Tank for pressurized fluid, in particular for liquefied gas

Details Tank for pressurized fluid, in particular for liquefied gas Tank for pressurized fluid, in particular for liquefied gas

1999-06-10

2001-03-27

Lee, Kevin (Department: 3753)

Fluid handling

Plural tanks or compartments with parallel flow

With manifold or grouped outlets

C137S256000

Reexamination Certificate

active

06206027

ABSTRACT:

FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a tank for fluid under pressure, more particularly a fluid under high pressure, i.e. much greater than 1 MPa, typically greater than 5 MPa.
A particular, although not exclusive, field of application of the invention is that of tanks for liquefied gas, in particular for liquefied propane gas (LPG) used in motor vehicles.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The presence of tanks under pressure close to people or sensitive goods, or in a confined space, gives rise to problems of safety. The usual solution consists in using a container that is strong, and thus heavy. In addition, the optimum shape for such a container enabling it to withstand internal pressure well often limits the ways in which it can be installed, in particular on a motor vehicle. This takes up a large amount of the available volume in the vehicle. In addition, safety standards mean that vehicles fitted with such tanks can be banned from having access to road tunnels.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
An object of the invention is to provide a tank for fluid under high pressure that does not present those drawbacks, and to this end the invention provides a tank comprising a plurality of elementary tanks connected in parallel to at least one manifold device, and closure means suitable for isolating any one of the elementary tanks in response to the pressure therein dropping.
Advantageously, the elementary tanks are constituted by tubes.
A first advantage of the invention lies in the great ease with which it can be adapted to the space available. Ability to withstand pressure is determined by the section and the wall thickness of each elementary tank, regardless of the overall shape of the tank as a whole. It is therefore possible to distribute the volume of the tank in the space available while using elementary tanks of different lengths or by placing them in rows with varying numbers per row, or grouping them together in distinct subassemblies which are interconnected. This option is particularly advantageous for motor vehicles to ensure that the housing for the tank does not penalize available volume.
In addition, because of its modular design, the tank is simple to make and of low cost. This applies in particular with elementary tanks that are in the form of tubes since the same tubes, when cut to desired lengths, can be used to make tanks of any shape and of any volume.
Furthermore, such elementary tanks present the ability to contain external pressure, typically due to a relative loss of pressure in the elementary tank, that would not be possible with a container of any complex shape without special architecture and dimensioning.
The present invention also makes it possible to use various materials for the elementary tanks, for example metals, metal alloys, or composite materials. Composite materials can be reinforced with carbon fibers, “Kevlar” (registered trademark) or glass, and they can have a matrix made of resin, e.g. epoxy resin.
In addition, the requisite conditions, particularly in terms of wall thickness, are much less severe for each elementary tank than they are for a single-body tank having the volume of the tank that is to be provided, and the mass saving compared with a single body tank can be significant.
Another advantage of the tank of the invention is safety. Because of the closure means, damage to an elementary tank does not endanger the entire tank together with its content, and thus limits nuisance to the environment in the event of a leak. The low rate of flow and the small total volume of fluid that escapes when only one elementary tank is damaged mean that certain restrictions on use, such as banning access to road tunnels, for example, need no longer be justified.
Advantageously, the closure means are in the form of respective valves, for example in the form of flexible membrane means, which are mounted at each end of each elementary tank that is connected to a manifold, a valve closing the end of an elementary tank in response to the pressure in said elementary tank dropping relative to the pressure in the manifold. A same flexible membrane can be mounted in a manifold connected to a plurality of elementary tank ends so as to be common to a plurality of elementary tanks.
The tank can be provided with a protective shield covering at least each exposed surface of the tank.
The shield advantageously has an armored structure made up of a rigid covering sheet and a thick underlying layer of cellular material in foam or honeycomb form. The covering sheet, e.g. of composite material, is capable of absorbing part of the energy of an impact or of a projectile, and of transmitting the energy it does not absorb to the foam material which is suitable for spreading it over a large area of the tank so as to avoid deforming the underlying structures. The magnitude of the impacts that are to be absorbed without functionally damaging the tank overall will determine the dimensioning of the shield.


REFERENCES:
patent: 3575195 (1971-04-01), Alfieri
patent: 15 29 102 (1969-12-01), None
patent: 783 241 (1935-07-01), None
patent: 2 159 263 (1985-11-01), None

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