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US 9,919,779 B2Granted
Natural gas transport vessel
AssigneeElwha LLC
InventorsJesse R. Cheatham, III, Tom Driscoll, Alexander Galt Hyde, Roderick A. Hyde, Muriel Y. Ishikawa, Jordin T. Kare, Nathan P. Myhrvold, Tony S. Pan, Robert C. Petroski, David R. Smith, Clarence T. Tegreene, Nicholas W. Touran, Yaroslav A. Urzhumov, Charles Whitmer, Lowell L. Wood, Jr., Victoria Y. H. Wood
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Abstract
A lightweight transport vessel transports compressed natural gas underwater without needing to liquefy the gas for transport.
Claims24
A vessel suitable for transporting compressed natural gas (CNG) underwater, comprising:
- a flexible container configured to hold CNG at an operating pressure;
- and
- a buoyancy control system configured to adjust a buoyancy of the vessel by moving CNG into or out of the flexible container;
- and
- a propulsion system configured to move the vessel through the water, wherein the propulsion system is at least partially powered by burning CNG stored in the flexible container.
2 more elements
A vessel suitable for transporting compressed natural gas (CNG) underwater, comprising:
- a flexible container configured to hold CNG at an operating pressure;
- and
- a buoyancy control system configure to adjust a buoyancy of the vessel by moving CNG into of out of the flexible container, wherein the container has a variable shape configured to be controlled by controllable tensile members.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.