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US-12624799-B2 - System and/or method for hydrogen refueling

US12624799B2US 12624799 B2US12624799 B2US 12624799B2US-12624799-B2

Abstract

A system for hydrogen dispensation can include: a hydrogen collector; a cryo-compressed buffer storage system; and a hydrogen dispenser. The system functions to facilitate hydrogen fueling/dispensation (e.g., rapid dispensation) while additionally utilizing hydrogen storage in a cryo-compressed hydrogen state. The system and/or method may be implemented in any general use case that requires hydrogen storage and/or hydrogen refueling.

Inventors

  • David E. Jaramillo
  • Julio MORENO-BLANCO
  • Salvador Martin Aceves

Assignees

  • VERNE INC.

Dates

Publication Date
20260512
Application Date
20250501

Claims (20)

  1. 1 . A cascade system for cryo-compressed hydrogen (CcH 2 ) dispensation comprising: a cryogenic pump; a plurality of cryogenic buffer storage tanks, each housing CcH 2 and configured to be selectively fluidly coupled to the cryogenic pump; a cooling system thermally coupled to the plurality of cryogenic buffer storage tanks, wherein the cooling system is configured to maintain an internal temperature of the plurality of cryogenic buffer storage tanks within a cryogenic temperature range; a hydrogen dispenser comprising a set of fluid connections configured to be selectively coupled to the plurality of cryogenic buffer storage tanks; and a receiving tank comprising: a first inlet port and a second outlet port, the first inlet port coupled to a first fluid connection of the hydrogen dispenser, wherein CcH 2 pressure within the first fluid connection is configured to circulate CcH 2 through the second outlet port.
  2. 2 . The cascade system for cryo-compressed hydrogen (CcH 2 ) dispensation of claim 1 , wherein the second outlet port is configured to be selectively fluidly coupled to a cryogenic buffer storage tank of the plurality via a second fluid connection of the hydrogen dispenser to reduce temperature rise due to hydrogen compression within the receiving tank during CcH 2 dispensation.
  3. 3 . The cascade system for cryo-compressed hydrogen (CcH 2 ) dispensation of claim 1 , wherein the first fluid connection is configured to catalyze hydrogen spin-state conversion.
  4. 4 . The cascade system for cryo-compressed hydrogen (CcH 2 ) dispensation of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of cryogenic buffer storage tanks comprises a cascade filling system based on CcH 2 pressure.
  5. 5 . A method for managing cryo-compressed hydrogen comprising: compressing a mass of hydrogen gas (GH 2 ) using a compressor; using a cooling system thermally coupled to a plurality of cryogenic buffer storage tanks, cooling the mass of compressed hydrogen gas (CGH 2 ) to a cryo-compressed hydrogen (CcH 2 ) state; storing the mass of CcH 2 in the plurality of cryogenic buffer storage tanks; dispensing, from the plurality of cryogenic buffer storage tanks, a first portion of the mass of CcH 2 by cascade filling; and concurrently with dispensing the first portion of the mass of CcH 2 , cooling the first portion and catalyzing a hydrogen spin state conversion.
  6. 6 . The method of claim 5 , further comprising: dispensing a second portion of the mass of CcH 2 , from at least one cryogenic buffer storage tank of the plurality; and heating the second portion to produce CGH 2 .
  7. 7 . The method of claim 6 , wherein the first and second portion comprise hydrogen gas from a first cryogenic buffer storage tank of the plurality of cryogenic buffer storage tanks.
  8. 8 . The method of claim 5 , wherein the first portion of the mass of CcH 2 is dispensed into a receiving tank via a first fluid connection, the method further comprising: contemporaneously with dispensing the first portion of the mass of CcH 2 , evacuating a subset of the first portion through an outlet of the receiving tank contemporaneous with dispensation into the receiving tank.
  9. 9 . The method of claim 8 , further comprising: externally cooling the subset of the first portion relative to the receiving tank; and, subsequently, storing the subset of the first portion.
  10. 10 . The method of claim 9 , wherein the subset of the first portion is stored in a cryogenic buffer storage tank of the plurality.
  11. 11 . The method of claim 8 , wherein evacuating the subset of the first portion reduces compressive heating of CcH 2 within the receiving tank caused by hydrogen entering through the first fluid connection.
  12. 12 . The method of claim 11 , wherein a fluid pressure within the first fluid connection is above 350 bar.
  13. 13 . The method of claim 11 , wherein the pressure differential across the receiving tank is less than 50 bar.
  14. 14 . The method of claim 5 , wherein a mass flow rate of dispensation of the first portion is more than double a maximum mass flow rate of the compressor.
  15. 15 . The method of claim 5 , wherein the plurality of cryogenic buffer storage tanks defines a cascade of CcH 2 pressures, wherein dispensing the first portion of the mass of CcH 2 comprises selectively dispensing from the plurality of cryogenic buffer storage tanks, based on the cascade of CcH 2 pressures, from lowest to highest CcH 2 pressure.
  16. 16 . The method of claim 15 , wherein selectively dispensing from the plurality of cryogenic buffer storage tanks is further based on a CcH 2 ortho-concentration.
  17. 17 . The method of claim 15 , further comprising: after dispensing CcH 2 from a first cryogenic buffer storage tank of the plurality, selectively heating the depleted first cryogenic buffer storage tank to increase the CcH 2 pressure within the first cryogenic buffer storage tank.
  18. 18 . The method of claim 5 , further comprising venting gaseous hydrogen from the plurality of cryogenic buffer storage tanks; and recycling the gaseous hydrogen to the compressor.
  19. 19 . The method of claim 5 , wherein the first portion is cooled using liquid nitrogen (LN 2 ).
  20. 20 . The method of claim 5 , wherein the first portion is cooled using a refrigeration system.

