JPH03186500A - Propellant manufacturing/storing device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To simplify and lighten the structure of the tank of a shuttle by pressure-feeding the water in a water tank to a water electrolysis device excited by a solar heat power generating device, power-recovering and utilizing the pressure energy of the generated hydrogen and oxygen, and liquefying and storing the hydrogen and oxygen. CONSTITUTION:The water in a water tank 1 is pressure-fed to a water electrolysis device 3 by a booster pump 2, and the water electrolysis device 3 is excited by a solar heat power generating device 4 for electrolysis to generate hydrogen GH2 and oxygen GO2. The generated gases GH2, GO2 are sent to expansion turbines 7a, 7b and a propelling device 8. Generators 7c, 7d are driven by the expansion turbines 7a, 7b to recover the power energy. The gases GH2, GO2 expanded by the expansion turbines 7a, 7b are fed to liquefiers 8, 15 respectively and cooled by heat exchangers 12, 18, and they are cooled and liquefied and stored in respective tanks 14, 20. The water tank 1 can be used for the tank of a shaft, the tank structure is simplified, and it can be made lightweight.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to a propellant manufacturing and storage device for use in outer space.

[Conventional technology]

Currently, plans are being made to establish a space base, and this plan includes an interorbital transport vehicle (for example, a round-trip flight between the Earth and a space base at an altitude of 500 km, or a space station and a space base at an altitude of 3,600 km).
Transport aircraft that fly back and forth between geostationary satellites at 0 km altitude (in geostationary orbit) are considering receiving propellants consisting of liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen from propellant storage facilities located in outer space. has been done.

The conventional plan was to liquefy the hydrogen and oxygen gases on Earth, fill them in tanks, and transport them to a storage facility in outer space using a space shuttle or the like.

[Problem to be solved by the invention]

The conventional plan involved the following technical issues when liquefying hydrogen and oxygen gases on the ground and transporting them to a storage facility in space.

(1) Liquid hydrogen has a temperature of -253℃, liquid oxygen has a temperature of -1
Since it is a cryogenic fluid with a temperature of 83 degrees Celsius, when transporting it by shuttle or the like, the filling tank requires insulation to prevent the liquid from evaporating. As a result, the tank structure becomes complicated and expensive. Also, because the weight increases, the amount of liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen that can be carried on the shuttle will be reduced.

(2) Since the density of liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen is small, their volume is smaller than that of water of the same weight, so there are restrictions on how they can be carried on the shuttle.

(3) Liquid hydrogen is flammable, and liquid oxygen promotes and accelerates combustion, so it is very dangerous to transport it to space on a shuttle or the like.

The present invention seeks to solve the above problems.

[Means to solve the problem]

The propellant manufacturing and storage device of the present invention includes a tank for storing water that is a raw material for liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen, a pressurizing pump to which the tank is connected and which pressurizes and supplies water, and a pressurizing pump to which the pump is connected to supply water. A water electrolysis device that electrolyzes water, a solar power generation device that is connected to the water electrolysis device and supplies electricity, a power recovery device that is supplied with high-pressure hydrogen or oxygen generated by the water electrolysis device and recovers pressure energy, respectively. A hydrogen liquefier that is connected to a power recovery device to liquefy generated hydrogen gas, an oxygen liquefier that liquefies oxygen gas, a liquid hydrogen tank that is connected to the hydrogen liquefier, and a liquid oxygen tank that is connected to the oxygen liquefier. , 1 and the hydrogen liquefaction machine and the oxygen liquefaction machine, respectively, are equipped with radiators for dissipating unnecessary heat.

[Effect]

Above I) 1. Water carried from the ground and stored in a water tank is pressurized by a pump and sent to a water electrolysis device, which electrolyzes water using electricity supplied from a solar power generation device. do. The hydrogen gas and oxygen gas generated by the water electrolysis device are sent to each power recovery device,
Power is recovered.

The hydrogen gas and oxygen gas from which the power has been recovered are sent to a hydrogen liquefaction machine and an oxygen liquefaction machine, respectively, and unnecessary heat is radiated by a radiator installed in each liquefaction machine and liquefied.
It is stored in liquefied hydrogen tanks and liquefied oxygen tanks. The liquefied hydrogen and liquefied oxygen stored in the respective tanks are supplied to transport aircraft and the like that require refueling.

As a result of the above, it has become possible to manufacture propellants that can be used at space bases, and because it has become possible to store propellants in the form of water, which is the raw material, there is no need to insulate the storage tank, and a certain amount of water can be stored at the space station. Since the volume of liquid hydrogen and liquid M element produced from water is about three times that of water, the structure of the tank Vi
It becomes simpler and the weight is reduced. Furthermore, since water is transported from the ground, the risk of the button breaking during transportation is greatly reduced. [Embodiment] An embodiment of the present invention is shown in FIG. 1.

