WO2010125199A2

WO2010125199A2 - Fuel distribution system and method for operating the same

Info

Publication number: WO2010125199A2
Application number: PCT/EP2010/055941
Authority: WO
Inventors: Jean Botti; Johannes Stuhlberger
Original assignee: EADS Deutschland GmbH
Current assignee: Airbus Defence and Space GmbH
Priority date: 2009-05-01
Filing date: 2010-04-30
Publication date: 2010-11-04
Anticipated expiration: 2011-11-01
Also published as: DE102009019347A1; WO2010125199A3

Abstract

The invention relates to a fuel distribution system (10) for vehicles (19) bound to harbors (12), particularly aviation aircrafts (16). In the fuel distribution system (12) oil capable for the production of biodiesel is obtained in a photobioreactor (54) from specific algae (59) storing the energy attained from photosynthesis in the form of oil. As algae (59) need carbon dioxide for photosynthesis and nitrogen dioxide for their growth they can be fed by exhaust gases being generated in fossil fuel power plants (112).

Description

Fuel Distribution System and Method for Operating the same

Technical Field:

The invention relates to a fuel distribution system (device) for vehicles bound to harbors. Such vehicles are, for example, helicopters and other general aviation aircrafts based on heliports or airports. Further, the invention relates to a method for operating a fuel distribution system.

Background Art:

As generally known, today's fuel distribution systems for such vehicles are based on a largely woven net of fuel refineries feeded by crude oil shipped over large distances.

For example, in Europe, there exist a lot of airports and heliports which have fueling devices for fueling the aircrafts bound to these heliports or airports. For providing the fuel to the aircrafts to be fuelled, first, crude oil is produced, for example in Arabian countries, in Russia, in Africa and in the North Sea. For example, in the case of crude oil coming from Arabian countries, the crude oil is shipped with tankers via the Suez Canal and the Mediterranean Sea or- in case of larger tankers - even around Africa to Rotterdam or similar larger European oil harbors. From this oil harbors, the crude oil is transported, for example via crude oil pipelines, via barges or via railway, to refineries which are distributed across Europe. In the case of crude oil originating from Russia or the North Sea, the crude oil is transported via long crude oil pipelines. All crude oil transportation methods - tankers, barges, railways and pipelines - as well as the oil exploration itself need enormous technical equipment which consumes a lot of energy. Further, the crude oil transporta- tion is dangerous, especially for the nature. The building and maintenance of crude oil pipelines is complicated and expensive.

In the fuel refineries, fuel is produced from the crude oil. For example, the crude oil is converted by distillation in several fuel products such as gasoline, diesel and kerosene (e.g. JET - A1). The kerosene is then transported, normally via trucks or railway, to the airport. At the airport there are large fuel tanks feeding the local fuel distribution system at the airport. Some airports only have fueling vehicles which commute between the airport fuel tanks and the vehicles parked on the airport. Larger airports usually have an underground fuel pipe distribution network with fuel pipes underneath the airport surface for conducting fuel from the fuel tanks to the parking positions. In the latter case, the fueling vehicle for fueling the aircraft just has a pump, a measuring unit and connecting devices for connecting the underground fuel pipe terminal to the fueling inlet of the aircraft.

Thus, in summary, the existing fueling distribution system for aircraft vehicles consist of oil extraction equipment for extraction of crude oil, crude oil transportation means including crude oil tankers and pipelines, a network of refineries including a lot of refineries distributed across the region where the fuel is to be distributed, normally near to the harbors to be delivered with fuel, fuel transportation means for transporting the fuel from the refinery to the harbors, fuel tanks at the harbors and local fuel distribution systems at the harbors itself.

All this exploration and transportation equipment as well as the refineries consume a lot of energy which is normally provided by fossil or nuclear energy sources. The whole technology is complicated and expensive. Further, a lot of greenhouse gases are produced by the existing fuel distribution systems.

Summary of the Invention: An object of the invention is to provide a less complicated fuel distribution system for vehicles bound to harbors which avoids or decreases the drawbacks of the existing fuel distribution systems.

It is a further object of the invention to provide a new fuel distribution system which does not generate, but rather reduces greenhouse gases.

These objects are achieved by a fuel distribution system having the features of the enclosed claim 1 ,

Advantageous embodiments form the subject matter of the dependent claims.

