Thermally-managed fuel vapor recovery canister
AssigneeStore Heat and Produce Energy, Inc.
InventorsAlan Pittel, Alexander P. Rafalovich, John D. Cathcart
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Described are preferred vapor recovery canisters which are useful in on-board vehicle fuel vapor recovery systems. The preferred canisters incorporate thermal management of solid adsorbent with phase change materials to improve both adsorptive and desorptive capacity of the canisters. Also described are preferred encapsulation members for use in the vapor recovery canisters.
Claims23
A method for adsorbing and collecting an evaporative hydrocarbon, comprising:
- providing a solid adsorbent bed for adsorbing hydrocarbon vapor, said adsorbent bed being in heat-exchange relationship with an encapsulation containing a phase change material;
- passing a gaseous stream including hydrocarbon vapor through said adsorbent bed so as to adsorb the hydrocarbon vapor and generate heat, said heat being transferred to said phase change material;
- and
- after said passing, purging said adsorbent bed by flowing a gas purge stream therethrough to remove the hydrocarbon from the bed, wherein during said purging, heat is transferred from said phase change material to said solid adsorbent bed.
A vapor recovery canister for absorbing fuel vapor, comprising:
- a container having an inlet opening and an outlet opening at spaced positions from one another, for passing a gaseous stream through said container;
- a solid adsorbent contained in said container for adsorbing fuel vapor from said gaseous stream as it is passed through said container;
- and
- an encapsulation and one or more phase change materials hermetically contained in said encapsulation, said encapsulation being in heat-exchange relationship with said solid adsorbent for removing heat from said adsorbent generated during absorption of said fuel vapor and rejecting heat back to said adsorbent during the desorption of fuel from said adsorbent.
An apparatus for controlling the emission of fuel vapor during a fueling operation, comprising:
- a fuel tank for containing fuel;
- a vapor recovery canister having an inlet fluidly coupled to said fuel tank for receiving a gaseous stream containing fuel vapor from said tank during a fueling operation;
- said vapor recovery canister further having an outlet, and containing a solid adsorbent for adsorbing fuel vapor from the gaseous stream as it is passed from said inlet to said outlet;
- and
- said vapor recovery canister also including an encapsulation containing a phase change material in heat-exchange relationship with said solid adsorbent, wherein heat generated during adsorption of fuel vapor is transferred from said solid adsorbent to said phase change material.
An encapsulation of a phase change material for use in a vapor recovery canister, comprising:
- a wall member having an internal passage;
- at least one hollow elongate member attached to said wall member, the interior of said hollow elongate member being fluidly coupled to said internal passage of said wall member;
- a fill port defined in said wall member and communicating with said internal passage;
- and
- a phase change material contained in said hollow elongate member.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.