Fluent material handling – with receiver or receiver coacting mea – With signal – indicator – recorder – inspection means or exhibitor
Reexamination Certificate
2000-01-06
2001-03-20
Douglas, Steven O. (Department: 3751)
Fluent material handling, with receiver or receiver coacting mea
With signal, indicator, recorder, inspection means or exhibitor
C141S197000, C141S285000, C220S086200
Reexamination Certificate
active
06202710
ABSTRACT:
TECHNICAL FIELD
The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for refueling an electrochemical engine.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
As fuel cell power plants are being integrated into useable vehicles, developing efficient ways of supplying the fuel needed to operate the fuel cell stack becomes more critical. Hydrogen gas is the common fuel input to the stack. It may be reformed on-board a vehicle by processing fuels such as gasoline or methanol through a reformer to convert the fuel to reformate comprising hydrogen, carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, and water vapor. The reformate may be passed through a shift converter and gas purifiers to remove carbon monoxide before delivering the hydrogen to the fuel cell stack. This complete reformation process is not only complex to engineer, but consumes valuable packaging space and mass.
As an alternative to reforming fuels on-board, hydrogen gas may be stored on-board in suitable tanks. While pure hydrogen gas is an efficient fuel, storing it on-board a vehicle has drawbacks related to packaging and mass. Instead of storing hydrogen in its gaseous state, hydrogen may be taken-up and captured by a hydrogen-retention material contained within an on-board storage tank. With either of these storage methods, the storage tank will need to be refilled with hydrogen gas by a typical consumer at a refueling station. This presents challenges for the interface between the refueling station and the vehicle.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention provides a controllable refueling method and apparatus for refueling a vehicle powered by an electrochemical engine with hydrogen gas. The refueling apparatus is particularly useful for an electrochemical engine which stores hydrogen in an on-board storage tank, either in its gaseous state or captured by a hydrogen-retention material.
The refueling apparatus may comprise a fuel fill pocket accessible to the exterior of the vehicle which has an interior end with pocket passages for delivering hydrogen gas to the on-board storage tank and for circulating cooled pre-refueling coolant from a refueling station through the storage tank and back to the refueling station. A fuel fill door conceals the fuel fill pocket when closed and has an unlocking feature.
A nozzle is operably connected to the refueling station and is slideably receivable within the fuel fill pocket. The nozzle has nozzle passages complementary to the pocket passages. It also has a companion unlocking feature, which operates in conjunction with the fuel fill door unlocking feature by unlocking the fuel fill door when the nozzle is placed adjacent to the fill door. The unlocking features ensure that the pocket passages to the engine are not contaminated.
The refueling apparatus may further include a flow communication means to ensure the nozzle passages are in flow communication with the pocket passages. The flow communication means may take many forms which limit how the nozzle may be inserted in the fuel fill pocket or it may include an annular connecting passage about the nozzle which provides flow communication between the nozzle and pocket passages regardless of the orientation of the nozzle to the pocket. The flow communication means removes the risk of misaligning complementary passages.
The refueling apparatus may also include an interlocking means for securing the nozzle in the fuel fill pocket when the nozzle is fully inserted therein. This feature prevents inadvertent removal of the nozzle while hydrogen or pre-refueling coolant is flowing therethrough.
Mating communication ports may be provided for the nozzle and the fuel fill pocket, which operate to send and receive electronic signals therebetween and to a controller for controlling the operation of refueling. The controller may verify that the nozzle is properly inserted in the pocket through a sensor on the interlocking means. It may also prevent disengagement of the interlocking means while there is flow between the nozzle and pocket passages.
The present invention is particularly useful for a vehicle having a storage tank containing hydrogen-retention material for capturing and storing hydrogen. Prior to refueling the storage tank, pre-refueling coolant may be circulated from the nozzle, through the storage tank, and back to the nozzle for cooling the storage tank to a temperature where the hydrogen-retention material operates to take-up hydrogen. Once the controller verifies that the storage tank is sufficiently cooled, it stops the coolant circulation and initiates hydrogen refueling.
REFERENCES:
patent: 5488978 (1996-02-01), Kountz et al.
patent: 5701928 (1997-12-01), Aoki
Bereisa Jonas
Dill Norm
McManis James V.
O'Connell Daniel B.
Stratton Michael A.
Douglas Steven O.
General Motors Corporation
Wideman Laura C.
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