A preferred advantageous operation method of a fuelling distribution system is subject matter of the further independent claim.

According to a preferred embodiment, the invention provides a fuel distribution system for vehicles which are bound to harbors including a net of harbors spread over a territory, each of the harbors is having a fuel generation system to fuel ve- hides, wherein the fuel generation system comprises

® a photo bioreactor to generate from CO₂, water and sunlight micro algae and « a fuel reactor to extract oil from the micro algae and to convert it into fuel. Preferably, the harbors are separated from each other by a distance which is equivalent to 40% to 100% of the operational range of the vehicle operated from the harbor. Preferably, distances lie in the range of 240 km to 1800 km for airports and in the range between 120 km and 720 km for heliports.

According to a further embodiment, the reactor breaks in a chemical process the oil's carbon chain and adds methanol yields oil. According to a further preferred embodiment, the reactor uses hydro treatment to yield fuel.

According to a further preferred embodiment, the CO₂ is feeded to the photo bio- reactor by liquid CO₂ which is liquefied from plant emissions.

According to a further preferred embodiment, the vehicle is a helicopter with an operational range between 300 and 750 km.

According to a further preferred embodiment, the vehicle is an aircraft with an operational range between 600 and 1800 km.

According to a preferred embodiment, the fuel distribution system has a net of harbors comprising airports and heliports.

Preferably, the harbors comprise fueling devices for fueling the vehicles bound to the harbors.

It is further preferred that the fueling devices comprise fuel tanks for feeding a local distribution system at the harbor.

According to a preferred embodiment, the local distribution system comprises fueling vehicles for transporting fuel from the fuel tanks to the vehicles to be fueled.

Alternatively or in addition to that, the local distribution system could also comprise an underground fuel pipe distribution network for conducting fuel from the fuel tanks (50) to parking positions of the vehicles to be fueled. Special fueling vehicles can be provided for connecting the underground pipe distribution network to the vehicle to be fueled. Such fueling vehicles preferably comprise at least one pump and at least one measuring unit.

According to a second aspect of the invention, the invention provides a fuel distribution method for providing fuel to fuel vehicles which are bound to harbors, comprising the step of generating fuel at harbors of a net of harbors spread over a territory, whereas the fuel generation step comprises the steps of: generating micro algae from CO_∑, water and sunlight and extracting oil from the micro algae (59) and converting the oil into fuel.

Preferably, the CO₂ is provided in form of an exhaust gas from a plant. A preferred embodiment of the method comprises the steps of: providing CO₂ from exhaust gases of a plant, liquidizing of the CO₂ transporting the liquefied CO₂ to the harbor to generate the micro algae there from,

Brief Description of Drawings:

A preferred embodiment of the invention will be described in the following with reference to the figures of the accompanying drawings in which:

Fig. 1 is a schematical illustration of the fuel distribution system;

Fig. 2 shows the fuel generation and distribution cycle at one of the airports being part of the fuel distribution system of Fig. 1 ; Fig. 3 shows a schematic diagram describing the process of the fuel generation and distribution which takes place at one of the harbors of Fig. 1 ;

Fig. 4 shows the CO_∑-feeding of the fuel generation system of Fig. 2; and

Fig. 5 shows a summary of the steps taken in Fig. 4.

Description of Embodiment:

Fig. 1 shows a schematic illustration of fuel distribution system 10. In this exemplary embodiment nine harbors 12 are part of fuel distribution system 10 with four airports 14 being harbors 12 for also aircrafts 16 as well as helicopters 18 as vehicles 19 and four heliports 20 being harbors 12 only for helicopters 18 as vehicles 19.

The harbors 12 are distributed over a territory, in the following the embodiment of a fuel distribution network is explained by way of example choosing West and Central Europe as the territory over which the fuel is to be distributed.

In this exemplary embodiment airports 14 are located near cities such as Paris 22, Frankfurt/Main 24, Munich 26 and Rome 27 and the heliports 20 are located near further cities such as Stralsund 28, Ahlen 30, Bautzen 32, Herzogenaurach 34 and Friedrichshafen 36. The names of the cities are just examples, generally locations are chosen for harbors 12 which may be interesting as flight destinations and/or intermediary stops. The distances between harbors 12 are in the range of 40% to 100% of the operational range of vehicles 19 bound to harbors 12.

