JPH08291898A - Gas supplying device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To shorten the time for charging gas into a tank to be charged, in response to the volume range of the tank ranging from small- to large capacity, and improve the gas charging accuracy. CONSTITUTION: A gas supplying device 1 is composed of a pressure generating unit 4, a dispenser unit 5, and a control device 6. The dispenser unit 5 is provided with a gas supplying opening/closing valve 29, a primary pressure transmitter 30, a mass flowmeter 31, a control valve 32, a secondary pressure transmitter 33, and a three-way valve 38. The control device 6 estimates the tank capacity of a fuel tank 3, and judges whether gas is to be charged in response to the volume range of the tank in accordance with a gas charging rule, namely by fixed flow rate control, or by fixed pressure increase control. Further, when gas is charged by fixed pressure increase control, the rate of pressure increase, corresponding to the volume range of the tank can be set to perform an optimum gas charging control.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a gas supply device, and in particular, it aims to shorten the gas filling time in the tank to be filled depending on the capacity of the tank to be filled, from small capacity to large capacity, and to improve the accuracy of gas filling. A gas supply device configured as described above.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art For example, as a gas supply device for supplying compressed natural gas (CNG) obtained by compressing natural gas to another tank, there is a device as disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 4-64699. The device of the said gazette adopts a method of rapidly filling compressed gas, and the gas whose pressure has been raised to a predetermined pressure or more by a compressor is temporarily stored in a gas supply tank and then stored in the gas supply tank. Gas is injected into a fuel tank (filled tank) of an automobile to be filled until the inside of the fuel tank reaches a predetermined pressure.

In the above apparatus, a constant pressure increase control for controlling the valve opening of the control valve so that the pressure increase rate becomes constant, or a constant pressure increasing control for controlling the valve opening of the control valve so that the gas supply amount becomes constant. The fuel tank was filled with gas by controlling the flow rate. When gas filling is performed by constant pressure increase control, the supply pressure supplied to the fuel tank rises at a constant rate, and the pressure in the fuel tank rises due to gas filling and the gas supply pressure rises with the control valve. The fuel tank filling pressure is set to the target filling pressure. Therefore, in the constant pressure increase control, the gas from the gas supply tank is constantly increased by the control valve until it reaches the target filling pressure, regardless of the remaining amount or the residual pressure before filling the fuel tank. .

Further, in the case where the gas filling control to the fuel tank is performed by the constant flow rate control for filling the gas at a constant flow rate, the target filling is performed while the gas supply flow rate from the gas supply tank is constant regardless of the capacity of the fuel tank. It was filled until pressure was reached.

[0005]

However, in the conventional apparatus, the gas is stored in the fuel tank of the bus having a capacity about 10 times that of the passenger car according to the same control rule as in the case of performing the constant pressure increase control of the gas in the fuel tank of the passenger car. Was being filled. Therefore, conventionally, a pressure loss occurs due to the flow rate limitation of the gas supply system path, and the filling pressure with which the fuel tank is filled becomes smaller than the pressure detected by the pressure sensor provided on the gas supply device side. There is a problem that the filling pressure filled in the fuel tank becomes smaller than the target pressure, and the gas filling accuracy is reduced.

In the gas supply device, since the gas supply on-off valve is closed based on the pressure value detected by the pressure sensor in the device, the gas supply device does not actually reach the full tank filling pressure. The filling may end. In addition, when the gas filling control to the fuel tank is performed by the constant flow rate filling control that fills the gas at a constant flow rate, the target pressure is accurately adjusted without being affected by the pressure loss as in the case of the constant pressure increase control. Can be filled with gas,
When filling gas into a fuel tank of a bus with a large tank capacity, if the control flow rate is low, the filling time until the fuel tank becomes full (target pressure) will be considerably longer than that of passenger cars. Therefore, if the control flow rate is too large, there is a problem that a rapid pressure increase occurs at the beginning of filling.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a gas supply device which solves the above problems.

