This invention relates in general to a method and apparatus for pumping a cryogenic fluid from a storage tank. The apparatus comprises a reciprocating pump and the method comprises controlling pump flow rate and vapor pressure within the storage tank by controlling the proportion off cryogenic liquid and vapor supplied to the pump during the induction stroke.
Cryogenic fluids are defined as liquids that boil at temperatures of less than about 200xc2x0 Kelvin at atmospheric pressure, such as hydrogen, helium, nitrogen, oxygen, natural gas or methane.
For containing cryogenic fluids, vacuum insulated storage tanks are known. For example, liquefied natural gas (LNG) at pressures of between about 15 and 200 psig (about 204 and 1580 kPa) can be stored at temperatures of between about 120xc2x0 K and 158xc2x0 K in vacuum insulated storage tanks.
A problem with known storage tanks is that heat leaks can cause vaporization of some of the cryogenic fluid within the storage tank and this reduces the time that cryogenic fluids can be held within such storage tanks. To prevent the vapor pressure from rising to undesirable pressures, cryogenic storage tanks are normally equipped with a pressure relief valve. When the vapor pressure rises to above the set point for the relief valve, the storage tank is vented. There is a need for a system that reduces the need for venting, since it may be undesirable to release some cryogenic fluids into the atmosphere and since venting is wasteful of cryogenic fluid.
Some cryogenic fluids such as hydrogen, natural gas, and methane are usable as fuels in internal combustion engines. In some engines, improved efficiency and emissions can be achieved if the fuel is injected directly into the cylinders under high pressure at the end of the compression stroke of the piston. The fuel pressure needed to inject fuel directly into the engine cylinder in this manner can be 3000 psig (about 23,700 kPa), or higher, depending upon the engine design. Accordingly, the cryogenic fuel cannot be delivered directly from a conventional storage tank and an apparatus is needed for delivering a cryogenic fluid to the engine at such high pressures. A pump is required to boost the pressure from storage pressure to injection pressure and to remove vapor from the storage tank to reduce the need for venting.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,411,374, and its two divisional patents, U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,477,690 and 5,551,488, disclose embodiments of a cryogenic fluid pump system and method of pumping cryogenic fluid. In one embodiment the disclosed double-acting piston pump may be employed as a mobile vehicle fuel pump. In this embodiment, the pump is employed to remove both cryogenic vapor and liquid from the tank in a manner whereby only liquid is removed when the pressure in the surge tank is low and vapor starts to be removed when pressure in the surge tank is sufficiently high for engine demand and the vapor pressure in the vehicle tank is higher than the set point. The cryogenic liquid and vapor are supplied from a storage tank through respective conduits communicating between the tank and the pump inlet. A liquid control valve is associated with the liquid supply conduit and a vapor control valve is associated with the vapor supply conduit. The liquid and vapor control valves are controlled in response to fuel demand and the vapor pressure measured within the cryogenic storage tank.
Co-owned U.S. Pat. No. 5,884,488, which is hereby incorporated by reference herein in its entirety, discloses a high-pressure fuel supply system for supplying cryogenic fluid from a storage tank to an engine. The ""488 patent discloses, among other things, a multi-stage LNG pump that is capable of pumping liquid or a mixture of liquid and vapor. A metering valve is adjustable to control the amount of vapor drawn into the pump suction. In another embodiment, an orifice is provided in the vapor supply line for regulating the amount of vapor induced into the sump for the LNG pump. The technique disclosed herein permits increased holding times in the storage tank by providing a method and apparatus for removing vapor from the storage tank.
In the present method, cryogenic liquid and vapor is pumped from a storage tank with a reciprocating piston pump. The method comprises:
(a) In an induction stroke,
retracting a piston within the reciprocating pump and drawing cryogenic fluid from the storage tank into a piston chamber associated with the piston;
controlling flow rate through the pump by controlling the proportion of liquid and vapor supplied to the pump by supplying substantially only vapor during a selected portion of the induction stroke; and
(b) in a compression stroke, compressing and condensing any vapor and compressing any liquid within the piston chamber, and discharging compressed cryogenic fluid from the pump.
In a preferred method, flow rate through the pump is controlled to maintain pressure within a predetermined range at a point downstream from the pump. For example, the point downstream from the pump may be in an accumulator vessel, in a pipe, or in a manifold of a fuel system leading to an engine.
The method may further comprise monitoring vapor pressure within the storage tank and further controlling the proportion of vapor and liquid supplied to the pump to maintain vapor pressure within the storage tank below a predetermined value. For example, by changing pump speed, a constant flow rate may be maintained, while changing the proportion of liquid and vapor supplied to the pump. Similarly, when pressure downstream from said pump is within the desired predetermined range, the proportion of vapor supplied to the pump may be increased to reduce vapor pressure within the storage more quickly.
