JP2018105772A - Tank testing method - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a tank testing method which allows a testing time to be shorten and downsizing of a test facility and cost reduction to be achieved.SOLUTION: The tank testing method includes a first step for arranging a bag-like rubber sheet 20 in a high pressure tank 10 from a valve side nozzle 13 of the high pressure tank 10 and making an expansion measurement by filling the inside of the rubber sheet 20 with water and a second step for conducting an air tightness test by filling a space between the rubber sheet 20 and the inner wall of the high pressure tank 10 with helium gas.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

  The present invention relates to a tank test method, and more particularly to a high-pressure tank test method.

  High-pressure tanks such as hydrogen tanks mounted on fuel cell vehicles and hydrogen vehicles are required to have sufficient strength to withstand internal pressure. As such a high-pressure tank, a tank container (hereinafter referred to as a liner) formed of resin, metal or the like and having a fiber reinforced resin layer formed on the outer periphery thereof is used.

  As a method for inspecting whether the high-pressure tank has sufficient strength, an airtight test can be performed by filling the manufactured high-pressure tank with an inert gas such as helium (for example, Patent Document 1). And before an airtight test, the inside of a high-pressure tank may be filled with water and an expansion measurement may be performed (for example, patent document 2).

JP 2008-2322979 A JP 2014-119292 A

  By the way, in the case of an airtight test, the use of dry air or inert gas is required according to the regulation. As described above, if the expansion measurement is performed before the airtight test, it is necessary to discharge the water inside the tank after the expansion measurement and further dry the inside of the tank. And since time is required for the operation | work of draining water and the drying operation inside a tank, the problem which requires test time arises. Moreover, since equipment such as a drying furnace is required along with internal drying, not only the test equipment is increased in size, but also a problem of cost increase occurs.

  The present invention has been made to solve such a technical problem, and provides a tank test method capable of reducing the test time and reducing the size and cost of the test equipment. Objective.

  The tank test method according to the present invention is a tank test method in which a base is provided at both ends in the axial direction, and a bag-shaped rubber sheet is disposed inside the tank from one base of the tank, A first step of filling the rubber sheet with water and measuring expansion; and a space between the rubber sheet and the inner wall of the tank is filled with dry air or inert gas to perform an airtight test. And 2 steps.

  In the tank testing method according to the present invention, a bag-shaped rubber sheet is disposed inside the tank, the rubber sheet is filled with water to perform expansion measurement, and then the space between the rubber sheet and the inner wall of the tank. An air tightness test is performed by filling dry air or inert gas. Accordingly, it is not necessary to perform the operation of draining the water inside the tank and the operation of drying the inside of the tank between the expansion measurement and the airtight test, so that the test time can be shortened. In addition, since no equipment such as a drying furnace is required, the test equipment can be reduced in size and cost can be reduced.

  According to the present invention, the test time can be shortened, and the test equipment can be reduced in size and cost.

It is a schematic sectional drawing which shows the structure of a high pressure tank. It is a schematic diagram for demonstrating 1st Embodiment of the test method of a tank. It is a schematic diagram for demonstrating 2nd Embodiment of the test method of a tank.

  Hereinafter, an embodiment of a tank testing method according to the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. Before that, the structure of a high-pressure tank to be tested will be described. FIG. 1 is a schematic cross-sectional view showing a configuration of a high-pressure tank. The high-pressure tank 10 is mounted on, for example, a fuel cell vehicle, and stores high-pressure hydrogen supplied as fuel gas to the fuel cell. The high-pressure tank 10 includes a liner 11, a fiber reinforced resin layer 12, a valve side base 13, an end side base 14, and a valve 15.

  The liner 11 is a tank container that constitutes the main body of the high-pressure tank 10 and has a storage space for storing high-pressure hydrogen therein. The liner 11 has a gas barrier property against hydrogen gas, and includes a substantially cylindrical cylinder portion 11a and substantially hemispherical dome portions 11b located at both ends of the cylinder portion 11a. Openings are respectively formed at the tops of the two dome parts 11b, and a valve side cap 13 is inserted into one of these openings and an end side cap 14 is inserted into the other.

