Hydrogen Compression in Fuel Cell Systems

A hydrogen compression system for producing high-pressure hydrogen from low-temperature hydrogen. The system has three units: a compressor, a cooler, and a tank. The compressor compresses hydrogen. The cooler cools the compressed hydrogen. The tank receives the cooled hydrogen and heats it while isolating it from the environment. This raises the pressure as the volume decreases due to heating. After reaching ambient temperature, the compressed hydrogen is ready for use. The isolation prevents contamination from leaks.

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A system for producing cryogenic compressed hydrogen that can be stored and used as a fuel source without converting it to gaseous hydrogen before combustion. The system compresses hydrogen and cools it below liquefaction temperature but above the storage temperature threshold. This cryogenic compressed hydrogen can be directly stored and used without further processing, eliminating the need for converting liquid hydrogen to gas for combustion. The system compresses, cools, and delivers the hydrogen at temperatures between the storage threshold and liquefaction point.

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Compression and purification system and method for industrial by-product hydrogen that combines mechanical compression with electrochemical compression to efficiently separate and pressurize industrial by-product hydrogen. The system uses a centrifugal compressor with water spray for initial compression, followed by an electrochemical compressor for final compression and purification. Water spray improves compression efficiency and humidifies the gas for the electrochemical compressor. This allows using wet hydrogen with high humidity levels that the electrochemical compressor needs. The system recycles water from the electrochemical compressor to further optimize efficiency.

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Enabling use of low-temperature hydrogen gas in a hydrogen transport system without impairing the function of a commonly used sealing gas. The system involves heating the hydrogen gas to a temperature above the boiling point of the sealing gas before supplying it to a compressor. This prevents the sealing gas from liquefying and losing its sealing effectiveness when exposed to the cold hydrogen gas.

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Energy-efficient hydrogen filling station design for compressing, storing, and providing hydrogen fuel. The system has a compressor, storage tank, expander, and refrigeration machine. The compressor stages compress the hydrogen. The expander extracts work from the expanding hydrogen to partially cool it. The refrigeration machine further cools the hydrogen using a chiller cycle. This integrated cooling system reduces the energy required compared to separate chillers. It allows cooled hydrogen to be stored instead of continuously cooling during refueling.

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Gas supply system for efficiently replacing gas in a tank, like a liquefied hydrogen tank, during maintenance or refueling. The system uses separate compressors optimized for hydrogen gas versus mixed hydrogen/inert gas. Hydrogen gas from the tank is compressed by a first compressor to supply high-pressure hydrogen to consumers like boilers. Mixed hydrogen/inert gas discharged from the tank is compressed by a second compressor before supplying to consumers. This allows efficient replacement of tank gas by avoiding overloading the hydrogen compressor when replacing all hydrogen vs just mixed gas.

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A device for compressing fluids like hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, and argon without using complex mechanical compressors. The device has a cryogenic vessel to store the fluids in liquid form at cryogenic temperatures, surrounded by a pressure vessel. An equalization device connects the two vessels to balance pressures. Overpressure gas from the cryogenic vessel is reheated and injected back to compress. This recycles evaporated gas without external compressors. The cryogenic vessel is pressurized to prevent deterioration, and the compression device is part of a storage system with cryogenic tanks and final storage tanks.

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A hydrogen gas release and recovery system for hydrogen compressors in hydrogen refueling stations that prevents hydrogen loss and safety issues when the compressor shuts down. The system recycles the discharged hydrogen back into the compressor. It uses buffer tanks, coolers, and pumps to connect the compressor stages. When the compressor shuts down, hydrogen in the intermediate stages is released into a recovery tank. A pump and regulator then recycle the recovered hydrogen back into the compressor after startup. This prevents hydrogen waste and explosive mixture risks from compressor shutdowns.

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Hydrogen gas cooling system for filling objects with hydrogen, like fuel cells, that reduces liquid hydrogen carryover in the filled object. The system has a compressor, storage device, and dispenser with gas-liquid separation. After compression, the hydrogen gas is cooled in a heat exchanger using the returning gas from the dispenser. This evaporates any remaining liquid hydrogen before filling. This prevents liquid hydrogen carryover in the filled object by removing it before dispensing.

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A method and device to improve the efficiency of fuel cell systems by using hydrogen combustion to drive the air compressor instead of electric motors. The method involves compressing air using a turbine driven by a catalytic burner that converts hydrogen to heat. The residual heat from the turbine can be used to preheat the fuel cell system. This eliminates the need for fuel cells or batteries to provide the compressor power, reducing overall system losses compared to electric motors.