[0008]

According to the present invention, there is provided a gas supply pipe which is connected to a tank to be filled and which supplies a compressed gas to the tank to be filled, and a gas flow which is provided in the gas supply pipe. A control valve for controlling, and provided in the gas supply line,
Depending on the capacity of the tank to be filled, a pressure detecting means for detecting the pressure to be filled in the tank to be filled, a flow meter provided in the gas supply line for measuring the flow rate to be filled in the tank to be filled, A constant pressure increase control is performed by a signal from the pressure detecting means so that the valve opening degree of the control valve becomes a constant pressure increase until the pressure of the filled tank increases to a predetermined pressure, and the predetermined pressure is reached. Control means for switching the valve opening of the control valve to a constant flow rate control so that the flow rate measured by the flow meter becomes a constant flow rate at a time point, and filling the target tank with the target pressure. It is what

[0009]

According to the present invention, the signal from the pressure detecting means is used so that the valve opening of the control valve is kept constant until the pressure of the tank to be filled rises to a predetermined pressure according to the capacity of the tank to be filled. Performs constant pressure rise control, and switches the valve opening of the control valve to constant flow rate control so that the flow rate measured by the flow meter becomes constant when the pressure reaches a predetermined pressure, and fills the target tank with the target pressure. Therefore, the target pressure can be accurately filled, and the gas filling accuracy can be improved.

[0010]

FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of the gas supply device according to the present invention. Note that FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram showing a schematic configuration of the gas supply device. The gas supply device 1 is installed in, for example, a gas supply station that supplies compressed natural gas (CNG) obtained by compressing city gas to a predetermined pressure to a fuel tank (filled tank) 3 of an automobile 2.

The gas supply device 1 generally supplies a pressure generating unit 4 for compressing city gas to a predetermined pressure to generate a pressurized gas and a gas compressed by the pressure generating unit 4 to the fuel tank 3. Dispenser unit 5
And a control device 6 for controlling each device of the pressure generating unit 4 and the dispenser unit 5.

The pressure generating unit 4 is a multi-stage compressor 1 for compressing gas in a branch pipe line 11 connected to a medium pressure pipe line (not shown) before city gas is branched to a home.
2 are provided. The compressor 12 is provided with, for example, a plurality of cylinders (3 or 4) for compressing gas, and the gas compressed by the cylinder of the previous stage is pressurized to a higher pressure by the cylinder of the next stage, The gas supplied from the medium pressure line is compressed stepwise.

Further, a variable pressure line 13 and a high pressure line 14 are connected in parallel to the compressor 12, and the variable pressure line 1
A variable pressure gas pressure accumulator 15 and a high pressure gas pressure accumulator 16 are connected to the high pressure pipeline 14, respectively. The variable pressure gas accumulator 15 and the high pressure gas accumulator 16 are generally referred to as gas accumulators in the literature.

In this embodiment, when the maximum pressure of the fuel tank 3 is 200 kgf / cm ² , the maximum pressure of the variable pressure gas accumulator 15 and the high pressure gas accumulator 16 is 250 kgf / cm ^2.
Set to cm ² . Therefore, the compressor 12 compresses the city gas (about 5 to 8 kgf / cm ² ) supplied from the medium pressure pipeline to bring the pressures of the variable pressure gas accumulator 15 and the high pressure gas accumulator 16 to the above set pressures.

The variable pressure line 13 and the high pressure line 14 are also provided.
Is provided with upstream side opening / closing valves 19 and 20 formed of solenoid valves, and the discharge pipe lines 17 and 18 for discharging the gas from the variable pressure gas pressure accumulator 15 and the high pressure gas pressure accumulator 16 are provided with electromagnetic valves. Downstream side on-off valves 21 and 22, which are valves, and the pressure transmitter 2
3 and 24 are provided.

The pressure transmitters 23 and 24 are provided with pressure sensors for detecting the pressure of the gas therein, and transmit a detection signal corresponding to the pressure of the gas to the control device 6. Also,
When the upstream side opening / closing valve 19 is opened by a command from the control device 6, the gas compressed by the compressor 12 is supplied to the variable pressure gas accumulator 15, and when the upstream side opening / closing valve 20 is opened, the compressor is opened. The gas compressed by 12 is supplied to the high-pressure gas accumulator 16.

The pressures of the variable pressure gas pressure accumulator 15 and the high pressure gas pressure accumulator 16 are set to a predetermined pressure (in this embodiment, 250 kgf /
When the pressure reaches 4 cm ² , the upstream side on-off valves 19 and 20 are closed, and the pressure generating unit 4 is in a standby state ready for the filling work. When the fuel tank 3 is filled with gas, the variable pressure gas pressure accumulator 1 is initially opened by opening the downstream opening / closing valve 21.
After filling the fuel tank 3 with the gas No. 5, the downstream opening / closing valve 2
2 is opened to fill the fuel tank 3 with the gas from the high-pressure gas accumulator 16 so that the pressure in the fuel tank 3 is increased stepwise.

