a bypass line, boil-off of a cryogenic fuel of the vehicle past a cold plate to cool a subsystem mounted proximate the cold plate. The method further involves purging the boil-off in a direction away from the vehicle, after the boil-off passes the cold plate. In one or more embodiments, the cryogenic fuel involves liquid hydrogen (LH2), liquid oxygen (LO2), and/or liquid methane (LCH4). In at least one embodiment, the boil-off of the cryogenic fuel involves gaseous hydrogen (GH2), gaseous oxygen (GO2), and/or gaseous methane (GCH4). The vehicle is a space vehicle, an airborne vehicle, a terrestrial vehicle, or a marine vehicle. In at least one embodiment, the vehicle is a fuel cell vehicle (FCV).

Claims20

Dependent claims

A method for cooling a cryogenic powered vehicle, the method comprising:

storing a cryogenic fuel in a cryogenic fuel tank;
capturing boil-off of the cryogenic fuel escaped from the cryogenic fuel tank and forming escaped boil-off;
and
providing cooling to an avionics subsystem by repurposing the escaped boil-off;
wherein repurposing the escaped boil-off comprises:
routing, by a bypass line, the escaped boil-off past a cold plate to cool the avionics subsystem mounted on the cold plate;
and
purging the escaped boil-off in a direction away from the vehicle, after the escaped boil-off passes the cold plate;
wherein the method further comprises:
sensing, by a temperature sensor associated with the cold plate, a temperature of the cold plate;
and
at least one of opening or closing a control valve on the bypass line to maintain the temperature of the cold plate to be within a predetermined temperature range.

9 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Advanced cooling for cryogenic powered vehicles

Life of this patent

Advanced cooling for cryogenic powered vehicles

Life of this patent

Abstract

Claims20