In Figure 1, button 1 is a water tank that stores water brought from the ground or by shuttles. 2 is a pump connected to the water storage tank 1 by piping for pressurizing and pumping water;
3 is a water electrolysis device to which water is supplied from the water storage tank 1 via the same pump 2, and electrolyzes water by a solid polymer water electrolysis method using a solid polymer electrolyte. Reference numeral 4 denotes a solar power generation device to which the water electrolysis device 3 is connected by an electric wire, and is a device that supplies power to the water electrolysis device 3. 6a.

6b is supplied with hydrogen gas GH or oxygen gas GO from the water electrolyzer 3, and removes moisture from the hydrogen gas, respectively.
This is a dryer that removes moisture from oxygen gas. 7a, 7
b is the dryer 6 to which generators 7c and 7d are connected, respectively.
08 is an expansion turbine that functions as a power recovery device for recovering power by adiabatically expanding each gas to which high-pressure hydrogen gas or high-pressure oxygen gas is supplied from a + 6 b. A plurality of propulsion devices to which oxygen gas is supplied are used for attitude control and propulsion in this embodiment. An oxygen liquefier 9 is supplied with oxygen gas from the expansion turbine 7b, and has a heat exchanger 12 that cools and liquefies the oxygen gas using helium or alcon gas as a refrigerant gas.

10 is a compressor to which the heat exchanger 12 is connected and has a motor 10a and compresses the helium or argon gas to form a Brayton cycle; 11 is provided in the Brayton cycle to compress the helium gas or argon gas generated when compressing the helium gas or argon gas; This is a radiator that removes the heat generated by heat, and Freon or the like is used as a refrigerant. Reference numeral 13 is provided in the above-mentioned Preyton cycle and connected to the generator 13a, which is a high-pressure helium gas or argon gas that is adiabatically expanded to liquefy oxygen at a low temperature helium gas or argon gas (below the liquefaction temperature of oxygen, i.e. -183 ℃ or less), and the power generated during expansion is recovered by the generator 13a. 14 is a liquefied oxygen tank connected to the oxygen liquefier 9 by piping to store liquefied oxygen or slush-like (solid-liquid coexistence state) oxygen, and is provided with a heat insulating material on the outside to reduce intrusion heat. be. 15 is a hydrogen liquefier to which hydrogen gas is supplied from the expansion turbine 7a;
It has a heat exchanger 18 that cools and liquefies the hydrogen gas using helium gas, which is a refrigerant gas.

16 is a compressor to which the heat exchanger 18 is connected and has a motor 16a and compresses the helium gas to form a Preyton cycle; 17 is a compressor provided in the Preyton cycle to collect the heat generated when compressing the helium gas; This is a heat radiator for removing heat, and Freon or the like is used as a refrigerant. Reference numeral 19 is an expansion unit provided in the Preyton cycle and connected to a generator 19a, which adiabatically expands high-pressure helium gas and generates low-temperature helium gas (below the liquefaction temperature of hydrogen, i.e., below -253°C) necessary for liquefying hydrogen. It is a turbine, and the power generated during expansion is recovered by a generator 19a. 2
Reference numeral 0 denotes a liquefied hydrogen tank connected to the hydrogen liquefier 15 by piping to store liquefied hydrogen or slush hydrogen, and is provided with a heat insulating material on the outside to reduce intrusion heat.

Reference numeral 21 denotes a supply section to which the tanks 14 and 20 are connected via piping to supply liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen to the interorbital transport vehicle. 22 is a temporary power supply when the tank 14゜20 is connected by piping and the system does not receive the benefit of sunlight (when sunlight cannot reach due to the shadow of the earth), that is, when power supply is impossible. This is a fuel cell for supplying

The fuel cell 22 generates steam or water as exhaust gas, and the generated steam and water are collected in the water tank 1.

Based on the above, the water transported from the ground by shuttle etc. and stored in the water tank 1 is pressurized by the pump 2, and the water
It is pumped to device 3. The water electrolyzer 3 is supplied with electric power from a solar thermal power generator 4 and electrolyzes the water.Hydrogen gas GH2 and oxygen gas GO2 generated by the water electrolyzer #3 are supplied to dryers 6a and 6b, respectively. Moisture is removed and sent to expansion turbines 7a, 7b and propulsion device 8. The high pressure hydrogen gas or high pressure oxygen gas sent to the expansion turbine 7 a T 7 b is adiabatically expanded and sent to the generator 7
c.

Power is recovered by 7d. Additionally, the propulsion device #8 is supplied with hydrogen gas and oxygen gas, and is used for attitude control and propulsion of the base.

The hydrogen gas or oxygen gas discharged from the expansion turbines 7a, 7b is supplied to the hydrogen liquefier 15 or the oxygen liquefier 9, respectively. The liquefier 9.15 has a compressor 10.16, a radiator 11.17, and an expansion turbine 13.15, respectively.
Heat exchanger 1 forming a Preyton cycle with 19
2.18 is provided, and the hydrogen gas or oxygen gas is cooled and liquefied in the heat exchanger 12.18 by low temperature helium or Alcon gas in the Preyton cycle.