Further, the downstream ends of the discharge pipes 17, 18 communicate with the gas supply pipe 28, and the variable pressure gas accumulator 15 and the high pressure gas accumulator 16 of the pressure generating unit 4 are connected to the gas supply pipe. It is connected to the fuel tank 3 via a passage 28. The gas supply pipeline 28 extending into the dispenser unit 5 has a gas supply opening / closing valve 29 made of an electromagnetic valve.
A primary pressure transmitter 30 for detecting the primary pressure supplied from the pressure generating unit 4, a Coriolis mass flowmeter 31 for measuring the flow rate of the gas flowing through the gas supply pipe 28, and a downstream feed. The control valve 32 for controlling the pressure of the gas to be controlled to a predetermined pressure, the secondary pressure transmitter 33 for detecting the secondary pressure of the gas set by the control valve 32, and the secondary pressure transmitter 33, which is separated when pulled by a predetermined force or more. And an emergency disconnect coupler 34.

The gas supply opening / closing valve 29 is opened when the fuel tank 3 starts to be filled with gas, and is closed when the gas filling is completed. The mass flowmeter 31 is a vibrating mass flowmeter that vibrates a sensor tube through which gas passes and outputs a measurement signal corresponding to the phase difference between the inflow side and the outflow side due to the Coriolis force. Further, the mass flow meter 31 is configured to accurately measure the flow rate of the gas having a relatively high pressure, and sends the flow rate measurement signal (flow rate pulse) to the control device 6.

The opening degree of the control valve 32 is controlled by a command from the control device 6 so that the set pressure is set according to the estimated capacity of the fuel tank 3. In the present embodiment, the valve opening degree of the control valve 32 is controlled so as to have a constant pressure increase so that the pressure increase rate corresponds to the tank capacity of the fuel tank 3 initially.

This constant pressure increase control is performed until the tank pressure of the fuel tank 3 reaches a set pressure according to the tank capacity, and thereafter, the gas supply flow rate becomes a predetermined flow rate until the fuel tank 3 becomes full. The valve opening of the control valve 32 is controlled so that the constant flow rate filling control is performed. In this embodiment, the valve opening of the control valve 32 is controlled in this way to control the supply pressure or the supply flow rate to the fuel tank 3 to a predetermined value. Therefore, in the gas supply device 1, the gas filling accuracy is improved and more accurate gas filling can be performed.

Primary pressure transmitter 30 and secondary pressure transmitter 3
3 transmits a detection signal according to the pressure detected at each mounting position to the control device 6. Further, one end of a gas filling hose 37 capable of withstanding high pressure gas is connected to the emergency disconnecting coupler 34, and the other end of the gas filling hose 37 is connected to the three-way valve 3.
8 inflow ports a. Furthermore, three-way valve 3
The gas supply pipeline 39 is connected to the filling port b of 8.
A detachable coupler 40 is provided at the tip of the gas supply conduit 39.

The attachable / detachable coupler 40 is connected to the attachable / detachable coupler 42 on the fuel tank 3 side before the gas is filled, and is separated from the attachable / detachable coupler 42 after the gas filling to the fuel tank 3 is completed. The exhaust port c of the three-way valve 38 is connected to a low pressure pipe line 41 for allowing residual gas in the detachable coupler 40 to escape to the outside in order to enable the detachable operation of the detachable coupler 40 after the gas filling is completed. The three-way valve 38 is switched so that the inflow port a and the filling port b are communicated with each other and the exhaust port c is shut off when the gas is filled. Then, the three-way valve 38 is switched so that the filling port b and the exhaust port c are communicated with each other and the inflow port a is blocked by a manual operation of the operator after gas filling.

The emergency disconnecting coupler 34 is provided inside the emergency disconnecting coupler 34 in addition to disconnecting the automobile 2 when the automobile 2 starts with the removable coupler 40 still connected to the removable coupler 42 on the fuel tank 3 side. A check valve (not shown) closes to prevent gas leakage.

The detachable coupler 40 and the detachable coupler 42 each have a check valve (not shown) therein, and when they are not connected to each other, the check valve closes and the detachable coupler 40 and When the attachment / detachment coupler 42 is connected, each check valve is displaced to the valve opening position and is in communication with each other.