All of the harbors 12, i.e. airports 14 and heliports 20 are provided with a fuel generation and distribution system (FGDS) 38, with which fuel 40 to refuel aircrafts 16 and/or helicopters 18 is generated and guided to aircraft 16 and/or helicopter 18 to be refueled. The FGDS 38 is described in more detail in Fig. 2.

The average operational range of aircraft 16 lies between 600 and 1800 km and the average operational range of helicopter 18 lies between 300 and 750 km. If a pilot (not shown) of helicopter 18 wants to fly from Paris 22 to Stralsund 28, he has to stop to refuel helicopter 18 as the distance between the two locations is around 1150 km and thus larger than the average operational range of helicopter 18. In this exemplary case the pilot of helicopter 18 can stop in Ahlen 30 for refueling helicopter 18. If the helicopter pilot wants then to continue the travel from Stralsund 28 to Munich 26 there is the possibility to stop for refueling at Herzogenau- rach 34. At the travel back from Munich 26 to Paris 22 the distance of the two locations is longer than the operational range of helicopter 18, but there is the possibility to refuel either in Frankfurt/Main 24 or in Friedrichshafen 36,

Similarly, if a pilot (not shown) of aircraft 16 wants to travel from Paris 22 to Rome 27 and if aircraft 16 only has an operational range of around 1000 km, due to the fuel distribution system 10 there is a possibility to refuel at Munich 26 and then to continue the flight to Rome 27.

As all of the harbors 12, i.e. the airports 14 and the heliports 20, are provided with the FGDS 38, there is no need of a complicated and expensive transport system of crude oil from oil drilling places to oil refineries and then to the harbors 12,

With reference to Fig. 2 fuel generation and distribution system (FGDS) 38 being located at all of the nine harbors 12 described above will subsequently be described in further detail. Fig. 2 shows a schematic illustration of FGDS 38, FGDS 38 comprises a fuel generation system 41a and a fueling device 41 b.

The fuel generation system 41a comprises an algae bioreactor 42, a harvesting station 44, and a fuel reactor 45 with an extraction station 46, a conditioning device 48 and a device for hydro treatment 49.

The fueling device 41b comprises fuel tanks 50, a pipe distribution network 51a as distribution system 51 underground of the harbors 12 and a plurality of service sta- tions 52.

In the exemplary embodiment of the present invention the algae bioreactor 42 comprises a plate photo reactor 54 and a substrate basin 56.

The plate photo reactor 54 is filled with an algae substrate 58 comprising algae 59 in a culture medium 60. The plate photo reactor 54 further comprises one or a plurality of injectors 62 for injection of CO₂ and a photo plate 64 to provide light to the algae substrate 58 in a biological optimum intensity range.

The substrate basin 56 is filled with algae substrate 58 in culture medium 60 and provided with a circulating pump 66. The substrate basin 56 is connected to a plurality of plate photo reactors 54 via first connecting pipes 68.

The substrate basin 56 is further connected to harvesting station 44 via a second connecting pipe 70. The harvesting station 44 comprises a centrifuge 72 and/or a filter 74 to separate algae substrate 58 from culture medium 60. The harvesting station 44 further comprises a regeneration system (not shown) for regenerating and recycling culture medium 60 to substrate basin 56. The harvesting station 44 is connected to extraction station 46 of fuel reactor 45 via a third connecting pipe 76. The fuel reactor 45 additionally comprises conditioning device 48 being connected to extraction station 46 via a fourth connecting pipe 78 and hydro treatment device 49 being connected to conditioning device 48 via a fifth connecting pipe 80.

The process taking place in FGDS 38 will be described in the following with reference to Fig. 3.

In algae bioreactor 42 algae 59 are cultivated in culture medium 60, There is a plurality of algae species being suitable for the use in FGDS 38, in particular micro algae as Chlorella, Botryococcus braunii, Spirulina etc., but also other algae species can be used in FGDS 38.

Algae 59 are photo autotrophic and carry out photosynthesis by using CO₂ and light energy. Thus, algae bioreactor 42 is provided with injectors 62 to supply CO₂ to culture medium 60. Further culture medium 60 with algae substrate 58 is guided via the first connecting pipe 68 from substrate basin 56 where algae 59 are grown to a plurality of plate photo reactors 54. The photosynthesis carried out by algae 59 proceeds in an optimum range if a certain light density is provided. Thus, plate photo reactor 54 comprises a photo plate 64 which provides the optimum light density for on the one hand avoiding rank growth of Chlorophyll and thus the reduction of the penetration depth of the light into the culture medium 60 and on the other hand for providing enough light to guarantee an effective photosynthesis yield and thus growth of algae 59.

