Passive Thermal Diode for Pipelines
AssigneeSaudi Arabian Oil Company
InventorsThibault Tarik Villette, Guillaume Robert Jean-Francois Raynel
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A system and method for a passive thermal diode (PTD) to be disposed on a pipeline that inhibits heat transfer from the pipeline to the environment below a threshold temperature and promotes heat transfer from the environment to the pipeline above a threshold temperature.
Claims36
A method of operating a passive thermal diode (PTD) disposed on a pipeline, comprising:
- inhibiting, via the PTD, heat transfer from the pipeline to environment in response to an external temperature being below a threshold temperature;
- and
- promoting, via the PTD, heat transfer from the environment to the pipeline in response to the external temperature being above the threshold temperature.
A method of operating a passive thermal diode (PTD) disposed on a pipeline, comprising:
- inhibiting heat transfer from the pipeline to environment via an insulation material layer in an upper portion of the PTD and via a gap in a lower portion of the PTD;
- and
- placing a heat-transfer material layer of the PTD in contact with the pipeline to provide for heat transfer from the environment through the heat-transfer material layer to the pipeline, wherein the heat-transfer material layer is placed in contact with the pipeline via thermal expansion of a control material in the PTD.
A system comprising:
- a pipeline;
- and
- a passive thermal diode (PTD) disposed radially around the pipeline, wherein the PTD comprises:
- a polymer shell;
- an inner polymer layer adjacent the polymer shell;
- a graphene layer between the inner polymer layer and the pipeline in a lower portion of the PTD;
- and
- a control material to move the graphene layer into contact with the pipeline.
A passive thermal diode (PTD) with phase change material (PCM) giving a PCM-PTD for a pipeline, the PCM-PTD comprising:
- a polymer shell;
- an inner polymer layer adjacent the polymer shell;
- an insulation material layer adjacent the inner polymer layer in an upper portion of the PCM-PTD;
- a heat-transfer material layer adjacent the inner polymer layer in a lower portion of the PCM-PTD to promote heat transfer from environment to the pipeline in response to an external temperature exceeding a threshold;
- and
- the PCM to move the heat-transfer layer into contact with the pipeline via thermal expansion of the PCM in response to the external temperature exceeding the threshold.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.