System and method for supplying a lighter-than-air vehicle with hydrogen gas

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11072525-B2
Application number	US-201715630565-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jun 22, 2017
Priority date	Jun 23, 2016
Publication date	Jul 27, 2021
Grant date	Jul 27, 2021

Abstract

A system for supplying hydrogen gas to a lighter-than-air (LTA) vehicle includes a manifold having multiple vessels. Each vessel has a first chamber that is separated from a second chamber by a barrier. A trigger assembly integrated with the barrier allows a liquid to be combined with a reactant and a catalyst in the second chamber to form a chemical reaction to generate hydrogen gas. A pressure relief valve located on each vessel opens to allow the hydrogen gas to exit when a predetermined pressure is reached, and the hydrogen gas is supplied to the LTA vehicle connected to the manifold.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A system for generating hydrogen gas comprising:
a vessel that includes:
a first chamber for holding liquid water;
a second chamber, wherein the first chamber is separated from the second chamber by a barrier;
a trigger valve integrated into the barrier, the trigger valve opening to transition the liquid water from the first chamber to the second chamber and thereby initiate generating the hydrogen gas;
a reactant container disposed within the second chamber for containing a solid reactant, wherein the hydrogen gas is generated from a chemical reaction between the liquid water and the solid reactant when the liquid water contacts the solid reactant inside the reactant container;
a thermal regulator surrounding the reactant container within the second chamber for controlling a pre-reaction temperature of the liquid water passing though the thermal regulator before the liquid water reaches the solid reactant in the reactant container and reacts in the chemical reaction;
a pressure relief valve disposed on the vessel and configured to allow the generated hydrogen gas to exit the vessel at a predetermined pressure; and
a temperature sensor disposed in the second chamber for sensing a sensed temperature inside the second chamber; and

a controller adapted to control a flow of a coolant through the thermal regulator for limiting the sensed temperature to a set temperature so that the generated hydrogen gas exiting the vessel at the predetermined pressure attains a substantially constant flow rate during the chemical reaction.

2. The system of claim 1 , wherein the trigger valve opens at a desired time allowing the liquid water to combine with the solid reactant in the second chamber and undergo the chemical reaction that produces the generated hydrogen gas.

3. The system of claim 1 , wherein a humidity of the generated hydrogen gas is between a range of about 10% to about 50% lower than an ambient humidity.

4. The system of claim 1 , wherein the solid reactant is chosen from at least one of Lithium Borohydride, Sodium Borohydride, and Magnesium Borohydride.

5. The system of claim 1 , wherein an amount of the hydrogen gas generated by the vessel is at least 300 standard cubic feet.

6. The system of claim 1 , wherein the reactant container further comprises a lid and at least one wall having a plurality of perforations, the lid configured to inhibit the liquid water from directly entering the reactant container and to instead direct the liquid water to pass through the thermal regulator and through the perforations before reaching the solid reactant in the reactant container.

7. The system of claim 1 , wherein the controller includes a proportional and derivative (PD) control system stored in a non-transitory computer readable medium and configured to keep the sensed temperature within a desired temperature range around the set temperature.

8. The system of claim 1 further comprising:
a manifold including a plurality of vessels including the vessel, each of the vessels being identical to the vessel,
wherein the controller is adapted to control a respective flow of the coolant through the thermal regulator of each of the vessels for limiting the sensed temperature sensed in each of the vessels to the set temperature, such that the hydrogen gas exiting at the predetermined pressure from the vessels attains a combined flow rate that is substantially constant.

9. The system of claim 8 further comprising:
a lighter-than-air (LTA) vehicle, wherein the LTA vehicle is connected to the manifold for supplying the hydrogen gas generated in the vessels to the LTA vehicle.

10. The system of claim 9 , further comprising:
a catalyst disposed within the second chamber but initially outside the reactant container, wherein the liquid water carries the catalyst into the reactant container via a plurality of perforations in at least one wall of the reactant container to participate in the chemical reaction within the reactant container among the liquid water, the solid reactant, and the catalyst.

11. The system of claim 10 , wherein the catalyst is chosen from at least one of Ruthenium Chloride, Rhodium Chloride, Cobalt Chloride, and Chloroplatinic acid.

12. The system of claim 1 , wherein:
the reactant container includes at least one wall having a plurality of perforations,
the thermal regulator includes tubing surrounding the reactant container and through which flows the flow of the coolant, wherein the liquid water reaching the solid reactant passes through the thermal regulator and through the perforations in the at least one wall of the reactant container, and
the controller is adapted to control the flow of the coolant through the tubing of the thermal regulator.

13. The system of claim 1 , further comprising a pump for pumping the flow of the coolant through tubing of the thermal regulator surrounding the reactant container, wherein the controller is adapted to activate the pump for controlling the flow of the coolant through the tubing of the thermal regulator.

14. A method for generating hydrogen gas comprising:
providing a manifold including a plurality of vessels, wherein each vessel includes a first chamber and a second chamber, the first chamber holding liquid water and separated from the second chamber by a barrier, the second chamber having within a reactant container containing a solid reactant;
opening a trigger valve integrated with the barrier of each vessel to transition the liquid water from the first chamber to the second chamber at a desired time for generating the hydrogen gas;
passing the liquid water through a thermal regulator for controlling a pre-reaction temperature of the liquid water before the liquid water reacts in a chemical reaction upon the liquid water reaching the solid reactant in the reactant container of each vessel, the thermal regulator surrounding the reactant container within the second chamber of each vessel;
combining the liquid water with the solid reactant and a catalyst in the reactant container within the second chamber of each vessel to generate the hydrogen gas from the chemical reaction among the liquid water, the solid reactant, and the catalyst;
opening a pressure relief valve disposed on each vessel to allow the generated hydrogen gas to exit the vessel at a predetermined pressure;
sensing a sensed temperature inside the second chamber of each vessel with a temperature sensor disposed in the second chamber;
controlling a flow of a coolant through the thermal regulator of each vessel for limiting the sensed temperature to a set temperature so that the generated hydrogen gas exiting the vessels at the predetermined pressure attains a substantially constant flow rate during the chemical reaction; and
connecting a lighter-than-air (LTA) vehicle to the manifold to supply the LTA vehicle with the hydrogen gas generated in the vessels.

15. The method of claim 14 , further comprising:
determining, via a controller connected to the temperature sensor and a plurality of additional temperature sensors within each vessel, that the sensed temperature within each vessel is moving outside a desired temperature range around the set temperature, wherein the controller includes a proportional and derivative (PD) control system stored in a non-transitory computer readable medium and configured to keep the sensed temperature within the desired temperature range.

16. The method of claim 14 , wherein a humidity of the hydrogen gas is between a range of about 10% to about 50% lower than an ambient humidity, and
wherein the pressure relie

Assignees

• Us Navy

Inventors

• Boss Pamela A
• Anderson Gregory W
• Wiedemeier Brandon J
• Becker Carol A
• Bachmann Brooke
• Gillcrist Mark
• Lloyd Jeffrey M

Classifications

• B01J2523/845

  Cobalt · CPC title

• B01J27/128

  with iron group metals or platinum group metals · CPC title

• C01B3/065 Primary

  by reaction of inorganic compounds with hydrides · CPC title

• B01J2523/821

  Ruthenium · CPC title

• B64B1/58

  Arrangements or construction of gas-bags; Filling arrangements · CPC title