Via circulating pump 66 culture medium 60 containing algae substrate 58 is circulated between plate photo reactors 54 and substrate basin 56. Due to the photosynthesis process algae 59 produce glucose being the base for producing bio mass in form of oil which forms a high percentage of the bio mass of algae 59 used in the FGDS 38.

The culture medium 60 with algae 59 grown therein having a high percentage of oil is guided to harvesting station 44. In harvesting station 44 a filtration process using filter 74 or a centrifugation process using centrifuge 72 or both are carried out to separate algae 59 from culture medium 60. The culture medium 60 is recycled and guided back to algae bioreactor 42. The algae yield is guided via the third connecting pipe 76 to extraction station 46. The oil is extracted from the algae 59 by e.g. squeezing or an extraction using solvents, but also other methods can be used.

The thus extracted crude oil is guided from extraction station 46 via the fourth connecting pipe 78 to conditioning device 48. In conditioning device 48 an esterifi- cation process of the oil attained from algae 59 is carried out using foe example methanol and yielding fuel 40. Further in conditioning device 48 the thus attained fuel 40 is separated from the reactands and the by-products. The reactands are recycled for being reused in the fuel generation process.

Via the fifth connecting pipe fuel 40 is guided to device for hydro treatment 49 where substances being harmful to the aircraft- and/or helicopter-engines and/or the environment are removed by a reaction with hydrogen.

The thus attained fuel 40 can be identified as kerosene 100. The kerosene 100 is supplied to pipe distribution network 51a and thus guided to the plurality of service stations 52 being present at each of harbors 12 from Fig. 1. At each service station 52 there is a sink 104 to which a fueling vehicle 106 having a pump 108 can be connected. The pump 108 is used to pump kerosene 100 into helicopter 18 (or aircraft 16, not shown). The pumping process is controlled by a measuring unit 110.

With fuel distribution system 10 it is possible to provide a self-sustaining system for providing fuel to helicopters 18 or aircrafts 16 without the need of complicated and expensive transport systems of crude oil from oil drilling stations to refineries and then to the consuming stations as for example harbors 12.

The above described fuel distribution system 10 is suitable for vehicles 19 bound to harbors 12.

Such vehicles 19 are helicopters 18 and other general aviation aircrafts 16 based on heli- or airports 14, 20. Today's fuel distribution system for these vehicles 19 are based on a largely woven net of fuel refineries feeded by crude oil shipped over large distances.

Algae 59 can be found almost everywhere - oceans, ponds, swimming-pools, and common goldfish bowls. And while not truly plants, these single-celled organisms have the same photosynthetic ability to convert sunshine into chemical energy. For some species of algae 59, this chemical energy is in the form of oils very similar to common vegetable oil. These oils can be processed and used to produce bio- diesel.

Algae production does not compete with agriculture. Algae production facilities are closed and do not require soil for growth, use 99% less water than conventional agriculture, and can be located on non-agricultural land far from water. Since the whole organism converts sunlight into oil, algae 59 can produce more oil in an area the size of a two-car garage than an entire football field of soybeans. If it were easy, most of the world's biodiesel would already be made from micro algae 59 grown on non-agricultural land, close to coal-fired power plants. Success comes from the selection of right algae species, create an optimal photobiological formula for each species and build a cost-effective photobioreactor that can pre- cisely deliver the formula to each individual algae cell, no matter the size of the facility or its geographical location.

The right naturally occurring algae species can, under just the right conditions, produce oil at near-theoretical limits. Their small size (less than 30 μm) and aquatic nature makes them ideal for a large-scale, highly automated, close production system called a photobioreactor, or PBR. Algae 59 thrive on a high concentration of carbon dioxide. And nitrogen dioxide (NO₂), a pollutant of power plants, is a nutrient for the algae 59, Algae production facilities can thus be fed exhaust gases from fossil fuel powerplants, to significantly increase productivity and clean up the air.