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A device for filling pressurized gas tanks, like hydrogen tanks, that improves efficiency and flexibility compared to existing methods. The device has a compression module between the gas source and the tank that allows partial unloading of the piston during compression strokes. This prevents the piston from fully compressing the gas, reducing the work required and enabling higher compression ratios. The unloading valves physically prevent the piston from fully compressing during part of the stroke, allowing the gas to expand and reducing the compression work. This improves efficiency compared to conventional bypasses that recycle gas back through the compressor. The partial unloading also allows higher compression ratios compared to conventional piston compressors that have fixed stroke limits.

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A more efficient system for compressing hydrogen using a closed loop with an additional gas component. The system involves mixing hydrogen with a heavier gas at low pressure, compressing the mixture, separating the hydrogen, expanding the heavier gas, and returning it to the mixer. This recycles the heavier gas through compression and expansion to recover energy instead of compressing it fresh each time. By using a heavier gas for compression, it allows higher pressures and efficiency compared to just compressing hydrogen.

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A two-stage hydrogen fuel cell air compressor with improved efficiency and simpler design compared to existing two-stage centrifugal compressors. The compressor uses a chassis, two-stage compression mechanism, and a double valve flow limiting mechanism. The compression stages are driven by helical gears inside the chassis. Cooling is achieved by injecting oil into the air flow between stages instead of using an external cooler. This reduces complexity and losses compared to external cooling methods. The compressor also has an internal air inlet, outlet, and gauge for easier access.

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Hydrogen gas filling system for vehicles like fuel cell cars that has improved cooling performance for filling hydrogen tanks at high pressure. The system uses expansion turbines in both the hydrogen supply path and the cooling path. The expansion turbine in the supply path compresses the hydrogen as it enters the tank, while the expansion turbine in the cooling path expands the hydrogen from the supply path to cool it. This recycles some of the hydrogen gas to cool the rest, improving cooling efficiency compared to just using a separate coolant loop.

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A hydrogen compression assembly for compressing hydrogen produced electrolytically to high pressures using a combination of centrifugal and integrally geared centrifugal compressors. The assembly has multiple stages with a low-pressure stage using centrifugal compressors and higher pressure stages using integrally geared centrifugal compressors. This allows high compression ratios while reducing footprint compared to using only centrifugal compressors.

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Cryogenic hydrogen generator that uses the expansion of liquid hydrogen to compress and pressurize gaseous hydrogen, allowing efficient hydrogen fuel supply for engines and fuel cells without requiring large diameter pipes. The generator compresses both liquid and gaseous hydrogen using the expansion energy of evaporating the liquid. It also allows premixing hydrogen and air for lower NOx emissions in combustion engines. The device recovers some of the energy needed to liquefy hydrogen and can power engines directly from the compressed hydrogen.

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Compressor unit for recovering and compressing liquefied hydrogen gas from a storage tank. The compressor has a reciprocating compression section, cooler, preheater, and split suction/discharge path. Hydrogen gas before compression goes through the cooler and preheater, while some bypasses the preheater. A flow adjustment controls the split to maintain suction temperature within a range above air liquefaction. This prevents extreme low temperatures in the compressor.

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Compression device and control method for compressing hydrogen gas using an electrochemical hydrogen pump. The method involves controlling the humidity and temperature of the hydrogen gas fed to the anode based on the anode gas pressure. This prevents drying of the electrolyte membrane at high pressures and flooding at low pressures. A controller adjusts the dew point regulator and temperature regulator accordingly when anode gas pressure changes.

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A gas compression system for compressing hydrogen with reduced oil carryover into the compressed hydrogen. The system uses metal hydride compressors to recover hydrogen leakage from the compressor instead of oil-lubricated piston compressors. The leakage gas is fed into a recovery device containing metal hydride storage. The metal hydride absorbs the hydrogen at low pressure and releases it at the compressor suction pressure. This increases the leakage gas pressure to match the compressor inlet. This allows recovering the hydrogen without oil contamination. The metal hydride storage can be heated by compressor cooling water for discharge. The system has parallel recovery devices for continuous operation.

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Hydrogen compression assembly and apparatus for producing high-pressure hydrogen using a combination of centrifugal and reciprocating compressors. The assembly has a centrifugal compressor for initial pressure increase followed by a reciprocating compressor for further compression. This allows high compression ratios and space savings compared to using just one type of compressor. The assembly can be used to compress hydrogen produced by electrolysis without burning methane to make "green hydrogen."

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