US 8,746,274 B2Granted

Hydrogen supply apparatus and fuel gas supply apparatus

AssigneeToyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha

InventorsTakahide Izutani, Tatsuaki Yokoyama, Syuuji Hirakata, Osamu Yumita, Hiroshi Fujitani, Keigo Suematsu, Masaaki Matsusue, Nobuo Watanabe, Katsuhiko Oshikawa, Katsuhiko Hirose, Takumi Kuwahara, Atsushi Matsuba

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Abstract

Disclosed is a hydrogen supply apparatus which can mix an odorant with hydrogen gas even at a low temperature and can detect the leakage of the hydrogen gas. The apparatus comprises a gas storage means for storing hydrogen gas therein, an odorant-addition means for adding an odorant to the hydrogen gas fed from the gas storage means, and a temperature control means for controlling the temperature of at least one of the hydrogen gas stored in the gas storage means, the hydrogen gas fed from the gas storage means and the odorant.

Claims3

Dependent claims

A hydrogen supply apparatus, comprising:

a high-pressure hydrogen gas tank that stores a hydrogen gas;
an odorant addition portion which adds an odorant to the hydrogen gas;
a temperature adjustment portion that adjusts a temperature of the odorant so as to suppress the odorant mixed with the hydrogen gas from being solidified or liquefied;
an odorant temperature detection portion that detects the temperature of the odorant to be added by the odorant addition portion;
and
an odorant vapor pressure control that controls the vapor pressure of the odorant,
wherein the temperature adjustment portion has a heating portion that increases the temperature of the odorant to be added by the odorant addition portion, when the temperature of the odorant detected by the odorant temperature detection portion is equal to or lower than a predetermined temperature, and
wherein the odorant vapor pressure control comprises:
a hydrogen gas prediction portion that obtains a temperature variation in the hydrogen gas due to adiabatic expansion as data beforehand, and for predicting, based on this data, how the temperature of the hydrogen gas is reduced due to adiabatic expansion, and
a heating amount determining portion that determines the heating amount for heating the odorant to be added by the odorant addition portion by the heating portion based on the temperature of the odorant obtained by the odorant temperature detection portion, the prediction of how the temperature of the hydrogen gas is reduced, and a property of the odorant.

7 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Facts

Application: 13/790,457Filed 8 Mar 2013 · division
Priority: JP 2005-2591297 Sep 2005
Published: US 2013/0189593 A125 Jul 2013
Granted: 10 Jun 2014
Term ends: Not estimatedThe source records don’t support an estimate.

Classification29 codes

H01M 8/04201
Arrangements for control of reactant parameters, e.g. pressure or concentration: reactant storage and supply, e.g. means for feeding, pipes
C01B 3/00
Hydrogen
F17C 7/00
Methods or apparatus for discharging liquefied, solidified, or compressed gases from pressure
H01M 8/04089
Arrangements for control of reactant parameters, e.g. pressure or concentration: of gaseous reactants

Family

PCT/JP2006/317670Parent of this division · filed 6 Sep 2006
US 2013/0189593 A1Pre-grant publication · published 25 Jul 2013
Application11/991,666Parent of this division
US 2009/0110990 A1Published application
US 8,746,274 B2This patent

From the US filing history. Foreign family members aren’t listed.