Reference numeral 43 denotes a display, which displays the flow rate and supply pressure of the gas filled in the fuel tank 3. In the memory 44 of the control device 6, a capacity estimation program for estimating the capacity of the fuel tank 3 based on the pressure value detected by the secondary pressure transmitter 33, and a pressure increase according to the estimated capacity of the fuel tank 3. A control program for performing constant pressure increase control at a constant rate and switching to constant flow rate control when the fillable tank capacity becomes equal to or less than a predetermined capacity is stored.

The control device 6 controls the primary pressure transmitter 30 and the secondary pressure transmitter 33 based on the respective programs registered in advance.
The pressure value detected by is read, and the flow rate pulse output from the mass flowmeter 31 is integrated to calculate the flow rate. Then, the control device 6 controls each valve opening degree of the control valve 32 based on the detected pressure and flow rate measurement value.

In the automobile 2, the pipe 45 connected to the fuel tank 3 filled with high-pressure gas is connected to the detachable coupler 40 of the dispenser unit 5 from the upstream side and the detachable coupler 42. A manual opening / closing valve 46 that is opened by a manual operation during filling and a check valve 47 that prevents the gas filled in the fuel tank 3 from flowing backward are provided.

Next, before explaining the processing executed by the control device 6, the gas filling work in the gas supply device 1 having the above-mentioned configuration will be explained. Fuel tank 3 of the car 2
When filling the gas with the gas, the worker first attaches the detachable coupler 40 of the dispenser unit 5 to the detachable coupler 42 of the automobile 2.
Bind to. Then, the operator opens the manual opening / closing valve 46 of the automobile 2 and performs a switching operation so that the inflow port a and the filling port b of the three-way valve 38 communicate with each other.

Next, when a start button (not shown) for starting the filling is turned on, the control device 6 causes the variable gas pressure accumulator 15 to operate.
Open and close the on-off valve 21 of the gas supply on-off valve 2
9 is opened. As a result, the high pressure gas accumulated in the variable gas pressure accumulator 15 is filled in the fuel tank 3 through the gas supply pipeline 28, the gas filling hose 37, the detachable couplers 40 and 42, and the pipeline 45.

Then, as the pressure with which the fuel tank 3 is filled rises, the pressure in the variable gas pressure accumulator 15 decreases and
When the difference between the secondary pressure and the secondary pressure becomes small, the on-off valve 21 of the variable gas pressure accumulator 15 is closed and then the high pressure gas pressure accumulator 1
The on-off valve 22 of No. 6 is opened to perform gas filling.

When the fuel tank 3 reaches a full state, the open / close valve 22 of the high pressure gas accumulator 16 is closed and the gas supply open / close valve 29 is closed. The gas filling amount that has passed through the gas supply pipeline 28 is measured by the mass flowmeter 31, and a flow rate pulse corresponding to the gas filling amount is output to the control device 6.

As a result, the control device 6 calculates the amount of gas filled in the fuel tank 3 based on the supply pressure detected by the secondary pressure transmitter 33 and the number of flow rate pulses from the mass flowmeter 31. And display it on the display 43. When the gas filling into the fuel tank 3 is completed, the operator closes the manual opening / closing valve 46 on the side of the automobile 2 and then connects the three-way valve 38 to the filling port b and the exhaust port c and shuts off the inflow port a. Switching operation is performed. That is, the three-way valve 38
Allows the gas remaining in the detachable couplers 40 and 42 and the filling hose 39 to escape to the outside through the low pressure pipe 41 to reduce the pressure, thereby enabling the detachment operation of the detachable coupler 40.

After that, the operator operates the dispenser unit 5
The detachable coupler 40 is separated from the detachable coupler 42 of the automobile 2. This completes a series of gas filling operations. Here, a process executed by the control device 6 of the gas supply device 1 having the above configuration will be described.

FIG. 2 is a main flow chart executed by the control device 6 during the gas filling work, and FIG. 3 is a filling control subroutine of the main flow chart. The worker
As described above, the detachable coupler 40 provided at the tip of the gas supply conduit 28 is connected to the detachable coupler 42 of the fuel tank 3, and then the manual on-off valve 46 is opened. Then, the operator turns on the start button.

When the start button is turned on, the control device 6 executes the processing shown in FIG. In step S1 (hereinafter “step” is omitted), the opening / closing valve 21 of the variable gas pressure accumulator 15 is opened, and in the next step S2, the gas supply opening / closing valve 29 of the dispenser unit 5 is opened.

