Vehicle with liquid hydrogen fuel cell energy system
AssigneeKomatsu America Corp.
InventorsKory Leesman, Zachary Charles Uppole
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A liquid hydrogen fuel cell power system for a vehicle includes a liquid hydrogen storage container and a heat exchanger fluidly connected to the liquid hydrogen storage container. The heat exchanger is configured to convert, e.g., vaporize, liquid hydrogen from the liquid hydrogen storage container to gaseous hydrogen. A fuel cell is fluidly connected to the heat exchanger. The fuel cell is configured to generate electrical energy from the gaseous hydrogen. The electrical energy is used to provide power to the vehicle.
Claims20
A liquid hydrogen fuel cell power system for a vehicle comprising:
- a liquid hydrogen storage container;
- a heat exchanger fluidly connected to the liquid hydrogen storage container, the heat exchanger configured to convert liquid hydrogen from the liquid hydrogen storage container to gaseous hydrogen;
- and
- a fuel cell fluidly connected to the heat exchanger, the fuel cell configured to generate electrical energy from the gaseous hydrogen, wherein the electrical energy is used to power the vehicle.
A method of powering a vehicle comprising:
- storing liquid hydrogen on the vehicle;
- channeling at least a portion of the liquid hydrogen to a heat exchanger;
- converting the liquid hydrogen to gaseous hydrogen via the heat exchanger;
- delivering the gaseous hydrogen to a fuel cell;
- generating electrical energy from the gaseous hydrogen via the fuel cell;
- and
- powering the vehicle with the electrical energy.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.