L'air Liquide,societe Anonyme Pour L'etude Et L'exploitation Des Procedes Georges Claude

L'air Liquide Societe Anonyme Pour L'etude

Et L'exploitation Des Procedes Georges Claude

Vincent Fairy

Anh Thao Thieu

Marcus Buck

Simon Crispel

Samuel Trompezinski

Louis Debesombes

A hydrogen refilling station for filling tanks of fuel cell electric vehicles includes a liquid hydrogen tank that feeds liquid hydrogen to an upstream end of a filling circuit that also includes a heat exchanger. The heat exchanger exchanges heat between the liquid hydrogen and heat transfer fluid flows to thereby cool the heat transfer fluid and vaporize the liquid hydrogen to provide a supply of high pressure hydrogen gas for filling hydrogen-fueled vehicle tanks at a downstream end of the circuit. Because the liquid hydrogen is surrounded by the heat transfer fluid inside the heat exchanger, little if any fogging occurs.

Station for filling tanks of hydrogen-fuelled vehicles

Heat is transferred from a first portion of liquid hydrogen to a flow of a heat transfer fluid at a first heat exchanger through heat exchange with a heat transfer fluid to produce a flow of vaporized hydrogen and a warmed flow of heat transfer fluid. The flow of vaporized hydrogen is combined with a second portion of liquid hydrogen in amounts designed to produce a combined flow with a desired temperature, the combined flow being used to fill one or more buffer vessels. Heat is also transferred at a second heat exchanger from a stream of pressurized hydrogen from the at least one buffer vessel to the cooled flow of heat transfer fluid to produce a cooled flow of pressurized hydrogen that is used to fill tanks of fuel cell electric vehicles.

Method and system for filling tanks of hydrogen-fueled vehicles

Heat is transferred from a flow of liquid hydrogen to a flow of a heat transfer fluid at a first heat exchanger to produce a warmed flow of pressurized hydrogen and a cooled flow of heat transfer fluid. Heat is also transferred at a second heat exchanger, to the cooled flow of heat transfer fluid, from a flow of pressurized hydrogen that is derived from one or more buffer vessels filled by the warmed flow of pressurized hydrogen and/or the warmed flow of pressurized hydrogen from the first exchanger to produce a cooled flow of pressurized hydrogen that is used to fill tanks of fuel cell electric vehicles.

Method for filling tanks of hydrogen-fueled vehicles

Device and method for filling pressurized-gas tanks, comprising a fluid transfer circuit provided with an upstream end intended to be connected to a source of gas and at least two parallel downstream ends intended to be connected to distinct tanks that are to be filled, the transfer circuit comprising a temperature regulating member for regulating the temperature of the gas transferred from the source towards the downstream ends, the gas temperature regulating member being positioned in the transfer circuit upstream of the at least two downstream ends, which means to say that the gas temperature regulating member is common to the at least two downstream ends, characterized in that the at least two downstream ends of the circuit each comprise a respective control member for controlling the flow rate and/or the pressure of the transferred gas and configured to control the flow rate and/or the pressure in each of the downstream ends independently.

Device and method for filling tanks

Device and method for filling pressurized gas tanks, particularly vehicle pressurized hydrogen tanks, the device comprising a liquefied gas source, a transfer circuit comprising two parallel transfer lines each having an upstream end linked to the liquefied gas source, at least two separate downstream ends intended to be each removably connected to a tank to be filled, each of the two transfer lines comprising: a pump, a vaporizer for evaporating the pumped fluid, a branch for bypassing the vaporizer and a distribution valve(s) set configured to control the flow of fluid pumped and distributed between the vaporizer and the branch line, the device further comprising a storage buffer(s), which storage buffer(s) is(are) connected in parallel to each of the two transfer lines via a set of valves.

Growing community of inventors

Houston, TX, United States of America

Vincent Fairy