Subsequently, in S3, the valve opening of the control valve 32 is controlled to make the rate of increase of the pressure with which the fuel tank 3 is filled constant. Then, a constant pressure increase control is performed at a pressure increase rate according to the tank capacity of the fuel tank 3 until just before the tank is full, and the valve opening degree of the control valve 32 is controlled when the tank capacity that can be filled with gas falls below a predetermined value. Then, the gas supply flow rate is controlled to a constant flow rate until the fuel tank 3 is filled up with the constant flow rate control.

In the next S4, the primary pressure transmitters 30 and 2
The primary pressure and the secondary pressure detected by the secondary pressure transmitter 33 are read, and it is checked whether or not the difference between the primary pressure and the secondary pressure has become smaller than a predetermined value set in advance. That is, in S4, it is confirmed that the gas in the variable gas pressure accumulator 15 is filled in the fuel tank 3 and the pressure in the fuel tank 3 has risen to a pressure close to the pressure in the variable gas pressure accumulator 15. If the difference between the secondary pressure and the secondary pressure is large, the process proceeds to S5, where the pressure in the fuel tank 3, that is, the secondary pressure detected by the secondary pressure transmitter 33 is the target pressure (200 kgf / cm ^{2 in} this embodiment). ) Is checked.

When the pressure in the fuel tank 3 reaches the target pressure in S5, the process proceeds to S9, which will be described later, and all the opened valves are closed to complete the gas filling process. Then, when the pressure of the fuel tank 3 is equal to or lower than the target pressure, the processes of S3 to S5 are repeated. However, in S4, when the difference between the primary pressure and the secondary pressure becomes smaller than the predetermined value set in advance, the process proceeds to S6, and the on-off valve 21 of the variable gas pressure accumulator 15 is closed.

At the next step S7, the on-off valve 22 of the high pressure gas accumulator 16 is opened to fill the fuel tank 3 with the gas of the high pressure gas accumulator 16. Then, the filling control executed in S8 performs the constant pressure increase control and the constant flow rate control similar to S3 described above. In S8, the gas is filled until the pressure in the fuel tank 3, that is, the secondary pressure detected by the secondary pressure transmitter 33 reaches the target pressure (200 kgf / cm ^{2 in} this embodiment).

Then, in S8, when the pressure in the fuel tank 3 reaches the target pressure, it is judged that the gas filling in the fuel tank 3 is completed, and the process proceeds to S9, in which the on-off valve 22 of the high pressure gas accumulator 16 is opened. And the gas supply opening / closing valve 29 are closed. Next, the filling process executed in S8 will be described in detail with reference to FIG.

In S11, the residual pressure of the fuel tank 3, that is, the value 2 detected by the secondary pressure transmitter 33 before gas filling.
The next pressure is read and stored in the memory 44. Then S
At 12, check whether the pressure in the fuel tank 3 is 190 kgf / cm ² or more. If the pressure in the fuel tank 3 is less than 190 kgf / cm ² , the process proceeds to S13, the valve opening of the control valve 32 is controlled, and the pressure filled in the fuel tank 3 is maintained at a constant pressure increase rate (1. 5kgf / cm ² / sec).

In the next S14, the secondary pressure detected by the secondary pressure transmitter 33 before the start of filling is used as a reference value, and a predetermined pressure (in this embodiment, a preset pressure) is set from the secondary pressure before the start of filling. , 30 kgf / cm ² ) and check if it has risen. That is, in this embodiment, the fuel tank 3 is filled with gas at a pressure increase rate of 1.5 kgf / cm ² / sec from the start of gas filling until the secondary pressure rises by 30 kgf / cm ² .

However, when the pressure of the fuel tank 3 reaches 190 kgf / cm ² or more in S12, S15
Then, the valve opening degree of the control valve 32 is controlled to a minute flow rate to fill the fuel tank 3 with a constant flow rate (for example, 2 kg / min) of gas. Further, the process proceeds to S16, the pressure of the fuel tank 3 is continuously constant flow control at S16 until the 200 kgf / cm ^2, the pressure of the fuel tank 3 is 200 kgf / cm ²
When the target pressure is reached, the target pressure has been completely filled, so the above-mentioned S
Then, the processing in FIG. 3 is terminated.

In S14, the secondary pressure is 30 kg.
When f / cm ² rises, the routine proceeds to S17, where the valve opening degree of the control valve 32 is controlled to keep the flow rate filled in the fuel tank 3 at a constant value. Here, the fuel tank 3 is filled with gas at a constant flow rate of, for example, 3 kg / min for 10 seconds.

