Classifications

• • F—MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
  • F17—STORING OR DISTRIBUTING GASES OR LIQUIDS
  • F17C—VESSELS FOR CONTAINING OR STORING COMPRESSED, LIQUEFIED OR SOLIDIFIED GASES; FIXED-CAPACITY GAS-HOLDERS; FILLING VESSELS WITH, OR DISCHARGING FROM VESSELS, COMPRESSED, LIQUEFIED, OR SOLIDIFIED GASES
  • F17C1/00—Pressure vessels, e.g. gas cylinder, gas tank, replaceable cartridge
• • E—FIXED CONSTRUCTIONS
  • E02—HYDRAULIC ENGINEERING; FOUNDATIONS; SOIL SHIFTING
  • E02F—DREDGING; SOIL-SHIFTING
  • E02F3/00—Dredgers; Soil-shifting machines
  • E02F3/04—Dredgers; Soil-shifting machines mechanically-driven
  • E02F3/88—Dredgers; Soil-shifting machines mechanically-driven with arrangements acting by a sucking or forcing effect, e.g. suction dredgers
  • E02F3/8858—Submerged units
  • E02F3/8866—Submerged units self propelled
• • F—MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
  • F17—STORING OR DISTRIBUTING GASES OR LIQUIDS
  • F17C—VESSELS FOR CONTAINING OR STORING COMPRESSED, LIQUEFIED OR SOLIDIFIED GASES; FIXED-CAPACITY GAS-HOLDERS; FILLING VESSELS WITH, OR DISCHARGING FROM VESSELS, COMPRESSED, LIQUEFIED, OR SOLIDIFIED GASES
  • F17C2201/00—Vessel construction, in particular geometry, arrangement or size
  • F17C2201/01—Shape
  • F17C2201/0147—Shape complex
  • F17C2201/0161—Honeycomb
• • F—MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
  • F17—STORING OR DISTRIBUTING GASES OR LIQUIDS
  • F17C—VESSELS FOR CONTAINING OR STORING COMPRESSED, LIQUEFIED OR SOLIDIFIED GASES; FIXED-CAPACITY GAS-HOLDERS; FILLING VESSELS WITH, OR DISCHARGING FROM VESSELS, COMPRESSED, LIQUEFIED, OR SOLIDIFIED GASES
  • F17C2201/00—Vessel construction, in particular geometry, arrangement or size
  • F17C2201/05—Size
  • F17C2201/054—Size medium (>1 m3)
• • F—MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
  • F17—STORING OR DISTRIBUTING GASES OR LIQUIDS
  • F17C—VESSELS FOR CONTAINING OR STORING COMPRESSED, LIQUEFIED OR SOLIDIFIED GASES; FIXED-CAPACITY GAS-HOLDERS; FILLING VESSELS WITH, OR DISCHARGING FROM VESSELS, COMPRESSED, LIQUEFIED, OR SOLIDIFIED GASES
  • F17C2201/00—Vessel construction, in particular geometry, arrangement or size
  • F17C2201/05—Size
  • F17C2201/056—Small (<1 m3)
• • F—MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
  • F17—STORING OR DISTRIBUTING GASES OR LIQUIDS
  • F17C—VESSELS FOR CONTAINING OR STORING COMPRESSED, LIQUEFIED OR SOLIDIFIED GASES; FIXED-CAPACITY GAS-HOLDERS; FILLING VESSELS WITH, OR DISCHARGING FROM VESSELS, COMPRESSED, LIQUEFIED, OR SOLIDIFIED GASES
  • F17C2221/00—Handled fluid, in particular type of fluid
  • F17C2221/01—Pure fluids
  • F17C2221/011—Oxygen
• • F—MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
  • F17—STORING OR DISTRIBUTING GASES OR LIQUIDS
  • F17C—VESSELS FOR CONTAINING OR STORING COMPRESSED, LIQUEFIED OR SOLIDIFIED GASES; FIXED-CAPACITY GAS-HOLDERS; FILLING VESSELS WITH, OR DISCHARGING FROM VESSELS, COMPRESSED, LIQUEFIED, OR SOLIDIFIED GASES
  • F17C2221/00—Handled fluid, in particular type of fluid
  • F17C2221/03—Mixtures
  • F17C2221/031—Air
• • F—MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
  • F17—STORING OR DISTRIBUTING GASES OR LIQUIDS
  • F17C—VESSELS FOR CONTAINING OR STORING COMPRESSED, LIQUEFIED OR SOLIDIFIED GASES; FIXED-CAPACITY GAS-HOLDERS; FILLING VESSELS WITH, OR DISCHARGING FROM VESSELS, COMPRESSED, LIQUEFIED, OR SOLIDIFIED GASES
  • F17C2221/00—Handled fluid, in particular type of fluid
  • F17C2221/03—Mixtures
  • F17C2221/032—Hydrocarbons
  • F17C2221/033—Methane, e.g. natural gas, CNG, LNG, GNL, GNC, PLNG
• • F—MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
  • F17—STORING OR DISTRIBUTING GASES OR LIQUIDS
