Power system having fuel-based cooling

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10054085-B2
Application number	US-201514625055-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Feb 18, 2015
Priority date	Feb 18, 2015
Publication date	Aug 21, 2018
Grant date	Aug 21, 2018

Abstract

A power system is disclosed. The power system may have a cryogenic tank configured to hold a supply of liquid fuel, and an engine configured to combust gaseous fuel. The power system may also have a coolant circuit configured to cool the engine, and at least one heat exchanger isolated from the coolant circuit and configured to receive a fluid passing through the engine. The power system may further have a first fuel line extending from the cryogenic tank to the at least one heat exchanger, and a second fuel line extending from the at least one heat exchanger to the engine.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A power system, comprising:
a cryogenic tank configured to hold a supply of liquid fuel;
an engine configured to combust gaseous fuel;
a coolant circuit configured to cool the engine;
at least one heat exchanger isolated from the coolant circuit and configured to receive a fluid passing through the engine;
a first fuel line extending from the cryogenic tank to the at least one heat exchanger; and
a second fuel line extending from the at least one heat exchanger to the engine, wherein the engine has an intake manifold, an exhaust manifold, and an EGR passage extending from the exhaust manifold to the intake manifold such that the at least one heat exchanger is disposed in the EGR passage.

2. The power system of claim 1 , wherein the fluid is exhaust.

3. The power system of claim 1 , wherein:
the at least one heat exchanger includes a first core configured to receive the fluid, and a second core connected between the first and second fuel lines; and
the power system further includes an intermediary circuit connecting the first and second cores.

4. The power system of claim 1 , wherein the fluid is air.

5. The power system of claim 1 , wherein:
the at least one heat exchanger includes an EGR cooler; and
the power system further includes an air cooler; and
at least one of the first and second fuel lines is further configured to pass through the air cooler.

6. The power system of claim 1 , wherein:
the at least one heat exchanger includes an EGR cooler;
the power system further includes an air cooler; and
the second fuel lines is configured to connect to the engine at a location downstream of the air cooler.

7. The power system of claim 1 , further including an accumulator in fluid communication with the second fuel line.

8. The power system of claim 7 , further including a regulator located downstream of the accumulator.

9. The power system of claim 1 , wherein the at least one heat exchanger is configured to transfer an amount of heat from the fluid to liquid fuel from the first fuel line to vaporize the liquid fuel.

10. The power system of claim 1 , further including a fan configured to force ambient air through the at least one heat exchanger for additional heat transfer.

Assignees

• Progress Rail Locomotive Inc

Inventors

• Foege Aaron Gamache

Classifications

• F02M31/04

  combustion-air or fuel-air mixture (electrically F02M31/12; by using heat from working cylinders or cylinder heads F02M31/14; heating of combustion-air as an engine starting aid F02N7/04) · CPC title

• F02M43/00

  Fuel-injection apparatus operating simultaneously on two or more fuels, or on a liquid fuel and another liquid, e.g. the other liquid being an anti-knock additive · CPC title

• B61C5/04

  Arrangement or disposition of exhaust apparatus · CPC title

• Y02T10/126

  Cross-Sectional Technologies · mapped topic

• B61C5/02

  Arrangement or disposition of intakes and apparatus for supplying, circulating, and filtering air for combustion and engine-cooling purposes · CPC title