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EP-4244522-B1 - MODULAR CELLULAR SOLID GAS STORAGE PLATFORM SYSTEM

EP4244522B1EP 4244522 B1EP4244522 B1EP 4244522B1EP-4244522-B1

Inventors

  • FERNANDES, Antonio Augusto

Dates

Publication Date
20260506
Application Date
20211116

Claims (13)

  1. Modular cellular solid gas storage platform system characterized by comprising: - a modular cellular solid storage platform that comprises one or more modules fabricated with periodic cellular solids, wherein each module has a plurality of unit spherical cells suitable for storing a gaseous fuel, the unit cells are interconnected among them forming spaces among them; the interconnected unit cells are suitable to allow the flow of the gaseous fuel from one or more modules simultaneously according to operation demand; wherein the unit cells of periodic cellular solids have a spherical shape, and the spaces are a void or have a lattice structure; - a plurality of collectors located in the storage platform suitable to act as pressure stabilizers of the fuel; wherein the interconnected unit cells are linked to the collectors; - pressure relief valves suitable for avoiding pressure piling in the system; - pressure regulating unit; temperature sensors, - anchoring points suitable for assembly purposes.
  2. Modular cellular solid gas storage platform system according to claim 1, wherein the system further comprises a vacuum insulation chamber and/or a conformal cooling.
  3. Modular cellular solid gas storage platform system according to any preceding claim, wherein the spaces filled with a lattice structure are suitable to decrease weight of the platform and increase its stiffness and/or crashworthiness.
  4. Modular cellular solid gas storage platform system according to any preceding claim, wherein the system material is ferrous metals or non-ferrous metals or composites material or any combination thereof.
  5. Modular cellular solid gas storage platform system according to claim 4, wherein the system material further comprises a plastic material.
  6. Modular cellular solid gas storage platform system according to claims 4 to 5, wherein the system material further comprises a reinforcing material.
  7. Modular cellular solid gas storage platform system according to claim 6, wherein the reinforcing material is selected from the group consisting of carbon fibres, nylon fibres, kevlar fibres, aramid fibres and mixtures thereof.
  8. Modular cellular solid gas storage platform system according to any preceding claim, wherein the gaseous fuel stored is hydrogen or any other gas.
  9. Modular cellular solid gas storage platform system according to claim 8, wherein the hydrogen is in the form of a compressed gas, cold and cryo-compressed or liquid.
  10. Modular cellular solid gas storage platform system according to any of the claims 8 and 9, wherein the system further comprises a vacuum insulation chamber when the hydrogen is in cold and cryo-compressed or liquid form.
  11. Modular cellular solid gas storage platform system according to any of the claims 1 to 9, wherein the system further comprises a conformal cooling when the hydrogen is in compressed gaseous form.
  12. Modular cellular solid gas storage platform system according to any preceding claim, wherein the structure of unit cells interconnection and packaging is adapted to fit vacuum insulation chamber and/or the conformal cooling.
  13. Use of the modular cellular solid gas storage platform system described in any of the claims 1 to 11 in land transportation vehicles, in marine transportation vehicles, in aerospace transportation vehicles, in stationary stations, in buildings or portable applications.

Description

Field of the invention The present invention is related to gaseous fuels storage in general and hydrogen in particular, in its different forms (compressed gas, cold and cryo-compressed and liquid), both for applications in transportation (land, marine, aerospace), stationary (residential and industrial buildings), portable power and others. State of the art The increase in global energy demand and the current trend towards decreasing fossil fuels dependence will result in the redefinition of national long-term energy strategies and lead to an increasing share of renewable energies. Hydrogen is becoming increasingly acknowledged as an important energy carrier and is considered instrumental to the hydrogen economy. Hydrogen has the highest energy per mass of any fuel; however, its low ambient temperature density results in a low energy per unit volume, requiring the development of advanced storage methods with higher energy density, which poses a considerable challenge for its widespread safe application. Thus, economic and efficient hydrogen storage is considered by many authors a key enabling technology for the advancement of hydrogen as a fuel for applications in sectors as diverse as transportation (land, marine, aerospace), stationary (residential and industrial buildings), portable power and others. The use of hydrogen in a fuel cell /internal combustion engine of a vehicle, combines emissions-free driving with a high range potential, while simultaneously allowing a quick refueling (within 3-5 minutes) for the current refueling standard, for tank systems operated with compressed hydrogen, at a working pressure of 70 MPa). The storage tank system plays a crucial role and has a significant influence on the range and refueling time of a vehicle. Hydrogen is predominantly stored in compressed form in passenger vehicles. Modern vehicles have driving ranges from 300 to more than 1000 Km, thus a vehicle with an alternative powertrain must have equivalent ranges for users to find it attractive. Further, the filling station network must have the same density, as the current network of conventional petrol stations. Since vehicles have to operate in diverse markets with diverse climacteric conditions it is expected that the tank system is capable to operate at temperatures between -40 and 85 °C (Maus,2008). Onboard hydrogen storage of 5-13 kg of H2 is required to enable a vehicle driving range greater than 500Kms, using fuel cell or combustion engines (Hua,2010; Kunze 2014). The US DRIVE Partnership and US Department of Energy hydrogen roadmap refers that "storage systems face challenges related to cost, durability/operability, charge/discharge rates, fuel quality, efficiency, and safety, which may limit widespread commercialization of hydrogen vehicles. Although hydrogen storage systems have shown continuous improvement since 2005 and many targets have been met independently, further advancements are needed to meet all of the performance targets simultaneously" (USDRIVE,2017). High pressure gaseous hydrogen storage offers the simplest solution in terms of infrastructure requirements and has become the most popular and highly developed method (Zheng,2012; Hua,2010; Sankir,2018). The disadvantages are the system larger volume and use of high pressure, requiring novel approaches in the design of the storage system and its integration in the body in white of the vehicles, which is quite challenging. Safety is of primary concern in an ideal storage system, in particular requirements such as toxicity, flammability, danger of explosion etc. The pressure required is extremely high and demands an extremely robust tank. This limits the design of the tank (a cylinder in current applications), making its integration into the vehicle architecture more difficult (Rivard ,2019; Stolten,2016). The kinetics of compressed gas (rate at which the system releases/stops hydrogen flow upon demand) is ideal, since the fuel flow can increase or decrease in a virtually limitless manner (Rivard, 2019). However, there are other performance criteria that should be taken into account, when evaluating an ideal hydrogen storage system for mobility, in particular high volumetric and gravimetric densities (defined as the amount of hydrogen stored per unit volume of the storage system and weight). Pure hydrogen at ambient temperature and pressure has good gravimetric but poor volumetric energy densities of 120 MJ/kg (100 wt %) and 0.01 MJ/L respectively, in comparison with petrol and diesel 38 wt % and 35 MJ/L (Rivard et al.,2019; USDRIVE, 2017). To achieve the required performance in terms of autonomy and weight efficiency, hydrogen can be stored under different forms as summarized in Table 1 (Barthelemy 2017; Zhou,2005; Dolci, 2018): - Compressed form at pressures ranging from 20 MPa to 100 MPa, in carbon fibres composite pressure vessels, when lightweight capacity is needed or in metal pressure vessels. - Liquefied cryogenic form at -253 °C wh