KR20190071267A - Gas tank filling system and method - Google Patents

Abstract

According to one embodiment of the present invention, a gas tank filling system can comprise: a water tank; a gas tank; an electrolysis connected between the water tank and the gas tank, and electrolyzing the water supplied from the water tank; a first valve capable of blocking a pipe communicating with the water tank and the electrolysis; a second valve capable of blocking the pipe communicating with the electrolysis and the gas tank; and a third valve capable of blocking the pipe communicating the electrolysis with the outside. Therefore, an objective of the present invention is to provide the gas tank filling system capable of being lightweight.

Description

[0001] GAS TANK FILLING SYSTEM AND METHOD [0002]

The following description relates to a gas tank filling system and method.

Renewable energies such as solar power and wind power, which are currently in commercial use, are non-continuous energy sources that can be produced only when the sun is shining or windy. Therefore, in order to use this continuously, energy must be produced / stored by other means . Therefore, hydrogen production by water electrolysis is regarded as the most preferable power storage means.

One of the methods of electrolysis by water electrolysis is a method of using a solid polymer electrolyte membrane as an electrolyte (Polymer Electrolyte Membrane Electrolysis, PEM Electrolysis). The membrane used in this method separates the generated gas and also serves as an ion exchange for transferring hydrogen ions from the anode to the cathode.

A common water electrolysis method involves supplying water using a pump. 1, a hydrogen tank filling system 9, which is a type of gas tank filling system, includes a water tank 91, a pump 92, a water electrolysis 93, a separator 94, and a hydrogen tank 95 ). The pump 92 transfers water from the water tank 91 to the water electrolysis solution 93. A pump having a sufficiently high output is also required for the supply line which is transferred from the electrolytic solution 93 to the hydrogen tank 95 so as to store hydrogen generated in the electrolytic solution 93 in the high-pressure hydrogen tank 95. As a result, the hydrogen tank filling system 9 becomes bulky and heavy, and the system efficiency is reduced.

The background art described above is possessed or acquired by the inventor in the derivation process of the present invention, and can not be said to be a known art disclosed in general public before application of the present invention.

It is an object of one embodiment to provide a gas tank charging system and method that is lightweight.

A gas tank filling system according to an embodiment includes a water tank; Gas tanks; A water electrolytic solution connected between the water tank and the gas tank, for electrolyzing water supplied from the water tank; A first valve capable of shutting off the pipe communicating the water tank and the water electrolysis; A second valve capable of shutting off the pipe connecting the electrolytic solution and the gas tank; And a third valve capable of shutting off the pipe communicating the water electrolysis to the outside.

The water stored in the water tank is supplied to the electrolytic water by gravity and the gas generated in the electrolytic water can be supplied to the gas tank when the internal pressure of the electrolytic water is higher than the internal pressure of the gas tank.

The gas tank filling system may not include a pump.

The gas tank filling system may further include a separator connected between the electrolytic solution and the gas tank, for separating the gas and the water and supplying the gas to the gas tank.

And the second valve may be installed in a pipe communicating the water electrolysis solution and the separator.

The gas tank filling system includes a water tank pressure sensor capable of measuring an internal pressure of the water tank; A water electrolytic pressure sensor capable of measuring the internal pressure of the electrolytic water; And a gas tank pressure sensor capable of measuring the internal pressure of the gas tank.

The gas tank filling system may further include a controller capable of controlling the first valve, the second valve, and the third valve.

The control unit may open the second valve when the internal pressure of the electrolytic water is greater than the internal pressure of the gas tank.

The control unit may open the first valve when the internal pressure of the electrolytic water is lower than the internal pressure of the water tank.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, there is provided a method of filling a gas tank, comprising: supplying water to a water electrolytic cell from a water tank; Electrolyzing water in the electrolytic water; And when the internal pressure of the electrolytic water becomes equal to or higher than the internal pressure of the gas tank storing the gas generated in the water electrolysis, the gas generated in the electrolytic water is stored in the gas tank . ≪ / RTI >

The water stored in the water tank can be supplied to the water electrolytic solution by gravity.

