Patent Application
20100068561
The field to which the disclosure generally relates includes storage vessels for storing a pressurized gas such as hydrogen and methods of making thereof.
Hydrogen is commonly used in industrial applications, for example in fuel cells. Hydrogen used in such applications may be stored in a pressurized storage vessel. Storage vessels for compressed gases must have mechanical stability and integrity so that the container does not rupture or burst from the pressure within. For fuel cell vehicles, it is typically desirable to make hydrogen gas containers lightweight so as not to significantly affect the weight requirements of a vehicle. It is known to use type 4 compressed gas tanks for storing compressed hydrogen gas on the vehicle. A type 4 tank includes an outer structural layer made of a synthetic material and a plastic liner. The outer layer provides the structural integrity of the tank for the pressure contained therein, and the plastic liner provides a gas tight vessel for sealing the gas therein. The plastic liner may have a median diameter of about 390 mm, a thickness of about 10 mm, a length of about 700 mm, a density of about 2.7 g/cm3, and a weight of about 8.5 kg. The rate of permeation of hydrogen through the liner may be inversely proportional to the thickness of the liner. But a thick liner reduces the volumetric capacity of the vessel.
One embodiment includes a product including a pressurized gas storage vessel shell including an interior surface and an exterior surface, a liner layer over the interior surface of the pressurized gas storage vessel, and a permeation protection layer over the liner layer.
Other exemplary embodiments of the invention will become apparent from the detailed description provided hereinafter. It should be understood that the detailed description and specific examples, while disclosing exemplary embodiments of the invention, are intended for purposes of illustration only and are not intended to limit the scope of the invention.
Exemplary embodiments of the present invention will become more fully understood from the detailed description and the accompanying drawings, wherein:
The following description of the embodiment(s) is merely exemplary in nature and is in no way intended to limit the invention, its application, or uses.
Still referring to
In one embodiment, a permeation protection layer 24 overlies the liner layer 18. In one embodiment, the permeation protection layer 24 may be described as a coating over the liner layer 18. In one embodiment, the liner layer 18 may be a malleable support structure or platform for the permeation protection layer 24, while the permeation protection layer 24 prevents or decreases the permeation of gas from the storage vessel 10. The permeation protection layer 24 has a first surface 26 and a second surface 28. In one embodiment shown in
In one embodiment, the permeation protection layer 24 may be one of glass, SiO2, titanium oxide, amorphous hydrogenated Diamond Like Carbon (DLC), a metal from the fourth to eighth subgroups of the Periodic Table of Elements, or a combination of metals from the fourth to eighth subgroups of the Periodic Table of Elements. In one embodiment, the permeation protection layer has a thickness of about 10 nm to about 5 μm. In another embodiment, the permeation protection layer has a thickness of about 100 nm to about 1 μm. The permeation protection layer 24 may prevent the permeation of pressurized gas from the interior of the vessel. The permeation protection layer 24 may accommodate the mechanical requirements, for example temperature and pressure, for preventing the permeation of pressurized gas from the vessel interior.
In one embodiment, the combined thickness of the liner layer 18 and the permeation protection layer 24 may be less than the thickness of a conventional liner in a pressurized gas storage vessel. The volumetric storage capacity of the vessel 10 may be greater than that of a conventional pressurized gas storage vessel.
In
According to another embodiment shown in
According to another embodiment shown in
In one embodiment, the storage vessel 10 may be installed in a fuel cell vehicle (not shown). Gaseous pressurized hydrogen may be stored in the storage vessel 10. The pressurized hydrogen may be distributed from the interior of the vessel to a fuel cell stack (not shown), where the hydrogen may be used as fuel to generate electrical power for the fuel cell vehicle.
The above description of embodiments of the invention is merely exemplary in nature and, thus, variations thereof are not to be regarded as a departure from the spirit and scope of the invention.