  • F17C—VESSELS FOR CONTAINING OR STORING COMPRESSED, LIQUEFIED OR SOLIDIFIED GASES; FIXED-CAPACITY GAS-HOLDERS; FILLING VESSELS WITH, OR DISCHARGING FROM VESSELS, COMPRESSED, LIQUEFIED, OR SOLIDIFIED GASES
  • F17C2223/00—Handled fluid before transfer, i.e. state of fluid when stored in the vessel or before transfer from the vessel
  • F17C2223/01—Handled fluid before transfer, i.e. state of fluid when stored in the vessel or before transfer from the vessel characterised by the phase
  • F17C2223/0107—Single phase
  • F17C2223/0123—Single phase gaseous, e.g. CNG, GNC
• • F—MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
  • F17—STORING OR DISTRIBUTING GASES OR LIQUIDS
  • F17C—VESSELS FOR CONTAINING OR STORING COMPRESSED, LIQUEFIED OR SOLIDIFIED GASES; FIXED-CAPACITY GAS-HOLDERS; FILLING VESSELS WITH, OR DISCHARGING FROM VESSELS, COMPRESSED, LIQUEFIED, OR SOLIDIFIED GASES
  • F17C2223/00—Handled fluid before transfer, i.e. state of fluid when stored in the vessel or before transfer from the vessel
  • F17C2223/03—Handled fluid before transfer, i.e. state of fluid when stored in the vessel or before transfer from the vessel characterised by the pressure level
  • F17C2223/035—High pressure (>10 bar)
• • F—MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
  • F17—STORING OR DISTRIBUTING GASES OR LIQUIDS
  • F17C—VESSELS FOR CONTAINING OR STORING COMPRESSED, LIQUEFIED OR SOLIDIFIED GASES; FIXED-CAPACITY GAS-HOLDERS; FILLING VESSELS WITH, OR DISCHARGING FROM VESSELS, COMPRESSED, LIQUEFIED, OR SOLIDIFIED GASES
  • F17C2223/00—Handled fluid before transfer, i.e. state of fluid when stored in the vessel or before transfer from the vessel
  • F17C2223/03—Handled fluid before transfer, i.e. state of fluid when stored in the vessel or before transfer from the vessel characterised by the pressure level
  • F17C2223/036—Very high pressure (>80 bar)
• • F—MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
  • F17—STORING OR DISTRIBUTING GASES OR LIQUIDS
  • F17C—VESSELS FOR CONTAINING OR STORING COMPRESSED, LIQUEFIED OR SOLIDIFIED GASES; FIXED-CAPACITY GAS-HOLDERS; FILLING VESSELS WITH, OR DISCHARGING FROM VESSELS, COMPRESSED, LIQUEFIED, OR SOLIDIFIED GASES
  • F17C2270/00—Applications
  • F17C2270/01—Applications for fluid transport or storage
  • F17C2270/0102—Applications for fluid transport or storage on or in the water
  • F17C2270/0118—Offshore
  • F17C2270/0128—Storage in depth
• • F—MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
  • F17—STORING OR DISTRIBUTING GASES OR LIQUIDS
  • F17C—VESSELS FOR CONTAINING OR STORING COMPRESSED, LIQUEFIED OR SOLIDIFIED GASES; FIXED-CAPACITY GAS-HOLDERS; FILLING VESSELS WITH, OR DISCHARGING FROM VESSELS, COMPRESSED, LIQUEFIED, OR SOLIDIFIED GASES
  • F17C2270/00—Applications
  • F17C2270/05—Applications for industrial use
  • F17C2270/0545—Tools
• • F—MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
  • F17—STORING OR DISTRIBUTING GASES OR LIQUIDS
  • F17C—VESSELS FOR CONTAINING OR STORING COMPRESSED, LIQUEFIED OR SOLIDIFIED GASES; FIXED-CAPACITY GAS-HOLDERS; FILLING VESSELS WITH, OR DISCHARGING FROM VESSELS, COMPRESSED, LIQUEFIED, OR SOLIDIFIED GASES
  • F17C2270/00—Applications
  • F17C2270/05—Applications for industrial use
  • F17C2270/0581—Power plants
• • F—MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
  • F17—STORING OR DISTRIBUTING GASES OR LIQUIDS
  • F17C—VESSELS FOR CONTAINING OR STORING COMPRESSED, LIQUEFIED OR SOLIDIFIED GASES; FIXED-CAPACITY GAS-HOLDERS; FILLING VESSELS WITH, OR DISCHARGING FROM VESSELS, COMPRESSED, LIQUEFIED, OR SOLIDIFIED GASES
  • F17C2270/00—Applications
  • F17C2270/07—Applications for household use
  • F17C2270/0781—Diving equipments