The proportion of liquid and vapor supplied to the pump during the induction stroke may be controlled by first supplying liquid until the piston reaches a position during the induction stroke that corresponds to a desired proportion of liquid and then supplying substantially only vapor to fill the piston chamber until the induction stroke is complete.
In a preferred embodiment, for each pump cycle, the minimum flow rate pumpable through the pump is determined by the minimum proportion of liquid that is needed during the compression stroke to allow condensation of the vapor within the piston chamber.
A liquefied gas occupies much less space than the same fluid in the gaseous state, so a storage space advantage may be realized by applications that use cryogenic systems to supply a gas. For high-pressure applications a cryogenic pump may be employed. After the liquefied gas is discharged from a cryogenic pump, the fluid may be directed to a heater for transforming it into a gas.
In one embodiment of the method, the desired proportion of liquid, measured by volume, is constant in each pump cycle. To achieve a constant proportion of liquid, vapor is supplied to the pump during a predetermined portion of the induction stroke. For example, liquid may be supplied to the pump initially from the beginning of the induction stroke and whenever the piston reaches a predetermined position, vapor is then supplied to the pump for the remainder of the induction stroke. The same result could be achieved by supplying substantially only vapor to the pump during any predetermined constant portion of the induction stroke, and substantially only liquid during the rest of the induction stroke.
When the cryogenic fluid is a combustible fuel, the present method may be employed to supply fuel to an engine.
In one embodiment, the supply of vapor to the piston chamber during the induction stroke is controlled by operating an automatically actuated valve associated with a vapor supply pipe that connects an ullage space of the tank with the pump. The method comprises opening the valve to supply substantially only vapor to the pump and closing the valve to supply substantially only liquid. The flow rate through the pump is controlled by controlling when the valve is opened with reference to the position of the piston, and flow rate is increasable by opening the valve for a smaller portion of the induction stroke. The position of the pump piston is determined by a sensor that sends an electronic signal to an electronic controller. The sensor may comprise a linear position transducer associated with the piston. Suitable means for automatically actuating the valve are well known. For example, the actuator may be electronic, mechanical, pneumatic, hydraulic, or a combination these. A mechanical actuator may be set to automatically actuate the valve for a constant portion of the induction stroke.
In a preferred embodiment, the valve actuator is electronically controlled and the proportion of liquid and vapor supplied to the pump is variable from one induction stroke to the next. For example, an electronic controller may be employed to open and close a solenoid actuated valve for directing vapor to the pump and achieving a desired pump flow rate. By supplying vapor from the ullage space of the storage tank to the pump, vapor pressure within the storage tank is reduced.
An advantage of the present technique is that a metering valve or orifice is not required to control the amount of vapor that flows through the vapor supply pipe. Instead, according to the present method, the proportion of vapor may be controlled in each individual induction stroke.
In a preferred method, a linear hydraulic motor drives the pump. A linear hydraulic motor is preferred compared to a mechanical crankshaft drive since a linear hydraulic motor can be used to operate the pump at a constant speed and this reduces pressure pulses in the discharge pipe. When the method is employed for supplying fuel to an engine, mechanical energy from the engine may be efficiently used for powering a hydraulic pump for the hydraulic motor.
When a linear hydraulic motor drives the pump, the position of the pump piston may be determined by monitoring the hydraulic motor. In another embodiment, the position of the pump piston is determined by monitoring a reference point associated with the piston rod disposed between the pump piston and the linear hydraulic motor.
When the method employs a single stage pump, at a given pump speed, the apparatus can be controlled to operate at a maximum flow rate by supplying only liquid to the pump during the induction stroke. When the pump is equipped with an inducer, an amount of vapor may still be supplied to the pump when the pump operates at a maximum flow rate because the vapor is condensed in the inducer. With an inducer, for each cycle, maximum flow rate is achievable by supplying a proportion of liquid and vapor to the inducer such that all of the vapor supplied to the inducer is condensable by the inducer and liquid discharged from the inducer fills the pump piston chamber.
In another embodiment, the proportion of liquid and vapor supplied to the pump may be controlled by controlling the flow rate of the liquid supplied to the pump. For example, when vapor is not being supplied to the pump a flow control valve associated with the liquid supply pipe may be operated to control the flow rate of liquid flowing from the storage tank to the pump. Accordingly, for a pump that is configured to supply vapor to the pump for a constant portion of the induction stroke, the proportion of liquid and vapor supplied to the pump is controllable by controlling the flow rate of the liquid supplied to the pump.