  The liner 11 is formed by a rotation / blow molding method using a resin member such as polyethylene or nylon. The liner 11 may be made of a light metal such as aluminum instead of the resin member. Further, the liner 11 may be formed by joining a plurality of divided members by injection / extrusion molding or the like, instead of the integral molding manufacturing method such as the rotation / blow molding method.

  The fiber reinforced resin layer 12 is a reinforcing layer that covers the outer surface of the liner 11, and includes reinforcing fibers such as carbon fiber reinforced plastic (CFRP) wound around the outer surface of the liner 11, and the reinforcing fibers. It is comprised with the thermosetting resin to bind. The fiber reinforced resin layer 12 is formed by, for example, a filament winding method. That is, first, the reinforcing fiber impregnated with the thermosetting resin is wound around the outer surface of the liner 11 by a predetermined winding method such as so-called helical winding or hoop winding. Next, the liner 11 around which the reinforcing fibers are wound is heated in a thermostatic bath at a high temperature of, for example, about 85 ° C. to thermoset the thermosetting resin in the reinforcing fibers.

  The valve side cap 13 and the end side cap 14 are provided at both ends of the high-pressure tank 10 in the axial direction. The valve-side base 13 is a connection part for attaching the valve 15, and is attached to one dome part 11 b (the upper dome part 11 b in FIG. 1) of the high-pressure tank 10. The valve side cap 13 includes a substantially cylindrical main body 13 a and a flange 13 b fitted between the liner 11 and the fiber reinforced resin layer 12. A female screw portion (not shown) is provided on the inner wall surface of the main body portion 13a. The valve side cap 13 may be formed of a metal member such as stainless steel or aluminum, or may be formed of a resin member such as reinforced plastic.

  The valve 15 is formed in a substantially columnar shape, and a male screw portion that can be screwed with the female screw portion of the main body portion 13 a of the valve side base 13 is provided on the outer wall surface at the lower portion thereof. The valve 15 is fastened to the valve side cap 13 by screwing the male screw portion and the female screw portion of the valve side cap 13.

  On the other hand, the end-side base 14 is attached to the dome portion 11b (the lower dome portion 11b in FIG. 1) of the high-pressure tank 10 on the side opposite to the valve-side base 13. The end side cap 14 has a substantially cylindrical main body 14 a that seals the opening of the liner 11, and a flange 14 b that is fitted between the liner 11 and the fiber reinforced resin layer 12. The end side cap 14 may be formed of a metal member such as stainless steel or aluminum, or may be formed of a resin member such as reinforced plastic.

<First Embodiment>
FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram for explaining a first embodiment of a tank testing method. Although not shown, the valve 15 of the high-pressure tank 10 according to the present embodiment is provided with a water filling / discharge channel and a helium gas supply / discharge channel. The tank testing method according to the present embodiment includes a first step of performing expansion measurement by filling with water, and a second step of performing an airtight test by filling with dry air or inert gas.

  Specifically, in the first step, first, a bag-like rubber sheet 20 is prepared. Examples of the material of the rubber sheet 20 include natural rubber, ethylene propylene rubber, styrene butadiene rubber, and silicone rubber. Subsequently, the valve 15 of the high-pressure tank 10 is removed, and the bag-like rubber sheet 20 is pressurized from the valve-side base 13 so that the opening of the rubber sheet 20 faces the valve-side base 13 side and the bottom part faces the end-side base 14 side. It arrange | positions inside the tank 10, and the valve | bulb 15 is screwed together with the valve | bulb side nozzle | cap | die 13 after that. Next, the water is filled into the rubber sheet 20 disposed inside the high-pressure tank 10 through the water filling / discharging flow path provided in the valve 15 to perform the expansion measurement.

  In the expansion measurement, the rubber sheet 20 is pressurized and filled with water, and the degree of expansion of the high-pressure tank 10 associated therewith is measured. For example, the internal pressure of the high-pressure tank 10 is increased by filling the rubber sheet 20 with a predetermined amount of water, and the expansion amount of the high-pressure tank 10 related to the change in the internal pressure of the high-pressure tank 10 is measured.