The gas tank filling method may further include a step of reducing the pressure of the electrolytic water when the pressure of the electrolytic water is higher than the pressure of the water tank.

According to the gas tank filling system and method according to the embodiment, the gas can be charged into the gas tank without the pump, so that the energy efficiency of the gas tank filling system can be increased, and the volume and size can be reduced.

1 is a schematic view schematically showing a hydrogen tank filling system;
2 is a schematic diagram schematically illustrating a hydrogen tank filling system according to an embodiment.
3 is a flowchart of a method for charging a hydrogen tank according to an embodiment.
4 is a graph showing changes in pressure of the hydrogen tank and the water electrolysis according to one embodiment.

Hereinafter, embodiments will be described in detail with reference to exemplary drawings. It should be noted that, in adding reference numerals to the constituent elements of the drawings, the same constituent elements are denoted by the same reference symbols as possible even if they are shown in different drawings. In the following description of the embodiments, detailed description of known functions and configurations incorporated herein will be omitted when it may make the best of an understanding clear.

In describing the components of the embodiment, terms such as first, second, A, B, (a), and (b) may be used. These terms are intended to distinguish the constituent elements from other constituent elements, and the terms do not limit the nature, order or order of the constituent elements. When a component is described as being "connected", "coupled", or "connected" to another component, the component may be directly connected or connected to the other component, Quot; may be "connected," "coupled," or "connected. &Quot;

The components included in any one embodiment and the components including common functions will be described using the same names in other embodiments. Unless otherwise stated, the description of any one embodiment may be applied to other embodiments, and a detailed description thereof will be omitted in the overlapping scope.

The gas tank filling system to be described below is a system for filling any one of hydrogen and oxygen generated by water electrolysis. Hereinafter, a hydrogen tank filling system for filling hydrogen will be exemplified . However, unless otherwise stated, the following system may also be used in an oxygen tank filling system for charging oxygen.

2 is a schematic diagram schematically illustrating a hydrogen tank filling system according to an embodiment.

2, a hydrogen tank filling system 1 according to an embodiment includes a water tank 11, a plurality of valves 121, 122 and 123, a water electrolysis solution 13, a separator 14, a hydrogen tank 15, and a control unit 16.

The water tank 11 can store water supplied to the water electrolysis solution 13. For example, the water tank 11 and the water electrolysis solution 13 may be connected to a pipe through which water can flow. The water tank 11 is formed at a position higher than the water electrolytic solution 13 and the pipe connecting the water tank 11 and the water tank 11 may include a downwardly inclined shape toward the water electrolytic solution 13. [ According to this structure, the water stored in the water tank 11 can be transferred to the water electrolysis solution 13 by gravity. When the pipe connecting the water tank 11 and the water electrolysis solution 13 is opened, the water stored in the water tank 11 can be supplied to the electrolysis solution 13. The water stored in the water tank 11 may not be supplied to the water electrolysis solution 13 when the pipe connecting the water tank 11 and the water electrolysis solution 13 is closed. The water tank 11 may include a water tank pressure sensor 119 capable of sensing the pressure of the water tank 11.

The water electrolytic solution 13 can electrolyze the water supplied from the water tank 11. The water electrolysis solution (13) can supply hydrogen generated by electrolyzing water to the hydrogen tank (15). Although some water may be included in the process of transferring hydrogen by the water electrolytic solution 13, such water may be filtered by the separator 14 described later. For example, the water electrolytic solution 13 and the separator 14 may be connected to a pipe through which hydrogen and water can flow. The water electrolytic solution 13 may include a water electrolytic pressure sensor 139 capable of sensing the pressure of the electrolytic solution 13.

The separator 14 can receive and separate hydrogen and water from the electrolytic solution 13. The separator 14 can supply hydrogen to the hydrogen tank 15 and supply water to the water tank 11. [ For example, the separator 14 and the hydrogen tank 15 can be connected to a pipe through which hydrogen can flow, and the separator 14 and the water tank 11 can be connected to a pipe through which water can flow.

