JPH0942597A - Natural gas charging device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a compact natural gas charging device without having danger of explosion of leak natural gas. SOLUTION: A natural gas charging device comprises a compressor 5 and a cooling fan 9 installed under the compressor 5 to be capable of blowing air upward installed in a casing 1 having ventilation holes 1a, 1b, 1c on side wall parts, it receives a command for charging gas to start the cooling fan 9 first, and then start the compressor. And receiving a command for stopping charging, compressor 5 stops the operation first. And then the cooling fan 9 stops. A controller 10 to stop the operation is installed in a space isolated from a natural gas passage from a gas introducing port 2 through a strainer 3, a check valve 4, the compressor 5, a snubber tank 6, and a high voltage solenoid valve 7 to reach a gas supply port 8.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a compact filling device for compressing and filling natural gas supplied from an original tank or the like into a gas cylinder mounted on an automobile or the like.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, natural gas, whose consumption has been growing as clean energy, has been attracting attention as a fuel for automobiles. Therefore, it has become an urgent task to develop a device capable of compressing and filling natural gas stored in a former tank or the like into a gas cylinder or the like mounted on an automobile or the like.

[0003]

However, the conventional natural gas filling device has a structure in which the cooling fan is started at the same time as the compressor is started and the cooling fan is stopped at the same time as the compressor is stopped. Even if explosion-proof means is installed in the equipment, there is a danger that the leaked flammable natural gas will explode if the equipment deteriorates and sparks occur in the electric system or sliding parts of the compressor. It was an issue.

[0004]

As a concrete means for solving the above-mentioned problems of the prior art, the present invention is a natural gas filling apparatus in which a compressor and a cooling fan are housed in a box having upper and lower ventilation holes. In the above, a cooling fan that can blow air upward is installed below the compressor, and when a gas filling command is received, first the cooling fan is started, and the controller that starts the compressor after that is isolated from the gas path. A natural gas filling device having a first configuration that is installed,

In the natural gas filling apparatus of the first structure, the controller is provided with a control function of first stopping the operation of the compressor and then stopping the operation of the cooling fan when the instruction to stop the filling is received. A natural gas filling device having a second configuration is provided to solve the above-mentioned problems of the prior art.

[0006]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION An embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings.

In the figure, reference numeral 1 is a box made of a non-combustible rigid body such as an iron plate. A gas inlet 2, a strainer 3,
Check valve 4, compressor 5, snubber tank 6, high-pressure solenoid valve 7, gas supply port 8, cooling fan 9, controller 10 including control function parts such as substrate / relay, display substrate 11, switch 12 for operation. Put on or store.

Of the above equipment, the portion from the gas inlet 2 through the strainer 3, the check valve 4, the compressor 5, the snubber tank 6 and the high pressure solenoid valve 7 to the gas supply port 8 is methane in this device. Is a path through which flammable natural gas mainly flows, and the natural gas path and the controller 10, the display board 11, and the switch 12 that may spark to generate sparks are connected to a highly airtight non-combustible material such as an iron plate. Isolation wall 1
Isolate by 3.

A blower port 15 is formed by the lower portion of the isolation wall 13 bent into a substantially L shape and the tip portion of the inner bottom plate 14 bent upward, and the cooling fan 9 can be blown upward. When the cooling fan 9 is started, the ventilation holes 1a are provided on the lower side four sides of the side plate of the box body 1 and the ventilation holes 1b and 1c are provided on the upper side as shown in FIG.
The outside air flows in through a and 1b and can be discharged through the vent hole 1c.

Further, the controller 10 is provided with a ROM or the like so that the compressor 5 and the cooling fan 9 can be controlled as shown in FIG. 4, for example.

That is, when the switch 12 is operated to instruct the filling of the natural gas, the control flow starts. In step S1, a control signal is output to the cooling fan 9 to activate it, and in step S2, the cooling fan 9 is started. Timing of the elapsed time T1 after starting is started, and in step S3, it is determined whether or not the elapsed time T1 reaches a first predetermined time, for example, 10 seconds, and the elapsed time T1 is set to the first predetermined time. When it reaches 10 seconds, the process proceeds to step S4 and the compressor 5 is started.

