KR-20260063583-A - Methanol fuel supply system

Abstract

A methanol fuel supply system is provided that synthesizes methanol using waste heat from exhaust gas and can also regulate pressure within a reaction chamber. The methanol fuel supply system comprises a combustion engine that generates power by burning methanol, an exhaust pipe that discharges exhaust gas generated from the combustion engine, a carbon dioxide capture unit installed in the exhaust pipe to capture carbon dioxide contained in the exhaust gas, a hydrogen tank for storing hydrogen, a ring-shaped reaction chamber that surrounds the exhaust pipe and has the exhaust pipe penetrating through its center, a methanol production unit that produces methanol by reacting carbon dioxide and hydrogen supplied to the reaction chamber with the waste heat from the exhaust gas, and a fuel tank that stores the methanol produced in the methanol production unit and supplies it to the combustion engine, wherein the size of the reaction space in the reaction chamber varies according to the expansion pressure of the mixture of carbon dioxide and hydrogen.

Inventors

• 박성종
• 김성우

Assignees

• 삼성중공업 주식회사

Dates

Publication Date

20260507

Application Date

20241030

Claims (6)

1. A combustion engine that generates power by burning methanol; An exhaust pipe for discharging exhaust gas generated from the above combustion engine; A carbon dioxide capture unit installed in the exhaust pipe to capture carbon dioxide contained in the exhaust gas; Hydrogen tank for storing hydrogen; A methanol generating unit comprising a ring-shaped reaction chamber surrounding the exhaust pipe, wherein the exhaust pipe is connected through the center and the exhaust pipe is connected therethrough, and wherein carbon dioxide and hydrogen supplied to the reaction chamber are reacted with the waste heat of the exhaust gas to produce methanol; and It includes a fuel tank that stores methanol generated in the methanol generating unit and supplies it to the combustion engine, The above reaction chamber is a methanol fuel supply system in which the size of the reaction space varies according to the expansion pressure of a mixture of carbon dioxide and hydrogen.
2. In paragraph 1, The above reaction chamber is a methanol fuel supply system that expands the reaction space along the longitudinal direction of the exhaust pipe and reduces pressure when the expansion pressure of the mixture increases.
3. In paragraph 2, The above reaction chamber comprises a ring-shaped main reaction chamber to which a carbon dioxide supply pipe and a hydrogen supply pipe are connected, and A methanol fuel supply system comprising a plurality of ring-shaped expansion reaction chambers that are stacked in multiple stages along the longitudinal direction of the exhaust pipe at the end of the main reaction chamber and sequentially open according to the pressure of the mixture.
4. In paragraph 3, Between the main reaction chamber and the expansion reaction chamber, and A methanol fuel supply system further comprising an expansion control valve that controls the size of the reaction space by opening and closing between the different expansion reaction chambers.
5. In paragraph 4, A methanol fuel supply system further comprising a pressure sensor disposed in the main reaction chamber and a control unit that controls the expansion control valve according to the sensing value of the pressure sensor to adjust the size of the reaction space.
6. In paragraph 3, A methanol fuel supply system further comprising a first catalyst layer located on the inner wall of the main reaction chamber, and a second catalyst layer located on the inner wall of the expansion reaction chamber and in contact with the mixture when the expansion reaction chamber is opened.

Description

Methanol fuel supply system The present invention relates to a methanol fuel supply system, and more specifically, to a methanol fuel supply system that enables environmentally friendly operation of a ship by reacting carbon dioxide captured from exhaust gas generated during operation with hydrogen to directly produce methanol and using the produced methanol as fuel. Generally, various engines installed on ships generate power by burning fuel, and the exhaust gases produced during this combustion process contain nitrogen oxides, sulfur oxides, carbon dioxide, and the like. As air pollution increases, regulations on various hazardous substances are becoming stricter; furthermore, not only nitrogen oxides and sulfur oxides but also carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas, is subject to emission regulations by the International Maritime Organization (IMO), a UN agency. In fact, the International Maritime Organization (IMO) set a target of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 50% by 2050 compared to 2008 levels, and to achieve this goal, the Energy Efficiency Design Index (EEDI), a mandatory carbon dioxide reduction regulation, is applied to newly constructed ships. Furthermore, the IMO’s Marine Environment Protection Committee (MEPC) approved meeting the Energy Efficiency eXisting Ship Index (EEXI), a technical measure for greenhouse gas reduction for international vessels with a gross tonnage (GT) of 400 tons or more. As regulations on carbon dioxide emissions from ships are tightened, it is projected that the construction and operation of vessels that use only LNG or LPG as fuel or do not incorporate pollutant reduction technologies will be restricted in the future. Consequently, a fuel supply system capable of enabling environmentally friendly operation of ships became necessary. Figure 1 is a diagram showing the configuration of a methanol fuel supply system according to an embodiment of the present invention. Figure 2 is a perspective view illustrating the structure of the methanol-generating section of Figure 1. Figure 3 is an exploded view of the main reaction chamber and the expansion reaction chamber of the methanol production unit of Figure 2. Figure 4 is a cross-sectional view of the methanol production section of Figure 2. Figure 5 is a drawing illustrating the carbon dioxide capture unit of Figure 1 in more detail. Figure 6 is an operational diagram illustrating the operation of the methanol fuel supply system of Figure 1. Figure 7 is an operational diagram illustrating the variable operation of the reaction chamber when the methanol fuel supply system of Figure 6 is in operation. The advantages and features of the present invention and the methods for achieving them will become clear by referring to the embodiments described below in detail together with the accompanying drawings. However, the present invention is not limited to the embodiments disclosed below but may be implemented in various different forms. These embodiments are provided merely to ensure that the disclosure of the present invention is complete and to fully inform those skilled in the art of the scope of the invention, and the present invention is defined only by the claims. Throughout the specification, the same reference numerals refer to the same components. Hereinafter, a methanol fuel supply system according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. 1 to 7. FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of a methanol fuel supply system according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a perspective view illustrating the structure of the methanol generation unit of FIG. 1. The methanol fuel supply system of the present invention is a system that generates and supplies methanol to provide driving force and can be installed on a ship. Referring to FIG. 1, the methanol fuel supply system (1) uses methanol produced by capturing carbon dioxide from exhaust gas generated during the operation of the ship and reacting it directly with hydrogen inside the ship as fuel. Therefore, it is possible to operate in an eco-friendly manner while satisfying carbon dioxide emission regulations by not emitting carbon dioxide overboard. In addition, since the methanol generation unit (30) is formed to surround the outer side of the exhaust pipe (20) and receives heat required for the methanol generation reaction from the exhaust gas, the energy required for the reaction can be reduced, the utilization of space inside the ship can be increased, and the temperature of the exhaust gas supplied to the carbon dioxide capture unit (60) can be lowered so that carbon dioxide can be easily absorbed by the absorbent. Referring to FIG. 2, the methanol generating unit (30) of the present invention is formed to expand the reaction space (a space in which carbon dioxide and a mixture are received and the reaction proceeds) of the reaction chamber (30a). Since the mixture of carbon dioxide and hydrogen may expand and increase pr