Pressure powered cooling system for enhancing the refill speed and capacity of on board high pressure vehicle gas storage tanks
AssigneeHonda Motor Co., Ltd.
InventorKiyoshi Handa
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Apparatus wherein the compression heat of refueling of an on board vehicle tank is evacuated from the interior of the on board tank by a heat absorber within the tank through a radiator external to the tank and in which a coolant circulating from the heat absorber within the tank to the external radiator [and/or an associated blower system] is powered by the mechanical energy of the refueling gas as the gas traverses a turbine from the high pressure refuel depot to the low pressure on board tank. The turbine powers the gas cooling system.
Claims18
Apparatus for circulating cooling media in a tank on a vehicle having an on board tank for the storage of a fuel gas wherein the tank is refueled under high pressure through a fuel line at a refueling depot, comprising:
- 1) a fluid heat absorbent media that circulates in a conduit within the tank and absorbs the heat of compression resulting from the refueling of the on board tank, 2) a conduit circuit within which the media circulates and an interconnection of the conduit to a radiator external to the tank where the heat absorbed by the media is exhausted to an environment external to the tank, and 3) a turbine interposed in the fuel line between the high pressure gas depot and the on board tank to capture the mechanical energy of gas flow within the fuel line to power the circulation of the media within the conduit.
Apparatus for cooling fuel gas in a tank on vehicle having an on board tank for the storage of a fuel gas wherein the tank is refueled under high pressure through a fuel line between a depot tank and an on board tank at a refueling depot comprising 1) a heat absorber within the tank, 2) a heat pipe extending from within the tank to a radiator external to the tank, the heat pipe operatively interconnecting with the heat absorber such that the heat pipe conducts heat absorbed by the external radiator, and 3) a turbine interposed in the fuel line between the refueling depot and the on board tank, the turbine capturing the mechanical energy of gas flow within the fuel line to power a cooling system operatively disposed with respect to the radiator external to the tank such that the absorbed heat is dissipated.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.