  In the second step subsequent to the first step, the space between the inner wall of the high-pressure tank 10 and the rubber sheet 20 is filled with dry helium (He) gas and an airtight test is performed. Specifically, with the water W used for the expansion measurement remaining inside the rubber sheet 20, the space between the inner wall of the high-pressure tank 10 and the rubber sheet 20 is filled with helium gas to reduce the internal pressure to the working pressure ( For example, whether or not there is a leak of helium gas is inspected.

  In the tank test method according to the present embodiment, a bag-like rubber sheet 20 is arranged inside the high-pressure tank 10, the arranged rubber sheet 20 is filled with water to perform expansion measurement, and then the rubber sheet 20 and A space between the inner wall of the high-pressure tank 10 is filled with dry helium gas and an airtight test is performed. Therefore, since it is not necessary to discharge water inside the high-pressure tank 10 and dry work inside the high-pressure tank 10 between the expansion measurement and the airtight test as in the prior art, the test time can be greatly shortened. Further, since the conventional equipment such as a drying furnace is not necessary, the test equipment can be downsized and the cost can be reduced.

  Further, in the airtight test, the water W used for the expansion measurement is left inside the rubber sheet 20, and the airtight test is performed by filling the space between the rubber sheet 20 and the inner wall of the high-pressure tank 10 with helium gas. Therefore, the filling amount of helium gas can be reduced as compared with the case where the inside of the high-pressure tank 10 is completely filled with helium gas without using the rubber sheet 20. For this reason, an airtight test can be performed even with a small amount of helium gas, the helium gas supply facility can be downsized, and the time for filling and releasing the helium gas can also be shortened. As a result, the test time can be further shortened, and the test equipment can be further reduced in size and cost.

Second Embodiment
FIG. 3 is a schematic view for explaining a second embodiment of the tank test method. The tank testing method according to the present embodiment performs a first step of performing expansion measurement by filling with water, and performing an airtight test by filling with dry air or inert gas, as in the first embodiment described above. The second step is different from the first embodiment in that the rubber sheet 20 is not used.

  In the first step, the inside of the high-pressure tank 10 is directly filled with water W to perform expansion measurement.

  In the second step, as shown in FIG. 3, while the water W used for the expansion measurement is left inside the high-pressure tank 10, the high-pressure tank 10 has the valve-side base 13 facing upward and the end-side base 14 facing downward. Is filled with helium gas inside the high-pressure tank 10. At this time, since helium gas accumulates in a space above the liquid level of the water W, an airtight test on the valve side cap 13 side is performed first. Next, after the high-pressure tank 10 is turned upside down so that the valve side cap 13 faces downward and the end side cap 14 faces upward, an air tightness test on the end side cap 14 side is performed.

  In the tank testing method according to the present embodiment, the air tightness test is performed by filling the inside of the high-pressure tank 10 with helium gas in a state where the water W used for the expansion measurement is left inside the high-pressure tank 10. The amount can be reduced. For this reason, it is possible to reduce the size of the helium gas supply facility and to shorten the time for filling and releasing the helium gas. As a result, the test time can be greatly shortened, and the test equipment can be reduced in size and cost.

  Although the embodiments of the present invention have been described in detail above, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and various designs can be made without departing from the spirit of the present invention described in the claims. It can be changed. For example, in the above-described embodiment, an example using helium gas has been described. However, an inert gas such as air or argon gas may be used.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 High pressure tank 11 Liner 12 Fiber reinforced resin layer 13 Valve side nozzle | cap | die 13a Main body part 13b ridge part 14 End side nozzle | cap | die 14a Main body part 14b ridge part 15 Valve 20 Rubber sheet W Water

Claims (1)

A test method for a tank provided with caps at both ends in the axial direction,
A first step of disposing a bag-like rubber sheet inside the tank from one of the caps of the tank, and filling the water inside the rubber sheet to measure expansion;
A second step of performing an airtight test by filling a space between the rubber sheet and the inner wall of the tank with dry air or an inert gas;
A method for testing a tank, comprising:

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