After that, the process proceeds to S18, in which the flow rate pulses from the mass flowmeter 31 are integrated to obtain the integrated flow rate of the gas filled in the fuel tank 3, and the secondary pressure detected by the secondary pressure transmitter 33 is calculated. The capacity of the fuel tank 3 is calculated from the rate of increase. That is, in S18, the integrated flow rate ÷
The rising pressure is calculated to estimate the capacity of the fuel tank 3 and store it in the memory 44.

After S19, optimal gas filling control is performed based on the estimated capacity of the fuel tank 3 calculated in this way. That is, in S19, when the capacity of the fuel tank 3 is 2
If it is checked whether it is 0 liters or less, and if the capacity of the fuel tank 3 is 20 liters or less, the process proceeds to S20, the valve opening degree of the control valve 32 is controlled to be a minute flow rate, and a constant flow rate (for example, 2 kg / min) of gas is filled in the fuel tank 3.

[0048] Further, the process proceeds to S21, the pressure of the fuel tank 3 continues the constant flow rate control step S20 until the 200 kgf / cm ^2, the filling of the target pressure when the pressure of the fuel tank 3 reached 200 kgf / cm ² is Since the process is completed, the process shifts to S9 described above and the process of FIG. 3 ends. Thus, when the tank capacity is 20 liters or less, the pressure of the fuel tank 3 is 200
By performing constant flow rate control up to kgf / cm ² , even in the case of vehicles with small tank capacity such as scooters and motorcycles, it is possible to perform gas filling at the optimum flow rate.
It is possible to accurately measure the gas filling amount at the time of full tank filling and improve the filling accuracy.

If the capacity of the fuel tank 3 is not less than 20 liters in S19, the process proceeds to S22,
Check whether the capacity of the fuel tank 3 is 100 liters or less. When the capacity of the fuel tank 3 is 20 to 100 liters, the process proceeds to S23, and it is checked whether the pressure of the fuel tank 3 has reached 190 kgf / cm ² or more.
If the pressure in the fuel tank 3 is less than 190 kgf / cm ² , the process proceeds to S24, the valve opening degree of the control valve 32 is controlled, and the pressure filled in the fuel tank 3 is kept at a constant pressure increase rate (2
kgf / cm ² / sec).

The pressure in the fuel tank 3 is 190 kgf /
The constant pressure increase control of S24 is performed until the pressure reaches cm ² . In S23, the pressure of the fuel tank 3 is 190 kgf /
When it reaches cm ² , the process proceeds to S25, the valve opening degree of the control valve 32 is controlled to be a minute flow rate, and a constant flow rate (for example, 2 kg
/ min) gas is filled in the fuel tank 3.

Further, in S26, it is checked whether the pressure in the fuel tank 3 has reached 200 kgf / cm ² . At S26, the pressure in the fuel tank 3 is 200 kgf /
When the pressure is less than or equal to cm ² , the process returns to S23, and it is checked whether the pressure in the fuel tank 3 is greater than or equal to 190 kgf / cm ² . This is because it is necessary to check the pressure again because the pressure may decrease due to environmental changes such as temperature decrease even if the pressure once reaches 190 kgf / cm ² or more.

Here, the pressure of the fuel tank 3 is 190 kgf /
If it has decreased to less than cm ² , the process proceeds to S24, and the constant pressure increase control is performed again. However, when the pressure in the fuel tank 3 is 190 kgf / cm ² or more, the process proceeds to S25, and the constant flow rate control is continued until the pressure in the fuel tank 3 reaches 200 kgf / cm ² . Then, in S26, when the pressure in the fuel tank 3 reaches 200 kgf / cm ² , the target pressure has been filled, so the process proceeds to S9 and the process in FIG. 3 ends.

As described above, when the tank capacity is 100 liters or less, the pressure of the fuel tank 3 is 1 before the tank is full.
By controlling the constant pressure increase until it reaches 90 kgf / cm ² , the gas filling time can be shortened as much as possible, and by controlling the constant flow rate until the pressure of the fuel tank 3 reaches 190 to 200 kgf / cm ² , for example, a light passenger car, etc. Even when the vehicle has a small tank capacity as described above, it is possible to perform gas filling at an optimum pressure and flow rate, and it is possible to accurately measure the gas filling amount at the time of full tank filling and improve filling accuracy.

