Systems and methods for transporting fuel and carbon dioxide in a dual fluid vessel

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11655940-B2
Application number	US-202218082656-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Dec 16, 2022
Priority date	Mar 16, 2021
Publication date	May 23, 2023
Grant date	May 23, 2023

Abstract

Embodiments of systems and methods for transporting fuel and carbon dioxide (CO2) in a dual-fluid vessel thereby minimizing transportation between locations are disclosed. In an embodiment, the dual-fluid vessel has an outer shell with two or more inner compartments, positioned within the outer shell, including a first inner compartment for storing CO2 and a second inner compartment for storing fuel. The dual-fluid vessel may connect or attach to a transportation vehicle to thereby allow transportation of the fuel and CO2. Insulation may provide temperature regulation for the fuel and CO2 when positioned in the respective first and second inner compartments. One or more ports having an opening in and through the outer shell and a fluid pathway to one or more of the first inner compartment or the second inner compartment may provide fluid communication through the opening and fluid pathway for loading/offloading the fuel and/or CO2.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A dual-fluid transport system for transporting a fuel and carbon dioxide (CO 2 ), the system comprising:
one or more storage tanks positioned at a selected location to separately store a fuel and a CO 2 ;
a transportation vehicle for transporting the fuel and CO 2 , the transportation vehicle having:
one or more controllers configured to control offloading/loading of the fuel and CO 2 ,
a fuel pump controlled via the one or more controllers and positioned in fluid communication with the fuel,
a CO 2 pump controlled via the one or more controllers and positioned in fluid communication with the CO 2 , and
one or more digital gauges to display one or more of pressures, flowrates, other fluid dynamic properties, or compartment level of two or more inner compartments;

a dual-fluid vessel configured to connect to the transportation vehicle for transporting the fuel and the carbon dioxide, the dual-fluid vessel comprising:
an outer shell including an outer surface,
two or more inner compartments positioned within the outer shell, the two or more inner compartments having:
a first inner compartment configured to store CO 2 , and
a second inner compartment configured to store fuel,

insulation positioned between the outer surface and the two or more inner compartments to provide temperature regulation for fuel and the CO 2 when positioned in the respective first inner compartment and second inner compartment, and
one or more ports each having an opening in and through the outer shell and a fluid pathway to one or more of the first inner compartment or the second inner compartment, thereby to provide fluid communication through the opening and fluid pathway for loading/offloading one or more of the fuel or CO 2 ;

one or more digital gauges positioned proximate the one or more controllers to display one or more pressures, flowrates, and temperatures of the fuel and the CO 2 ; and
one or more external hoses having a proximal end portion attached to a first adapter and a distal end portion attached to a second adapter, the proximal end portion being positioned to be in fluid communication between the first inner compartment or the second inner compartment via the fuel pump and CO 2 pump and the distal end portion being positioned to be in fluid communication with each of the one or more storage tanks.

2. The system of claim 1 , wherein the one or more storage tanks comprises:
one or more fuel tanks configured to store the fuel, and
one or more CO 2 tanks configured to store the CO 2 , and wherein the one or more controllers includes a user interface to allow an operator to select offloading/loading operations of the fuel and CO 2 .

3. The system of claim 1 , wherein in the transportation vehicle comprises a semi-tractor, a marine vessel, or a rail locomotive.

4. The system of claim 1 , wherein the second inner compartment comprises a bladder defining the second inner compartment, the bladder being expandable when fluid is positioned therein.

5. The system of claim 1 , further comprising a nozzle connection for CO 2 removal.

6. The system of claim 1 , wherein one or more of the first inner compartment or the second inner compartment is substantially surrounded by the insulation.

7. The system of claim 1 , wherein the CO 2 comprises liquid CO 2 , wherein a CO 2 temperature remains below a critical point, and wherein the liquid CO 2 comprises low pressure liquid CO 2 or high pressure liquid CO 2 .

8. The system of claim 1 , further comprising a control valve positioned between one of the one or more storage tanks and second inner compartment to control a flow of the fuel.

9. The system of claim 1 , wherein the fuel comprises one or more of an ultra-low sulfur diesel (ULSD), diesel, gasoline, renewable diesel, hydrogen, ammonia, ethanol, or liquefied natural gas (LNG).

10. The system of claim 1 , wherein the transportation vehicle further comprises a refrigeration unit to hold a compartment pressure below a first selected pressure.

11. The system of claim 1 , wherein the two or more inner compartments further comprises one or more sensors to sense the fuel and CO 2 temperature, flowrate, or pressure.

12. A method of offloading/loading a fuel and carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) at a location, the method comprising:
stationing a transportation vehicle at the location, the transportation vehicle comprising:
(a) one or more controllers configured to control offloading/loading of the fuel and CO 2 ,
(b) a fuel pump controlled via the one or more controllers and positioned in fluid communication with the fuel,
(c) a CO 2 pump controlled via the one or more controllers and positioned in fluid communication with the CO 2 ,
(d) one or more digital gauges to display one or more of pressures, flowrates, or compartment level of two or more inner compartments;

(e) a dual-fluid vessel configured to connect to a truck trailer for transporting the fuel and the carbon dioxide, the dual-fluid vessel comprising:
(i) an outer shell, including an outer surface,
(ii) two or more inner compartments positioned within the outer shell, the two or more inner compartments having:
(iii) a first inner compartment configured to store carbon dioxide (CO 2 ),
(iv) a second inner compartment configured to store fuel,
(v) insulation positioned between the outer surface and the two or more inner compartments to provide temperature regulation for fuel and the CO 2 , and
(vi) one or more ports each having an opening in and through the outer shell and a fluid pathway to one or more of the first inner compartment or the second inner compartment thereby to provide fluid communication through the opening and fluid pathway for loading/offloading one or more of the fuel or CO 2 ;

confirming contents in the first inner compartment and a second inner compartment;
connecting one or more external hoses, the one or more external hoses having:
(a) a proximal end portion attached to a first adapter positioned to be in fluid communication therebetween the first inner compartment and a CO 2 pump on the transportation vehicle or the second inner compartment and a fuel pump on the transportation vehicle, and
(b) a distal end portion attached to a second adapter positioned to be connected to be in fluid communication with one or more storage tanks at a location wherein each of the one or more storage tanks contain an amount of fuel or an amount of CO 2 ;

activating the one or more controllers to supply power to the fuel pump and the CO 2 pump;
pumping the amount of fuel from the second inner compartment to the one or more storage tanks at the location;
pumping the amount of CO 2 from the one or more storage tanks to the first inner compartment; and
disconnecting one or more external hoses.

13. The method of claim 12 , wherein the pumping the amount of fuel from the second inner compartment to the one or more storage tanks and the pumping the amount of CO 2 from the one or more storage tanks to the first inner compartment occurs substantially simultaneously.

14. The method of claim 12 , further comprising determining the compartment level of the first inner compartment.

15. The method of claim 12 , wherein the CO 2 comprises liquid CO 2 .

16. The method of claim 15 , wherein the transportation vehicle further comprises a refrigeration unit configured to hold a compartment pressure below a selected pressure.

17. The method of claim 16 , wherein the selected pressure comprises a first selected pressure, and the method further comprises activating the refrigeration unit

Assignees

• Marathon Petroleum Co Lp

Inventors

• Thobe Zachary D

Classifications

• F17C2250/0443

  Flow or movement of content · CPC title

• F17C2205/0338

  Pressure regulators · CPC title

• F17C2203/0333

  Polyurethane · CPC title

• F17C2227/0135

  Pumps · CPC title

• F17C2250/0439

  Temperature · CPC title