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US 12,583,611 B2Granted
Methods and systems for venting a fuel tank on a blended wing body aircraft
AssigneeJetZero, Inc.
InventorsBlaine Knight Rawdon, Ronald Tatsuji Kawai
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Methods and systems for venting a fuel tank includes a fuel tank on a blended wing body aircraft. A fuel tank may include a vent. A vent line is connected to the vent. The vent line is heated. The vent line is attached to an external fuel tank configured to store the collected boil-off gaseous fuel from the aircraft fuel tank.
Claims15
A method for venting a fuel tank, the method comprising:
- connecting a vent line to the fuel tank in a grounded blended wing body aircraft, wherein the fuel tank contains liquid fuel;
- detecting a connection between the vent line and a vent of the fuel tank using a contact sensor;
- providing a valve proximal to the connection between the vent of the fuel tank and the vent line, the valve configured to facilitate a continuous flow of gaseous fuel downstream the vent line, from the fuel tank to an external fuel tank, wherein the continuous flow of the gaseous fuel downstream of the vent line prevents ingress of moisture into the valve;
- heating the vent line using a heat exchanger, wherein the heat exchanger comprises a hot fluid channel surrounding the vent line;
- and
- collecting the gaseous fuel downstream of the vent line, from the fuel tank, in the external fuel tank, wherein the external fuel tank is fluidly connected to the vent line, wherein the collecting the gaseous fuel comprises:
- identifying, by a controller onboard the grounded blended wing body aircraft, a fuel pressure of the fuel tank;
- controlling, by the controller, an opening of the vent based on the fuel pressure, the connection between the vent line and the vent, and a comparison of the fuel pressure to a threshold pressure, wherein the threshold pressure comprises an increase in the fuel pressure by 3% to 5% of an operating pressure inside the fuel tank;
- liquefying, by the external fuel tank, the gaseous fuel;
- and
- reusing the liquefied gaseous fuel.
8 more elements
A system for venting a fuel tank, the system comprising:
- a grounded blended wing body aircraft, wherein the grounded blended wing body aircraft includes a contact sensor configured to detect a connection between a vent line and a vent of the fuel tank;
- the vent line connected to the fuel tank in the grounded blended wing body aircraft;
- a valve proximal to the connection between the vent of the fuel tank and the vent line, the valve configured to facilitate a continuous flow of gaseous fuel downstream the vent line, from the fuel tank to an external fuel tank, wherein the continuous flow of the gaseous fuel downstream of the vent line prevents ingress of moisture into the valve;
- a heat exchanger configured to heat the vent line, wherein the heat exchanger comprises a hot fluid channel surrounding the vent line;
- and
- the external fuel tank configured to collect the gaseous fuel downstream of the vent line from the fuel tank in the grounded blended wing body aircraft, wherein collecting the gaseous fuel comprises:
- identifying, by a controller onboard the grounded blended wing body aircraft, a fuel pressure of the fuel tank;
- controlling, by the controller, an opening of the vent based on the fuel pressure, the connection between the vent line and the vent, and a comparison of the fuel pressure to a threshold pressure, wherein the threshold pressure comprises an increase in the fuel pressure by 3% to 5% of an operating pressure inside the fuel tank;
- liquefying, by the external fuel tank, the gaseous fuel;
- and
- reusing the liquefied the gaseous fuel.
8 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.