Further, in S22, the volume of the fuel tank 3 is
If the volume is not 100 liters or less, proceed to S27 and burn
Check whether the capacity of the charge tank 3 is less than 300 liters.
To click. The capacity of the fuel tank 3 is 100 to 300 liters
If the fuel tank 3 pressure is
195kgf / cm²Check if it is above.
Then, in S28 to S31, the same as the above S23 to S26.
The fuel tank 3 pressure is 195kgf / cm²Is less than
Then, in S29, the constant pressure increase rate (3 kgf / cm ²/ sec)
Gas with 195kgf / cm²Reaches S30
Fill the fuel tank 3 with gas at a constant flow rate (3 kg / min)
It

When the pressure in the fuel tank 3 is 200 kgf / cm ² or less in S31, the process returns to S28. When the pressure in the fuel tank 3 has dropped to less than 190 kgf / cm ² , the constant pressure increase control is performed again in S29. However, the pressure of the fuel tank 3 is 195kgf / cm
When it is ² or more, the pressure in the fuel tank 3 is 2 in S30.
The constant flow rate control is continued until it becomes 00 kgf / cm ² . Then, in S31, the pressure of the fuel tank 3 is 200 kgf /
When the pressure reaches cm ² , the target pressure has been filled, and thus the process proceeds to S9 and the process of FIG. 3 ends.

As described above, when the tank capacity is 300 liters or less, the pressure of the fuel tank 3 is 1 before the tank is full.
By controlling the constant pressure increase until 95 kgf / cm ² , the gas filling time can be shortened as much as possible, and by controlling the constant flow rate until the pressure in the fuel tank 3 is 195 to 200 kgf / cm ² , for example, for ordinary passenger cars, etc. As described above, even in the case of a vehicle having a medium tank capacity, the gas filling can be performed at the optimum pressure and flow rate, and the filling amount can be accurately measured by accurately measuring the gas filling amount at the time of full tank filling.

In S27, when the capacity of the fuel tank 3 is 300 liters or more, the process proceeds to S32, and it is checked whether the pressure of the fuel tank 3 has become 198 kgf / cm ² or more. Then, in S32 to S35, similarly to the S23~S26 and S28-S31, when the pressure of the fuel tank 3 is less than 198kgf / cm ² is, S33
Constant flow (3 kg in filling the gas at a constant pressure rising rate ^{(3kgf / cm 2 / sec)} , in S34 is reached 198kgf / cm ²
/ min) gas is filled in the fuel tank 3.

Then, when the pressure in the fuel tank 3 reaches 200 kgf / cm ² in S35, the target pressure has been filled, so the process proceeds to S9 and the process of FIG. 3 is terminated. As described above, in the case of a large vehicle having a tank capacity of more than 300 liters, the gas filling time can be shortened as much as possible by performing the constant pressure increase control until the pressure in the fuel tank 3 reaches the pressure 198 kgf / cm ² immediately before the tank is full. By performing the constant flow rate control when the pressure of the fuel tank 3 is 198 to 200 kgf / cm ^2, it is possible to perform the gas filling at the optimum pressure and flow rate even in the case of a vehicle having a large tank capacity such as a bus. Therefore, it is possible to accurately measure the gas filling amount at the time of full tank filling and improve the filling accuracy.

Therefore, the tank capacity of the fuel tank 3 is estimated, and the gas filling control law is determined according to the size of the tank capacity.
In other words, it is determined whether to fill with the constant flow rate control or the constant pressure increase control, and when performing the constant pressure increase control, set the pressure increase rate according to the size of the tank capacity to be optimal. It is possible to perform various gas filling controls. Moreover, even if the constant pressure increase control is performed, the flow rate is switched to the constant flow rate control just before the tank is full, so that it is possible to reduce the gas filling time from the small capacity to the large capacity according to the capacity of the tank to be filled. In addition, the gas can be filled until the fuel tank 3 becomes full without being affected by the pressure loss, and the gas filling accuracy can be further improved.

In the above embodiment, the tank capacity is classified into 20 liters, 100 liters, 300 liters and the gas filling control law is selectively changed. However, the present invention is not limited to this. Of course, the tank capacity may be further subdivided to perform fine gas filling control.