The hydrogen tank 15 can store hydrogen. The hydrogen tank 15 may include a hydrogen tank pressure sensor 159 capable of sensing the pressure of the hydrogen tank 15.

The plurality of valves 121, 122 and 123 are connected to the first valve 121 capable of shutting off the pipe for communicating the water tank 11 and the water electrolysis solution 13 with each other and the water electrolysis solution 13 and the hydrogen tank 15, A second valve 122 capable of shutting off the pipe for making the water electrolysis solution 13 and a third valve 123 for shutting off the pipe connecting the electrolysis solution 13 to the outside. The control unit 16 controls the plurality of valves 121, 122 and 123 based on the pressure measurement values measured from the water tank pressure sensor 119, the water receiving pressure sensor 139 and the hydrogen tank pressure sensor 159 The hydrogen can be supplied into the hydrogen tank 15 without a pump. On the other hand, the plurality of valves 121, 122, and 123 may be manually controlled by a user.

The control unit 16 may receive pressure measurement values from the water tank pressure sensor 119, the water receiving pressure sensor 139 and the hydrogen tank pressure sensor 159. [ The control unit 16 may control the plurality of valves 121, 122, 123 based on the received pressure measurement values. For example, the control unit 16 can remotely control the opening and closing of the first valve 121, the second valve 122, and the third valve 123.

The control unit 16 can open the second valve 122 when the pressure of the electrolytic solution 13 is greater than the pressure of the hydrogen tank 15. [ When the second valve 122 is opened, the hydrogen produced in the electrolytic solution 13 can be supplied to the hydrogen tank 15.

The control unit 16 can open the first valve 121 when the pressure of the electrolytic solution 13 is lower than the pressure of the water tank 11. [ According to such a control method, when the first valve 121 is opened, the water stored in the water tank 11 is supplied to the water electrolysis solution 13, while the water is supplied from the water electrolysis solution 13 to the water tank 11 The hydrogen is wasted or the internal state of the water tank 11 becomes unstable.

3 is a flowchart of a method for charging a hydrogen tank according to an embodiment. Hereinafter, for convenience of explanation, the member numbers used in FIG. 2 will be used.

Referring to FIG. 3, the method 100 for charging a hydrogen tank according to an embodiment includes opening the first valve 121 and the second valve 122 in a state where the third valve 123 is closed (step 101 (103) for closing the first valve (121) and the second valve (122); supplying power to the electrolytic water to electrolyze the electrolytic water (105) of comparing the pressure of the hydrogen tank (15) and the pressure of the electrolytic solution (13), opening (106) of the second valve (122) A step 108 in which the water in the water tank 11 is exhausted, a step 108 in which the second valve 122 is closed and the third valve 123 is opened, Comparing the pressure (step 109), closing the third valve 123 and opening the first valve 121 (step 110), checking whether the hydrogen tank 15 has reached the target pressure (111).

In step 101, the water tank 11, the water electrolysis solution 13, and the hydrogen tank 15 can communicate with each other.

In step 102, the water stored in the water tank 11 may be transferred to the water electrolysis solution 13 by gravity.

In step 103, the first valve 121 and the second valve 122 may be closed. The water electrolysis solution 13 may not be in communication with the water tank 11 and the hydrogen tank 15. [

In step 104, as electrolysis is performed within the electrolytic solution 13 to generate hydrogen, the pressure of the electrolytic solution 13 may gradually increase. The pressure of the electrolytic solution 13 can be measured in real time by the electrolytic pressure sensor 139. [

In step 105, the pressure of the hydrogen tank 15 and the pressure of the electrolytic solution 13 are compared. If the pressure of the electrolytic solution 13 is lower than the pressure of the hydrogen tank 15, Can be performed. If the pressure of the electrolytic solution 13 is greater than the pressure of the hydrogen tank 15, the process can proceed to step 106. [ The pressure of the hydrogen tank 15 can be measured in real time by the hydrogen tank pressure sensor 159.

In step 106, the second valve 122 may be opened. In step 106, the pressure of the electrolytic solution 13 is higher than the pressure of the hydrogen tank 15 due to the step 105, and the hydrogen stored in the electrolytic solution 13 as the second valve 122 is opened. Can be supplied to the hydrogen tank (15).