Definitions

• the invention relates to a gas container in which gases at kept at a very high pres- sure, or in which low-pressure gases are kept at a very high external pressure, in great depths under the sea, for example.
• the design also aims at lightness and cheapness.
• Figure 1 is an end-view of the structure of the container.
• Figure 2 shows the change of pressure level from the outer edge towards the center.
• a body which is an elongated container with a honeycomb cross-section (other cross- sectional profiles can be contemplated but the honeycomb is the most optimum)
• an end comprised of a plurality of end plugs in the ends of the pipes of the body, Figure 3.
• the cross-section of the container can be given any desired shape to meet the requirements of the site, provided that the pressure layers are designed to be annular.
• the container of the invention is useful when a lightweight and small-sized container is needed: to replace a welding oxygen tank, as a diving oxygen tank, vehicle gas fuel tank, and so on.
• the container of the invention is to use it for transporting natural gas as a high-pressure gas instead of transporting the gas as cooled and liquefied.
• the following benefits are achieved: the transports are considerably cheaper because general container traffic can be used for them. Further, the transports are considerably safer because the units to the transported (containers) are small-sized, and, if the container is damaged, the gas flows out slowly because, in the ends, openings connecting pipes of the same pressure level are alternately pro- vided in the different ends of the container. No expensive storage facilities are needed for the later storage and delivery to the customer, a container storage is enough for it.
• the main components of the plant are a storage container according to the invention into which air is pumped when the price of wind electricity is low, and a power machine, such as a gas turbine, producing electricity from the air inside the storage container when the price of electricity is high.
• the gas turbine may include a combustion chamber wherein additional energy with a high efficiency ratio is obtained by using a fuel.
• the plant does not have to be connected to a windmill but, more preferably, it is connected to a district heating plant, wherein compression heat can be recovered for district heat- ing.
• the electrical energy recovered in the plant does not have to be produced by wind but any electricity cheap enough can be utilized.
• the container of the invention can be used as a buoyant pontoon of a sea bottom excavator working in the depths of the sea. This enables sea-bottom mud containing rare earth metals and manganese nodules to be extracted. Said materials are mostly located in the depth of about 3000 to 6000 meters. Further, a similar plant can be used for extracting diamonds, precious metals and raw materials.
• the specific weight of the innermost gas storage equals to the outdoor air pressure, having a lifting power of 1000 kg/m 3
• a conventional container is a very heavyweight structure, and, at the same time, the inner pressure must be quite high, such as 300 to 400 bar, wherein the lifting power of the gas is about 600 to 700 kg/m 3 .
• the structure of the plant itself is as follows:
• the plant consists of a state-of-art dredger-excavator which is let down to the bottom of the sea.
• the material excavated by it is led to a screen that removes any over-sized material that may clog the post-excavation lines, or forwards it to be crushed.
• the excavator is mobile and excavates a layer of a predetermined thickness (in case of nodules, a layer which is less than 0,5 meters thick, and, in case of mud, a layer which, generally, is approximately 2 meters thick) with- in the reach of the machine.
• the excavator is powered to excavate and move by pressurized water.
• the main component of the plant is a tube extending from the bottom up to the surface within which the excavated mass runs up, for example, to a lighter floating in the water, to be processed by separating the earth metals from the water in an acid treatment
• the nodules are taken to the shore as such.
• the tube is built of modules by providing a tube of a suitable length with a stiffening frame structure as well as a buoyant pontoon, and is connected, at its end, to the upper end of a previous submerged tube, both at the end and the support structure of the tube. Propellers extending in three directions are fixed to the tube at regular intervals in order to eliminate the effect of sea currents.
• the water-flow power is obtained from compressed air which, when fed into the tube, down to the depth of 500 meters, for example, creates a lifting pressure of 50 bar.
• a vacuum connection is provided by a relatively small pipe extending within the frame structure of the tube.
• the container of the invention allows natural gas to be used as a turbine-engine aircraft fuel.
• the container is formed to structurally fit an aircraft and, at the same, as part of the structural rigidity. The high pressure used in the container makes it possible to load enough fuel aboard.
• This is connected to a significant re-duction of the need of fuel through the fact that the aircraft is also equipped with a high-pressure air tank, thus lowering the need of turbine compressor output, its need of rotational power, the size of it and the price of it.
• This action can be enhanced by introducing in the process, after the air tank, two or more alternating intermediate pressure tanks, filled up with outdoor air by means of stagnation pressure, the pres- sure being increased up to its final level from the compressed air container.
• the efficiency ratio is further improved by using the outlet gas heat for heating the air inside the intermediate pressure containers, or, directly in the compressed air pipes. Although the compressed air is heated, its final temperature is lower than in a conventional gas turbine. However, this allows the turbine blades to be constructed for a higher primary pressure to further increase the efficiency ratio of the engine.

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• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
• General Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Filling Or Discharging Of Gas Storage Vessels (AREA)
• Fuel Cell (AREA)
• Wind Motors (AREA)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Publications (1)

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ID=52992321

Family Applications (1)

Country Status (2)

Cited By (1)

Citations (6)

• 2013
  • 2013-10-25 FI FI20130310A patent/FI127885B/sv active IP Right Grant
• 2014
  • 2014-10-23 WO PCT/FI2014/000029 patent/WO2015059345A1/en active Application Filing

Patent Citations (6)

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