In the above embodiment, the secondary pressure transmitter 3
The capacity of the fuel tank 3 is estimated based on the pressure value detected by the fuel tank 3, and a constant pressure increase control is performed at a pressure increase rate according to the estimated capacity of the fuel tank 3 so that the fillable tank capacity is equal to or less than a predetermined capacity. The constant flow rate control is switched to at the time of reaching the limit.
Can also be applied to a gas supply device having a configuration in which a device for preliminarily measuring the capacity of, or estimating the capacity of the fuel tank 3 is separately provided.

In the above embodiment, the case where compressed natural gas (CNG) obtained by compressing city gas is supplied has been described as an example, but the present invention is not limited to this, and gas such as butane and propane may be supplied. Of course, it can be applied. Further, in the above embodiment, the case where the fuel tank 3 of the automobile 2 is filled with the compressed gas has been described as an example, but the present invention is not limited to this, and is also applied to a device that supplies the compressed gas to another container or the like. Of course, it is also possible to apply the present invention to an apparatus configured to be installed in the middle of a pipeline for simply feeding the compressed gas to another place.

Further, in the above embodiment, the city gas or the like is compressed from the medium pressure pipeline 10 before being branched to the home. However, the invention is not limited to this, and it is branched from the medium pressure pipeline 10, for example. The gas may be taken out from the household pipeline.

[0064]

As described above, according to the present invention, according to the capacity of the tank to be filled, the valve opening degree of the control valve is kept constant until the pressure in the tank to be filled rises to a predetermined pressure. A constant pressure increase control is performed by a signal from the detection means, and the valve opening of the control valve is switched to the constant flow rate control so that the flow rate measured by the flow meter becomes a constant flow rate when the predetermined pressure is reached, and the tank to be filled. Since the target pressure is charged to the target tank, it is possible to shorten the gas filling time from the small capacity to the large capacity according to the capacity of the tank to be filled, and the tank to be filled without being affected by pressure loss. The gas can be filled up to the target pressure, and the gas filling accuracy can be further improved.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of an embodiment of a gas supply device according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a main flowchart of a process executed by a control device.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart of a subroutine for explaining a filling control process in detail.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Gas Supply Device 3 Fuel Tank 4 Pressure Generation Unit 5 Dispenser Unit 6 Control Device 15 Variable Pressure Gas Accumulator 16 High Pressure Gas Accumulator 28 Gas Supply Pipeline 29 Gas Supply Open / Close Valve 30 Primary Pressure Transmitter 31 Mass Flowmeter 32 Control Valve 33 Secondary pressure transmitter 38 Three-way valve 40, 42 Detachable coupler

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of front page (71) Applicant 000003056 Tokiko Corporation 1-3-6 Fujimi, Kawasaki-ku, Kawasaki-shi, Kanagawa (72) Inventor Kazuo Kanai 6-9-6 Sodegaura, Narashino-shi, Chiba (72) Invention Akira Kobayashi 4-12, Hiranocho, Chuo-ku, Osaka-shi, Osaka Prefecture Osaka Gas Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Manabu Hattori 2 At 507 Shintakamachi, Tokai City, Aichi Prefecture, Toho Gas Co., Ltd. (72) ) Inventor Tokio Yoshida 1-17-1, Chiyo, Hakata-ku, Fukuoka City, Fukuoka, Seibu Gas Co., Ltd. (72) Takuya Matsumoto 1-3-6 Fujimi, Kawasaki-ku, Kawasaki, Kanagawa Tokiko Co., Ltd. (72 ) Inventor Kazuhiro Ohara 1-6-3 Fujimi, Kawasaki-ku, Kawasaki City, Kanagawa Prefecture Tokiko Corporation (72) Inventor Shinji Kumagai Kawasaki, Kawasaki City, Kanagawa Prefecture Subdivision Fujimi 1-chome No. 6 No. 3 Tokiko within Co., Ltd.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A gas supply pipe connected to a tank to be filled and supplying compressed gas to the tank to be filled, a control valve provided in the gas supply pipe for controlling the flow of gas, and the gas. A pressure detection unit provided in a supply pipeline for detecting a pressure with which the filled tank is filled; a flow meter provided in the gas supply pipeline for measuring a flow rate with which the filled tank is filled; According to the capacity of the tank to be filled, a constant pressure increase control is performed by a signal from the pressure detecting means so that the valve opening of the control valve becomes a constant pressure increase until the pressure in the filled tank rises to a predetermined pressure. Control means for switching the valve opening of the control valve to a constant flow rate control so that the flow rate measured by the flow meter becomes a constant flow rate when the predetermined pressure is reached, and filling the target tank with the target pressure. And more Gas supply device, characterized in that.