Carbon regulation - driven by the overwhelming evidence that climate change is directly linked to the burning of fossil fuels - is widely considered inevitable. A carbon tax or similar mechanism to discourage Cθ₂-emissions will significantly in- crease the economic competitiveness of low-carbon and carbon-neutral energy such as biodiesel.

The carbon hydrides, remaining after the oil has been extracted from the algae 59, can be used to make animal feed, ethanol and potentionally sequester carbon.

With ultra-low sulphur diesel (ULSD) regulations, petroleum-based diesel fuel now is at a performance and competitive disadvantage. In petro-diesel, sulphur acts as a lubricant and without it engine wear is greatly increased. Biodiesel is sulphur- free, yet has excellent lubricity characteristics. The operator of a fuel distribution system 10 like operators of plants 112 can take advantage of the European Union Emission Trading System (EU ETS). Under the EU ETS, large emitters of carbon dioxide within the EU must monitor and annually report their CO₂ emissions and they are obliged every year to return an amount of emission allowances to the government that is equivalent to their CO₂ emissions in that year. Emission allowances for any plant operator subject to the EU ETS are given out for a sequence of several years at once. Each such sequence of years is called a trading period. Since January 2008, the second trading period is on the way which will last until December 2012. Currently, the installations get allowances for free from the EU member states governments. Besides receiving this initial location on a plant-by-plant basis, an operator may purchase EU allowances from others (installations, traders, the government). If an installation has received more free allowances that it needs, it may sell them to anybody. It becomes obvious that a plant operator who is operating a supplementary fuel distribution system 10 according to the invention can trade with shares.

In January 2008, the European Commission proposed a number of changes to the scheme, and inclusion of other greenhouse gases, such as nitric oxide. It is also under consideration whether or not to extent the EU ETS to the other industries such as airlines.

Currently, the EU does not allow CO₂ credits under ETS to be obtained from sinks (e.g. reducing CO₂ by planting trees). However, operating an emitting plant 112 in connection with the fuel distribution system 10 according to the invention, the system consumes CO₂ which will subsequently not escape to the environment and reduce the operators need for allowances. Fig. 4 shows the feeding of fuel generation system 41a with CO₂ being an exhaust gas from a plant 112.

CO₂ emitted by plant 112 is liquified by any suitable method and then stored in a CO₂-tank 114. The plant 112 can be located near by harbors 12 but it can also be located at a long way off harbors 12. The stored CO₂ is transferred to a CO₂-truck 116 being capable to transport liquified gases. The CO₂-truck 116 transports the liquified CO₂ to fuel generation system 41a being located at harbors 12.

CO₂ is then fed into algae bioreactor 42 via injector 62 to provide algae 59 with precursor material for producing glucose and thus bio mass for growing. Water is added to provide the biotope for algae 59.

After extracting the oil contingent of algae 59 the liquid algae fuel is collected in a collecting vessel 118 and subsequently refined to attain kerosene 100. The thus produced bio-fuel is transferred into fuel tanks 50.

Helicopter 18 can be refueled by being connected to fuel tanks 50.

Fig. 5 shows a short summary of the process described in Fig. 4.

Plant 112 produces CO₂ as an exhaust gas. The exhaust gas is transferred to algae 59 and serves as precursor for the production of glucose in algae 59 and thus for their growth. After processing algae 59 the products oil and oxygen are attained. Thus all CO₂ being produced by plant 112 is metabolized into non-polluting products or products capable to be used in energy consuming applications. The operator of plant 112 does not exercise the option to use allowances and is thus able to sell them to anybody. In summary, a fuel distribution system (10) for vehicles (19) bound to harbors (12), particularly aviation aircrafts (16) has been described with reference to the figures. In the fuel distribution system (12) oil capable for the production of biodiesel is obtained in a photobioreactor (54) from specific algae (59) storing the energy attained from photosynthesis in the form of oil. As algae (59) need carbon dioxide for photosynthesis and nitrogen dioxide for their growth they can be fed by exhaust gases being generated in fossil fuel power plants (112).