In step S5, it is determined whether or not a control signal for stopping the filling is received, and when the signal of the filling stop command is received, the process proceeds to step S6 to first stop the operation of the compressor 5, and in step S7. Elapsed time T after the compressor 5 is stopped
2, the elapsed time T2 is started in step S8.
Has reached a second predetermined time, for example 5 seconds, and when the elapsed time T2 reaches the second predetermined time of 5 seconds, the process proceeds to step S9 to stop the operation of the cooling fan 9. Then, the series of controls is terminated.

Since the natural gas filling apparatus of the present invention is constructed and implemented as described above, the gas introduction port 17 connected from the original tank (not shown) storing the natural gas is connected to the gas introduction port 2 and The gas supply port 8 is connected to a gas supply pipe 18 which is connected to a cylinder (not shown) mounted on an automobile or the like, and the device is deteriorated when the natural gas is compressed by the compressor 5 to, for example, about 20 MPa and filled. Even if natural gas leaks from the natural gas path or sparks in the electric system or sliding parts of the compressor 5,

The air in the box body 1 in which the leaked natural gas is mixed is discharged to the outside by the cooling fan 9 which is started prior to the start of the compressor 5, and the cooling fan 9 remains even after the compressor 5 is stopped. Since the air in which the leaked natural gas is mixed is discharged while the operation is continued, there is no danger of explosion even if there is a spark due to the operation of the compressor 5.

Also, the natural gas path through which natural gas may leak, and the controller 10 that may spark.
Space 1 for storing display board 11 and switch 12
6 and the isolation wall 13 having high airtightness as described above.
Since the controller is installed, there is no concern that the leaked natural gas may ignite or explode due to the controller 10, the display substrate 11, the switch 12, etc.

That is, when the compressor 5 and the cooling fan 9 are operating, the outside air flows from the ventilation holes 1a and 1b so as to be discharged from the upper ventilation hole 1c, so that the leaked natural gas enters the space 16. It does not flow in at all, and even when the cooling fan 9 is stopped and natural convection is occurring in the box body 1, the specific gravity of natural gas containing methane as a main component with respect to air is extremely small at a little less than 0.6. The leaked natural gas rarely flows into the space 16, and even if it does, the natural gas does not stay in the space 16 because it is quickly discharged from the ventilation hole 1b in the upper front part.
There is no concern that the leaked natural gas will explode when the controller 10, the display board 11, the switch 12, etc. in the space 16 are the source of the fire.

Since the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, various modifications can be made without departing from the spirit of the claims.

For example, the isolation wall 1 is provided so that the natural gas passage side through which the natural gas flows and the space 16 for accommodating the controller 10, the display substrate 11, the switch 12, etc. are completely isolated.
3 may extend to the bottom plate 19 as shown by the chain line.

[0019]

As described above, according to the present invention, in a natural gas filling device in which a compressor and a cooling fan are installed in a box body having ventilation holes in the upper and lower sides, a cooling fan that can blow air upward is installed in the compressor. This is a device that is installed in the lower part and that starts a cooling fan when a gas filling command is received and then starts a compressor after that, which is installed separately from the gas path. However, even if sparks occur in the electrical system and sliding parts of the compressor due to aging of the equipment, the leaked natural gas is discharged to the outside by the cooling fan when the compressor starts, and there is no danger of explosion. Absent.

Further, since the controller has a control function of first stopping the operation of the compressor and then stopping the operation of the cooling fan when the instruction to stop the filling is received, the leaked natural gas is not discharged even at the end of the filling. There is no danger of exploding.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram showing an embodiment.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory view showing an embodiment from the front.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory view showing one embodiment from a side surface.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing a control example.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Box 2 Gas Inlet 3 Strainer 4 Check Valve 5 Compressor 6 Snubber Tank 7 High-pressure Solenoid Valve 8 Gas Supply 9 Cooling Fan 10 Controller 11 Display Board 12 Switch 13 Isolation Wall 14 Inner Bottom Plate 15 Blower 16 Space 17 Gas introduction pipe 18 Gas supply pipe 19 Bottom plate 1a, 1b, 1c Vent hole

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A natural gas filling device in which a compressor and a cooling fan are installed in a box having upper and lower ventilation holes, wherein a cooling fan capable of blowing air upward is installed below the compressor, and A natural gas filling device, characterized in that a controller for starting a cooling fan and then starting a compressor after receiving a filling command is installed separately from a gas path. 2. The natural machine according to claim 1, wherein the controller has a control function of first stopping the operation of the compressor and then stopping the operation of the cooling fan when the instruction to stop the filling is received. Gas filling device.