In step 107, the water inside the electrolytic solution 13 may be exhausted. In this case, the pressure of the electrolytic solution 13 and the hydrogen tank 15 may not increase any more. The pressure sensor 139 may be used to determine whether the pressure inside the electrolytic solution 13 is no longer increasing and to determine that the water is exhausted if the pressure no longer increases. As another example, it may be possible to detect whether water has been exhausted inside the water electrolytic solution 13 by using a water level sensor for sensing the water level of the water contained in the water electrolytic solution 13. On the other hand, when the water inside the water electrolytic solution 13 is exhausted, the power supplied to the water electrolytic solution 13 is cut off and the power supply is supplied again after the water is supplied. It can be prevented.

At step 108, the second valve 122 may be closed and the third valve 123 may be opened. As the second valve 122 is closed, the electrolytic solution 13 and the hydrogen tank 15 no longer communicate, and the hydrogen tank 15 can maintain the pressure. As the third valve 123 is opened, hydrogen and oxygen in the electrolytic solution 13 can be discharged to the outside. The pressure inside the electrolytic solution 13 can be equal to the atmospheric pressure.

In step 109, the pressure of the water tank 11 and the pressure of the electrolytic solution 13 can be compared. The pressure of the water tank 11 can be measured in real time by the water tank pressure sensor 119. [

In step 110, the third valve 123 may be closed and the first valve 121 opened. As the third valve 123 is closed, the electrolytic solution 13 may no longer communicate with the outside. As the first valve 121 is opened, the water in the water tank 11 can be transferred to the water electrolysis solution 13. The water in the water tank 11 can be transferred to the water electrolysis solution 13 by gravity without supplying any additional energy.

In step 111, it can be confirmed whether or not the hydrogen tank 15 has reached the target pressure. When the hydrogen tank 15 reaches the target pressure, the hydrogen tank filling can be terminated, and if the hydrogen tank 15 has not reached the target pressure, the hydrogen tank filling method 100 again from step 102 Can proceed.

The method of filling a hydrogen tank according to an embodiment is a method of filling a hydrogen tank 15, which is a high-pressure vessel, up to a target pressure using only the pressure generated when the water electrolysis solution 13 electrolyzes water without a pump. It is not necessary to use a large-capacity pump, so that the weight of the entire system can be greatly reduced and the energy efficiency can be increased.

4 is a graph showing changes in pressure of the hydrogen tank and the water electrolysis according to one embodiment.

Referring to FIG. 4, the pressure of the hydrogen tank may increase in proportion to the amount of stored hydrogen. The process of changing the pressure of the hydrogen tank and the water electrolysis can be largely divided into four parts as follows. The above process is carried out in such a manner that the portion (I) where the pressure of the electrolytic solution and the hydrogen tank rises equally, the portion (II) where the pressure of the hydrogen tank is kept constant and the pressure of the electrolytic water is sharply reduced, (III) in which the pressure of the water electrolysis is steadily increased and the portion (IV) in which the pressure of the electrolytic solution and the pressure of the hydrogen tank rises equally again.

Here, the portion (I) is the portion where the pressure of the hydrogen tank communicated with the water electrolysis and water electrolysis is increased by the hydrogen generated in the water electrolysis.

Portion (II) shows the pressure change in the process of opening the third valve (123, see FIG. 2) so that the internal pressure of the water electrolysis becomes equal to the external atmospheric pressure and water is supplied into the electrolysis water. On the other hand, it is found that the pressure which is changed by the supplied liquid water is neglected.

Part (III) shows the pressure change in the process of operating the water electrolysis while the second valve 122 (see FIG. 2) is shut off. In the portion (III), the water electrolysis does not communicate with the hydrogen tank, but raises only the internal pressure of the water electrolysis solution, so that the pressure of the electrolysis water can rise steeply. In the portions (I) and (IV), the electrolytic solution and the hydrogen tank are in communication with each other, so that the pressure of the electrolytic solution can be increased relatively slowly than the portion (III). When the pressure sensed by the water electrolytic pressure sensor 139 (see FIG. 2) becomes equal to or higher than the pressure sensed by the hydrogen tank pressure sensor 159 (see FIG. 2), the second valve 122 is opened.