In addition to controlling flow rate by controlling the proportion of liquid and vapor supplied to the pump, flow rate through the pump may be further influenced by employing a variable displacement pump or by changing pump speed. For example, when the pump is driven by a hydraulic motor, a variable speed controller can be used to change pump speed. In arrangements where the hydraulic pump or the cryogenic pump itself is driven by an engine that is supplied with fuel by the cryogenic pump, engine speed generally correlates to fuel demand and the pump speed can be controlled to automatically increase with increased engine speed. However, in this arrangement, a hydraulic motor with a hydraulic pump driven by the engine has an advantage over a cryogenic pump directly driven by the engine, because the hydraulic motor permits the pump speed to be controlled to reduce pressure pulses in the discharge pipe.
When a variable displacement cryogenic pump is employed, flow rate through the pump may be further controlled by changing pump displacement, for example, by limiting the stroke when a lower flow rate is desired. Persons skilled in the technology involved here will understand that many methods of controlling flow rate through the pump may be combined with the disclosed method of controlling flow rate by controlling the proportion of cryogenic vapor and liquid supplied to the pump.
A specific preferred method of pumping a cryogenic fluid from a storage tank with a reciprocating piston pump comprises:
(a) in an induction stroke,
retracting a piston within the reciprocating pump and drawing cryogenic fluid from the storage tank into a piston chamber associated with the piston;
supplying vapor from the storage tank to the pump through a vapor supply pipe when a valve associated with the vapor supply pipe is open;
supplying cryogenic liquid from the storage tank to the pump through a liquid supply pipe when the valve is closed; and
reducing vapor pressure within the storage tank and controlling pump flow rate by controlling the timing for opening the valve during the induction stroke; and
(b) in a compression stroke,
reversing the direction of the piston to compress and condense vapor and compress the cryogenic liquid within the piston chamber; and
discharging compressed cryogenic fluid from the pump.
When the pump induces liquid at the beginning of the next induction stroke, the valve associated with the vapor supply pipe is closed prior to the next induction stroke. The valve may be closed upon completion of the compression stroke or at any time during the compression stroke. Obviously, when the vapor is supplied at the beginning or during the middle of the induction stroke the valve is closed prior to the end of the induction stroke.
The present technique is further directed to an apparatus for carrying out the method of pumping a cryogenic fluid from a storage tank and reducing vapor pressure within the storage tank. In a preferred embodiment, the apparatus comprises:
(a) a reciprocating pump for pumping the cryogenic fluid supplied from the storage tank;
(b) a liquid supply pipe that fluidly connects the storage tank to an inlet of the pump;
(c) a vapor supply pipe that fluidly connects an ullage space within the storage tank to the inlet;
(d) an automatically actuated valve associated with the vapor supply pipe, the valve being operable between a closed and an open position for allowing vapor to flow through the vapor supply pipe when the valve is in the open position; and
(e) a controller for determining when to open the valve during an induction stroke of the pump, the controller making such determination to achieve a desired flow rate.
The apparatus may further comprise a position sensor for determining the position of a piston of the pump. The position sensor communicates with the controller so that the controller opens the valve when the piston is in a position that corresponds to the desired proportion of liquid for the induction stroke. In a preferred arrangement, the position sensor comprises a linear position transducer associated with the piston.
The reciprocating pump may further comprise an inducer. The inducer is fluidly disposed between the storage tank and the reciprocating pump. The inducer comprises an inlet for receiving cryogenic fluid from the storage tank, an inducer piston that is reciprocable within an inducer piston chamber for compressing and condensing cryogenic vapor and compressing cryogenic liquid, and an outlet for discharging the compressed cryogenic fluid. The cryogenic fluid compressed by the inducer is then supplied to the inlet of the pump for further compression of the cryogenic fluid.
In a preferred arrangement of the inducer, the inducer piston divides the inducer piston chamber into two sub-chambers so that the inducer operates with two stages. Cryogenic liquid is transferred from the first piston chamber to the pump piston chamber through a one-way flow conduit, which is typically a check valve. A pressure-actuated valve allows cryogenic fluid to flow from the inducer""s second stage to the first stage when pressure within the second stage exceeds a predetermined value. That is, during the compression stroke of the second stage, cryogenic liquid is transferred from the second stage sub-chamber to the pump piston chamber, and when the pump piston chamber is filled, the pressure within the second stage sub-chamber rises until the pressure actuated valve opens to return the excess fluid to the inducer""s first stage sub-chamber. Such a two-stage inducer configuration allows excess cryogenic fluid to be recycled within the inducer instead of being returned to the storage tank.
Cryogenic pumps comprising inducers are described in more detail and illustrated in co-owned U.S. Pat. No. 5,884,488, which has been incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. The pump piston chamber is preferably volumetrically smaller than the inducer piston chamber. More particularly, the inducer piston chamber preferably has a volume that is at least two times larger than the volume of the pump piston chamber, and in a preferred embodiment, the inducer piston chamber has a volume that is between about four and seven times larger than the volume of the pump piston chamber.