Description

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 63/641,156, filed 1 May 2024, which is incorporated herein in its entirety by this reference. This application related to PCT Application Number is PCT/US2023/080841, filed 22 Nov. 2023, which claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 63/427,814, filed 22 Nov. 2022, each of which is incorporated herein in its entirety by this reference. STATEMENT OF GOVERNMENT SUPPORT This invention was made with government support under Award Number DE-AR0001670 awarded by the Department of Energy. The government has certain rights in the invention. TECHNICAL FIELD This invention relates generally to the hydrogen storage field, and more specifically to a new and useful hydrogen refueling system and/or method in the hydrogen storage field. BACKGROUND Liquid hydrogen refueling for heavy-duty transportation, such as for Class 8 trucks, relies on liquid hydrogen cryo-pumps. These pumps are energy efficient but suffer from low refueling rates (<3 kg/min). Increasing the refueling rates to >8 kg/min with these systems can be cost prohibitive. Such pumps can be a major cost factor for refueling stations and can slow the deployment of fast-refueling stations for trucks, as an example. Furthermore, such pumps, especially at high power operations will require frequent maintenance, which may not be acceptable for the constant refueling needs of trucking. Cryo-compressed hydrogen (CcH2) storage is a combination of the attributes of compressed gaseous hydrogen (GH2) storage and liquid hydrogen (LH2) storage. One of the disadvantages of compressed hydrogen storage is that large volumes and high pressures are required to store sufficient energy for desired applications. Some of the main disadvantages of liquid hydrogen storage are boil-off losses, high operational complexity, high-costs, and a centralized supply chain. Cryo-compressed hydrogen storage serves to address some of these challenges, and to enable a solution that combines the availability and usability of GH2 with the high densities of LH2. By leveraging the properties of cryo-compressed hydrogen buffer storage, faster and more efficient means of hydrogen fueling may be achieved. This system and method provide such a solution. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES The patent or application file contains at least one drawing executed in color. Copies of this patent or patent application publication with color drawing(s) will be provided by the Office upon request and payment of the necessary fee. FIG. 1 is a schematic for an example system. FIG. 2 is a hydrogen phase diagram that includes pathways for cryo-compressed hydrogen formation. FIG. 3 is a schematic of example embodiments of the hydrogen collector. FIG. 4 is a schematic of example embodiments of the hydrogen dispenser. FIG. 5 is a hydrogen phase diagram that includes pathways between liquid hydrogen and cryo-compressed hydrogen. FIGS. 6A and 6B are schematics of an example system for liquid hydrogen input. FIG. 7 is a hydrogen phase diagram that includes pathways between compressed hydrogen and cryo-compressed hydrogen. FIG. 8 is a schematic of an example system for compressed hydrogen collection and compressed hydrogen dispensing. FIG. 9 is a hydrogen phase diagram that includes pathways between ambient temperature and pressure hydrogen and cryo-compressed hydrogen. FIG. 10 is a schematic of an example system for ambient temperature and pressure hydrogen collection and ambient temperature and pressure hydrogen dispensing. FIG. 11 is a schematic of a second example system for ambient temperature and pressure hydrogen collection and ambient temperature and pressure hydrogen dispensing. FIG. 12 is a picture of a prototype cryo-compressed hydrogen buffer storage system. FIG. 13 is schematic of an example system. FIG. 14 is a schematic of an example system for dual refueling. FIG. 15 is a schematic of an example system implementation as a mobile high-density refueler. FIG. 16 is a graph showing the density evolution of cryo-compressed hydrogen buffer storage tanks and receiving tanks. FIG. 17 is a graph showing the fast refueling capabilities of the system and method. FIG. 18 is a flowchart of an example method. FIG. 19 is a flowchart of an example method. FIG. 20 is an exemplary system architecture that may be used in implementing the system and/or method. FIG. 21 is a schematic for an example system. FIG. 22 is a pressure-temperature diagram that shows a comparison of an existing pathway to form cryo-compressed hydrogen shown in a dashed line compared to a pathway shown in a bold solid line of the systems and methods described herein. FIGS. 23A-23C are schematic representations of system variations with sequential processing flows. FIGS. 24A-24C are schematic representations of system variations used for producing and maintaining cryo-compressed hydrogen. FIGS. 25A and 25B are schematic representations