Part (IV) shows the pressure change in the process of operating the electrolytic water with the second valve 122 open. Since part (Ⅳ) is the process of operating water electrolysis in the state that the water electrolysis solution and the hydrogen tank are in communication with each other, the water electrolysis is performed with a gentle slope than the slope of the graph showing the pressure change of the water electrolysis in the part (III) Can be increased at the same time.

As shown in the graph of FIG. 4, since hydrogen can not be stored in the hydrogen tank during the time corresponding to the portion (III), as compared with the hydrogen tank filling system 9 having the pump as shown in FIG. 1, The charging time of the system 1 may be prolonged. However, since the capacity of the hydrogen tank is usually several hundreds to several thousands times as large as the capacity of the electrolytic water, the time taken for the portion (III) is very short. Therefore, it can be seen that there will hardly occur a problem that the charging time is substantially long.

According to the hydrogen tank filling system and method according to the embodiment, hydrogen can be charged into the hydrogen tank without a pump, so that the energy efficiency of the hydrogen tank filling system can be increased and the volume and size can be reduced. It can be used in places where weight reduction is important.

Although the preferred embodiments of the present invention have been disclosed for illustrative purposes, those skilled in the art will appreciate that various modifications, additions and substitutions are possible, without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention as disclosed in the accompanying claims. For example, it is contemplated that the techniques described may be performed in a different order than the described methods, and / or that components of the described structures, devices, and the like may be combined or combined in other ways than the described methods, Appropriate results can be achieved even if they are replaced or replaced.

Therefore, other implementations, other embodiments and equivalents to the claims are within the scope of the following claims.

Claims (12)

cistern;
Gas tanks;
A water electrolytic solution connected between the water tank and the gas tank, for electrolyzing water supplied from the water tank;
A first valve capable of shutting off the pipe communicating the water tank and the water electrolysis;
A second valve capable of shutting off the pipe connecting the electrolytic solution and the gas tank; And
And a third valve capable of shutting off the pipe communicating the water electrolysis to the outside.
The method according to claim 1,
Water stored in the water tank is supplied to the electrolytic water by gravity,
Wherein the gas generated in the electrolytic water is supplied to the gas tank when the internal pressure of the electrolytic water is higher than the internal pressure of the gas tank.
The method according to claim 1,
Wherein the gas tank filling system does not include a pump.
The method according to claim 1,
Further comprising a separator connected between the electrolytic solution and the gas tank, for separating the gas and water and supplying the gas to the gas tank.
5. The method of claim 4,
And the second valve is installed in a pipe which communicates the electrolytic solution and the separator.
The method according to claim 1,
A water tank pressure sensor capable of measuring an internal pressure of the water tank;
A water electrolytic pressure sensor capable of measuring the internal pressure of the electrolytic water; And
And a gas tank pressure sensor capable of measuring an internal pressure of the gas tank.
The method according to claim 6,
Further comprising a control unit capable of controlling the first valve, the second valve, and the third valve.
8. The method of claim 7,
And the control unit opens the second valve when the internal pressure of the electrolytic water is greater than the internal pressure of the gas tank.
8. The method of claim 7,
Wherein the control unit opens the first valve when the internal pressure of the electrolytic water is lower than the internal pressure of the water tank.
Supplying water to a water electrolytic cell from a water tank;
Electrolyzing water in the electrolytic water; And
Wherein when the internal pressure of the electrolytic water becomes equal to or greater than the internal pressure of the gas tank storing the gas generated in the water electrolysis, the gas generated in the electrolytic water is stored in the gas tank by communicating the electrolytic solution and the gas tank Wherein the gas tank is a gas tank.
11. The method of claim 10,
Wherein the water stored in the water tank is supplied to the electrolytic water by gravity.
11. The method of claim 10,
Further comprising reducing the pressure of the electrolytic water when the pressure of the electrolytic water is greater than the pressure of the water tank.

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