The power of the expansion turbines 13 and 19 is recovered by generators 13a*19a, respectively.

The liquefied hydrogen or oxygen is stored in a tank 14.2, respectively.
0, and is supplied to the transport machine via the supply section 21 as necessary. Also, sunlight cannot be received, and -
When it is necessary to temporarily supply electric power, liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen are supplied from the tanks 14 and 20 to the fuel cell 22 to generate electric power. Steam or water discharged from the fuel cell 22 is collected in the water tank 1. The reason why the fuel cell 22 temporarily supplies power is that this kind of cryogenic equipment and space equipment will return to a steady operating state if they temporarily stop operating. This is because it takes time to continue the liquefaction operation even if it consumes liquefied hydrogen and oxygen, which is more viable than water, because the merift will be larger.

As a result of the above, it has become possible to manufacture propellants for space bases, and it has become possible to store propellants in the form of water, which is the raw material, eliminating the need for insulation in storage tanks, and manufacturing from a fixed amount of water. Since the volume ratio of liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen to water is about three times that of water, the structure of the tank is simple and its weight is reduced. Furthermore, since water is transported from the ground, the risk of the button breaking during transport is greatly reduced.

In addition to the above, the device of this embodiment has the following advantages.

(1) Even when electricity cannot be supplied from the solar thermal power generation device, such as when there is no sunlight, the stored liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen can be used to generate electricity with a fuel cell to continue operation. can do. (With this type of cryogenic space equipment, it takes a long time to return to normal operation if the operation is stopped temporarily, so it is important that it can be operated continuously.) (2) For hydrogen liquefaction equipment and oxygen liquefaction equipment. The liquefier uses a Preyton cycle that uses helium gas or argon gas (in the case of an oxygen liquefier) as a refrigerant, so the liquefaction temperature can be lowered to below the atmospheric pressure boiling point, and the liquefied gas is kept in a supercooled state. Alternatively, it can be stored in slush form (solid/liquid mixed state, slush hydrogen, slush oxygen), and is suitable for long-term storage. (There is no evaporative gas generated due to heat penetrating the tank.) (3) This example has multiple propulsion bags f (thrusters) that use hydrogen and oxygen as fuel, but this example was implemented in outer space. Hydrogen gas and oxygen gas produced according to this embodiment can be used for position control, etc., and there is no need to keep fuel in the pond.

(4) Since the gas discharged from the fuel cell and propulsion device is water vapor (or water), water can be reused and no harmful gases such as corrosive gases are generated.

〔Effect of the invention〕

The propellant production and storage device of the present invention is equipped with a pressurizing pump, a water electrolysis device, a hydrogen liquefaction machine, an oxygen liquefaction machine, etc., thereby making it possible to produce propellant at a space base. Because it was possible to store it in the state of
There is no need to insulate the storage tank, and the volume ratio of liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen produced from a certain amount of water in the casing to water is approximately 3.
Because it is double the size, the structure of the above tank is simple.
Weight is reduced. Furthermore, since water is transported from the ground, the risk of indulging during transport is greatly reduced.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

2...For pressurization≠≠, 4...Solar thermal power generation device, 7a, 7b... expansion turbine, 8...propulsion device, 10... Compressor, 11... radiator, 13... expansion turbine, 14...Liquid oxygen tank, 16... Compressor, 17... radiator, 19... expansion turbine, 1... water tank, 3... water electrolysis device, 6a, 6b... dryer, 7c, 7d... taking the opportunity of departure, 9...Oxygen liquefaction machine, 10a... motor, 12... heat exchanger, 13a... Generator, 15...Hydrogen liquefaction machine, 16a... motor, 18... heat exchanger, a... Generator, O...Liquid oxygen tank, ...supply department, 2...Fuel cell.

Claims (1)

[Claims] A tank that stores water, which is the raw material for liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen,
A pressurizing pump to which the tank is connected and supplies water under pressure; a water electrolysis device to which the pump is connected and which electrolyzes the supplied water; a solar thermal power generation device connected to the water electrolysis device to supply electricity; A power recovery device that is supplied with high-pressure hydrogen or oxygen generated by the electrolyzer and recovers pressure energy, a hydrogen liquefaction machine that liquefies the generated hydrogen gas to which the power recovery devices are connected, and an oxygen liquefaction device that liquefies oxygen gas. A liquid hydrogen tank connected to the hydrogen liquefaction machine, a liquid oxygen tank connected to the oxygen liquefaction machine, and a radiator connected to the hydrogen liquefaction machine and the oxygen liquefaction machine to radiate unnecessary heat. A propellant manufacturing and storage device characterized by: