Patent Application
20240359808
This application claims the benefit of European Patent Application Number 23170281.2 filed on Apr. 27, 2023, the entire disclosure of which is incorporated herein by way of reference.
The present invention concerns a tank, in particular a tank for an aircraft, the tank comprising at least one anti-sloshing wall arrangement. The invention further concerns an aircraft comprising such tank.
Tanks may serve as a vessel not only to store, but also to transport a respective liquid from one location to another, such as for using the liquid at another place than extracting it. Moreover, tanks may be used for carrying a fuel used for driving the respective transporting means.
In particular, aircraft typically comprise one or more tank/s containing a fuel to be supplied to the aircraft's one or more engines. Different positions are known for the tanks, depending on a respective type and designs of the aircraft.
Conventionally, the respective fuel of such aircraft may be an aviation gasoline or a jet fuel, for instance. In order to achieve a considerable emission reduction or even a zero emission, alternative drives for aircraft have been searched for, and hydrogen-electric aircraft engines have emerged as a promising possibility. In particular, turbo fans and fuel cells respectively driven with hydrogen have been developed as aircraft engines. In either case, considerable space is needed, in the aircraft, for the hydrogen storage even in the cooled liquid state thereof; a storage temperature targeted is about −253° C. at a pressure of approximately 3 bar.
Therein, the liquid hydrogen may be carried in several tanks which in particular may be positioned in the wings or in a fuselage section of the aircraft. To minimize temperature losses and boil-off, however, a tank with a large capacity and an advantageous surface-to-volume ratio is advantageous.
Such single or main tank may be positioned in an aft portion of a fuselage of the aircraft. Alternatively, such tank may be placed directly behind a fuel cell or electric engine unit in a pod under the wings of the aircraft.
Pipes are necessary inside a liquid hydrogen tank for controlling and collecting boiled off gaseous hydrogen, further for collecting hydrogen (e.g., to unload or to supply it to a respective engine), and for filling the tank.
However, when a tank with liquid content is moved, there is a risk of sloshing, as may occur when the vessel is moved hastily. The sloshing takes place in the form of inertia forces acting on the liquid, and it effects that a center of gravity of the combined tank and liquid may move. In case of an aircraft's tank, where the hasty movement may occur during maneuvering of the aircraft, large such moves are detrimental to a steering and control of the movement, and they thus pose a safety issue, as they may interfere with the aircraft's stability. To reduce such moves, conventional tanks are known which are segmented by anti-sloshing walls. Such anti-sloshing walls suppress an excessive amount of sloshing, as most of the liquid volume behind the walls will not transfer into the respective next segment.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a technique facilitating an improved liquid transport.
The object may be achieved with a tank according to one or more embodiments described herein, and with an aircraft according to one or more embodiments described herein. Advantageous embodiments are disclosed in the description and the drawings.
A tank according to the present invention comprises at least one anti-sloshing wall arrangement which includes a frame portion fixed to a tank wall of the tank, and a door portion. The frame portion edges (i.e., borders) an opening, and the door portion is configured to selectively close or unclose the opening. In particular, at least a part of the door portion is thus moveable relative to the frame portion.
A state of the anti-sloshing wall arrangement in which the opening is closed by the door portion is further referred to herein as its “closed state”, and analogously, a state of the anti-sloshing wall arrangement in which the opening is unclosed by the door portion is further referred to herein as its “unclosed state”. As is to be noted, in the closed state, the anti-sloshing wall arrangement may not necessarily be impervious, but still include one or more small hole/s and/or gap/s. In particular, the anti-sloshing wall arrangement, may be considered as in the closed state (and the door portion may be considered as closing the opening) if at least 90% or at least 95% of the opening is covered by the door portion.
The tank may in particular be a storage tank adapted to be transported, by a vehicle such as a truck, a train or a ship, e.g. for using a liquid contained in the tank at a respective destination. Alternatively, the tank may be configured to store fuel to be supplied to an engine of a vehicle transporting the tank. Such vehicle may be a truck, a train or a ship, for instance. According to advantageous embodiments of the present invention, the vehicle is an aircraft.
An aircraft according to the present invention comprises such tank and at least one engine configured to be fed with fuel contained in the tank. The tank may be constructed as independent from a fuselage of the aircraft, or it may be integrated in the aircraft's fuselage, such that a portion of a skin (i.e., of a shell) of the fuselage serves as a tank wall of the tank.
The present invention thus facilitates a robust construction and a simple operation (to close/unclose the opening) of the at least one anti-sloshing wall arrangement, which segments an interior space of the tank into compartments. Therewith, a particularly efficient sloshing reduction can be achieved when the opening is closed. On the other hand, as the opening edged by the frame can optionally be unclosed, the present invention advantageously facilitates a passage (in the unclosed state of the anti-sloshing wall arrangement) from one of said compartments to an adjacent one. Accordingly, at least a tool such as a camera, a robot and/or a robot arm can be put through the opening, such as for inspection, reparation and/or cleaning purposes.
In particular, the opening may preferably include an area of at least 45 cm×50 cm, at least 45 cm×45 cm, or at least 30 cm×45 cm. Such dimension of the opening may ensure that a person can pass through the opening. If the tank comprises several anti-sloshing wall arrangements, the respective frame portions thereof may preferably each edge a such sized opening.
As a consequence, a number of entrances into the interior space of the tank can be reduced, which simplifies a construction of the tank, improves its safety and reduces its weight. Such entrance may provide access for a person or a tool (such as a robot or robot arm) to the interior space (i.e., the tank volume). It may preferably be positioned in one of two opposite heads of the tank, or in a tank wall between two opposite heads of the tank. In particular, the tank may preferably have a single entrance (only) into its interior space (i.e., the tank volume).
The opening edged by the frame portion may preferably be rectangular. This facilitates a particularly simple construction of the door portion.
According to advantageous embodiments, the opening may have a diameter of at most 90 cm or at most 80 cm or at most 70 cm; such upper bound for the opening's size can advantageously improve a stability of the anti-sloshing wall arrangement and facilitate a reduced weight thereof. As is to be understood, the “diameter” of the opening is defined as the largest occurring distance of two boundary points of the opening; in particular, in case of a rectangular opening, it thus equals the length of each of the opening's diagonals.
According to advantageous embodiments of the present invention, the tank is configured as a pressure vessel. In particular, the tank may be a liquid hydrogen tank, i.e., configured to contain liquid hydrogen (LH2). The at least one engine of an aircraft according to the present invention and comprising such tank may then be a hydrogen fuel burn turbo fan and/or a hydrogen driven fuel cell.
The frame portion may be at least partially made of a same material as the door portion, and/or at least partially of a material different from a material of the door portion. Additionally or alternatively, the frame portion and/or the door portion may be at least partially made of a same material as a tank wall of the tank, or of a material different from a material of the tank wall.
In particular, the frame portion and/or the door portion may preferably be at least partially made of a metal (such as aluminum or an aluminum alloy), and/or of plastic, in particular of a fiber reinforced polymer, more specifically of a carbon fiber reinforced polymer. The polymer in these cases may in particular a thermoplastic polymer. For instance, with a (carbon) reinforced polymer as a material, a particularly lightweight construction of the at least one anti-sloshing wall arrangement and, therewith, of the tank can be realized.
The tank may be or comprise at least a portion which is cylindric, conical, or prismatic. The frame portion of the at least one anti-sloshing wall arrangement may in particular run along an abstract (mathematical) plane. Such plane may be orthogonal to a longitudinal axis of the tank. In embodiments where the tank is configured as a tank of an aircraft, said plane may be orthogonal to a designated flying direction of the aircraft.
The door portion may comprise at least one wing which is pivotable relative to the frame portion for selectively closing or unclosing the opening.
According to preferred embodiments, the door portion comprises one or several sliding door plate/s configured to linearly move relative to the frame portion for selectively closing or unclosing the opening. Thereby, a particularly good stability against sloshing loads acting on the closed door portion can be achieved. Moreover, such door portion may be easily operated to close the opening even if the tank is filled with a liquid.
In particular, the frame portion in such embodiments may preferably comprise a slide rail guiding the sliding door plate/s.
In an orientation designated for use of the tank, the one or several sliding door plate/s may in particular be configured to slide in a horizontal or vertical direction; the configuration of a vertical movement advantageously allows using gravity for operating the door portion to either close or unclose the opening. In particular, at least one of the sliding door plate/s may be configured to be elevated for closing (or for unclosing) the opening. To unclose (or close, respectively) the opening later on, the sliding door plate thus just can be dropped.
According to advantageous embodiments in which the door portion of the at least one anti-sloshing wall arrangement comprises several sliding door plates (as mentioned above), at least two of these plates may comprise at least one respective hook portion configured to engage (at least when the plates are in a predetermined engagement position relative to each other) with the hook portion of the respective other sliding door plate. Accordingly, a first one of the sliding door plates may be configured to hold, by means of the engaged hook portions, a second one of the sliding door plates in a particular position relative to the frame portion, (e.g., to close the opening) and/or to move the second sliding door plate during a closing and/or an unclosing operation of the door portion. Thereby, the holding and/or moving of the door portion can be simplified.
The at least one anti-sloshing wall arrangement of a tank according to the present invention may advantageously comprise a fastener for selectively locking (i.e., arresting) or unlocking the door portion in a predetermined position relative to the frame portion. For instance, such fastener may be configured to lock the door portion in a position in which the door portion closes the opening edged by the frame portion, and/or in a position in which the door portion uncloses the opening.
The fastener may be configured to be operated (so as to lock and/or so as to unlock the door portion in said predetermined position thereof) manually (by a person or a robot). For instance, it may comprise a lock bar with a corresponding catch.
Additionally or alternatively, the at least one anti-sloshing wall arrangement may comprise a means for automatically operating the fastener. For instance, such means may comprise an electromagnet configured to move a magnetic block of the fastener in at least one direction. Such movement may be or at least comprise a linear movement and/or a rotation of the fastener.
According to advantageous embodiments, the fastener may comprise a latch with an elastic element (such as a spring), the latch configured to snap into an locking position when the door portion is in said predetermined position relative to the frame portion. In particular, in such case, the moving door portion may itself serve to operate the fastener, by pushing the latch (e.g., with a chamfered surface) against an elastic force of the elastic element before the latch snaps into the locking position.
In a specific advantageous embodiment, the at least one anti-sloshing wall arrangement comprises an electromagnet, at least one magnetic block configured to engage with the door portion in said predetermined position thereof, and an elastic element (such as a spring) whose elastic force urges the magnetic block away from the electromagnet. Accordingly, when the door portion is in said predetermined position, the magnetic block may snap, due to the elastic element, into a recess, thereby locking (arresting) the door portion in said predetermined position. By operating the electromagnet, the magnetic block may then be pulled, against the elastic force of the elastic element, out of the recess, whereby the fastener may be operated to unlock the door portion.
The door portion of the at least one anti-sloshing wall arrangement may be configured to be operated (for closing and/or for unclosing the opening) manually (by a person or a robot). To make such operation easier, the anti-sloshing wall arrangement may comprise at least one gear and/or a crank.
Additionally or alternatively, the at least one anti-sloshing wall arrangement may comprise a motor (in particular, an electric motor) configured to drive an operation of the door portion for a closing and/or unclosing the opening. Preferably, such motor is controllable by a control unit outside the interior space of the tank. According to preferred embodiments, the motor may comprise a linear motor.
In what follows, preferred embodiments of the present invention are explained with respect to the accompanying drawings. As is to be understood, the various elements and components are depicted as examples only, may be facultative and/or combined in a manner different than that depicted. Reference signs for related elements are used comprehensively and not necessarily defined again for each figure.
An opening O edged by the frame portion 10 is configured to be selectively closed or unclosed with the door portion 20;
The door portion 20 in the embodiment depicted comprises three slidable door plates 22, 23, 24 configured to slide vertically relative to the frame portion 10 and relative to a fixed plate 21 further comprised by the door portion and stationary relative to the frame portion 10. Therein, the slidable door plates 22, 23, 24 are guided by two opposite lateral slide rails 11 (only one of which is visible in
In the unclosed state of the anti-sloshing wall arrangement 100, the slidable door plates 22, 23, 24 and the fixed plate 21 are collocated side by side (i.e., with their respective largest surfaces facing a respective adjacent one of said plates), as seen in
In the embodiment depicted, and as best seen in the cross section A-A in
As a consequence, in the closed state of the anti-sloshing wall arrangement 100, the upmost slidable door plate 24 holds the slidable door plate 23 being located directly underneath by means of the respective hooks 24.2, 23.1 engaged with each other, and the slidable door plate 23 on its part holds the slidable door plate 22 positioned directly below by means of the respective hooks 23.2, 22.1 engaged with each other.
The upmost slidable door plate 24, however, in said closed state is arrested relative to the frame portion 10 by means of an fastener 50 which in this embodiment comprises a magnetic block 51 and an elastic element (e.g., a spring) 52 urging the magnetic block 51 into a position in which it engages with a hook portion 24.1 of the upmost door plate 24.
In particular, due to the engaging hook portions described above, by arresting the upmost slidable door plate 24, the fastener 50 thus serves to lock the door portion 20 in a predetermined position relative to the frame portion 10, in which predetermined position the door portion 20 closes the opening O.
In the exemplary embodiment shown in
The exemplary anti-sloshing wall arrangement 100 shown in
An analogous further linear motor is arranged opposite to the linear motor 30 and comprises a band of permanent magnets 42 likewise fixed to said slidable door plate 24, and a band of electromagnets which is not visible in
In
The linear motor 30 and the further linear motor both are configured to elevate the slidable door plate 24 which in a closed state of the anti-sloshing wall arrangement 100 is the upmost one of the slidable door plates 22, 23, 24. The hook portions 22.1, 23.1, 23.2, 24.2 then serve (further to holding, in the closed state of the anti-sloshing wall arrangement, the respective underneath sliding door plate as described above) to pull the respective underneath sliding door plate 22, 23 upwards during a process of closing the opening O by the door portion 20. As a consequence, the door portion 20 can be operated, for closing the opening O, by means of the linear motor 30 and the further linear motor.
As further seen in
In the exemplary embodiment shown in
According to alternative embodiments, all pipes of the pipe system could run through the frame portion of the anti-sloshing wall arrangement, such that the opening edged by the frame portion is devoid of pipes.
As can be further taken from
In particular, the tank 1000 may be a liquid hydrogen tank. For instance, it may be configured as a pressure vessel adapted to store liquid hydrogen at a temperature below −240° C. and at a pressure in the range of 2.5 bar to 3.5 bar. In particular, in such cases, the heads 400, 500 may preferably be pressure heads, and the pipes 301, 302 as well as the pipe connection arrangement 401 may be configured to conduct hydrogen.
The tank 1000 preferably further comprises an entrance into its interior space I (not shown in the figures). Such entrance may provide access for a person or a tool (such as a robot or robot arm) to the interior space I, such as for inspection, reparation and/or cleaning purposes. In advantageous embodiments, in which the opening edged by the respective frame portion of the anti-sloshing wall arrangement provides a passage for the person or tool, the tank may advantageously comprise a single entrance into its interior space I only.
The aircraft 1 further comprises a fuselage 2000 and two engines 3000 (only one of which is visible due to the perspective of
In the case shown in
Disclosed is a tank 1000, 1000′ comprising one or several anti-sloshing wall arrangement/s 100, 100′, with a frame portion 10 and a door portion 20, wherein the frame portion 10 is fixed to a tank wall 200 of the tank, and it edges an opening O, and wherein the door portion 20 is configured to selectively close or unclose the opening O.
Further disclosed is an aircraft 1 comprising such tank and at least one engine 3000, the engine 3000 being configured to be fed with fuel, in particular with liquid hydrogen, contained in the tank.
While at least one exemplary embodiment of the present invention(s) is disclosed herein, it should be understood that modifications, substitutions and alternatives may be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art and can be made without departing from the scope of this disclosure. This disclosure is intended to cover any adaptations or variations of the exemplary embodiment(s). In addition, in this disclosure, the terms “comprise” or “comprising” do not exclude other elements or steps, the terms “a” or “one” do not exclude a plural number, and the term “or” means either or both. Furthermore, characteristics or steps which have been described may also be used in combination with other characteristics or steps and in any order unless the disclosure or context suggests otherwise. This disclosure hereby incorporates by reference the complete disclosure of any patent or application from which it claims benefit or priority.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 23170281.2 | Apr 2023 | EP | regional |