Reference Signs List:

10 fuel distribution system

12 harbor 14 airport

16 aircraft

18 helicopter

19 vehicle

20 heliport 22 first location (for example Paris)

24 second location (for example Frankfurt/Main)

26 third location (for example Munich)

27 fourth location (for example Rome)

28 fifth location (for example Stralsund) 30 sixth location (for example Ahlen)

32 seventh location (for example Bautzen)

34 eighth location (for example Herzogenaurach)

36 ninth location (for example Friedrichshafen)

38 fuel generation and distribution system (FGDS) 40 fuel

41a fuel generation system

41 b fueling device

42 algae bioreactor

44 harvesting station 45 fuel reactor

46 extraction station

48 conditioning device

49 device for hydro treatment

50 fuel tank 51 distribution system

51a pipe distribution network

52 service station

54 plate photo reactor

56 substrate basin

58 algae substrate

59 algae

60 culture medium

62 injector

64 photo plate

66 circulating pump

68 first connecting pipe

70 second connecting pipe

72 centrifuge

74 filter

76 third connecting pipe

78 fourth connecting pipe

80 fifth connecting pipe

100 kerosene

104 sink

106 fueling vehicle

108 pump

110 measuring unit

112 plant

114 CO₂-tank

116 CO₂-truck

118 collecting vessel

Claims

Claims:

1. Fuel distribution system (10) for fueling vehicles (19) which are bound to harbors (12) including a net of harbors (12) spread over a territory characterized in that each of the harbors (12) is having a fuel generation system (41a) to fuel vehicles (19), whereas the fuel generation system (41a) comprises a photo bio- reactor (54) to generate micro algae (59) from CO₂, water and sunlight and a fuel reactor (45) to extract oil from the micro algae (59) and to convert it into fuel (40).

2. Fuel distribution system (10) according to claim 1 , whereas the net of harbors (12) comprises airports (14) and heliports (20).

3. Fuel distribution system (10) according to one of the preceding claims, whereas the harbors (12) comprise fueling devices (41 b) for fueling the vehicles (19) bound to the harbors (12).

4. Fuel distribution system (10) according to claim 3, whereas the fueling devices (41b) comprise fuel tanks (50) for feeding a distribution system (51) at the harbor (12).

5. Fuel distribution system (10) according to claim 4, whereas the distribution system (51) comprises fueling vehicles (106) for transporting fuel (40) from the fuel tanks (50) to the vehicles (19) to be fueled.

6. Fuel distribution system (10) according to claim 4 or 5, whereas the distribution system (51) comprises an underground fuel pipe distribution network (51a) for conducting fuel (40) from the fuel tanks (50) to parking positions of the vehicles (19) to be fueled.

7. Fuel distribution system (10) for fueling of helicopters (18) according to one of the preceding claims, whereas the helicopters (18) have an operational range of 300 to 750 km.

8. Fuel distribution system (10) according to claim 8, whereas the distance between the harbors (12) in the net is in the range of

120 km to 750 km.

9. Fuel distribution system (10) for fueling of aircrafts (16) according to any of the preceding claims, whereas the aircrafts (16) have an operational range of 600 to 1800 km.

10. Fuel distribution system (10) according to claim 9, whereas the distance between the harbors (12) in the net is in the range of 240 km to 1800 km.

11. Fuel distribution system (10) according to one of the preceding claims, whereas the reactor (45) breaks in a chemical process the oil's carbon chain and adds methanol yields oil.

12. Fuel distribution system (10) according to one of the preceding claims, whereas the reactor (45) uses hydro treatment (49) to yield fuel (40).

13. Fuel distribution system (10) according to one of the preceding claims, whereas the CO₂ is feeded to the photo bioreactor (42) by liquid CO₂ which is liquefied from plant (112) emissions.

14. A fuel distribution method for providing fuel to fuel vehicles which are bound to harbors, comprising the step of generating fuel at harbors of a net of harbors spread over a territory, whereas the fuel generation step comprises the steps of: generating micro algae from CO₂, water and sunlight in a bioreactor at the harbor and extracting oil from the micro algae (59) and converting the oil into fuel.

15. Fuel distribution method according to claim 14, wherein the CO₂ is provided in form of an exhaust gas from a plant.

16. Fuel distribution method according to claim 15, wherein the method comprises the steps of: providing CO₂ from exhaust gases of a plant, liquidizing of the CO₂ transporting the liquefied CO₂ to the harbor to generate the micro algae there from.

17. Fuel distribution method according to any of the claims 14 to 16, wherein the method is conducted using the fuel distribution system of any of the claims 1 to 13.