WO2015198214A1

WO2015198214A1 - System and method for generating hydrogen fuel

Info

Publication number: WO2015198214A1
Application number: PCT/IB2015/054691
Authority: WO
Inventors: RaviKumar GUTTA
Original assignee: Gutta Ravikumar
Priority date: 2014-06-25
Filing date: 2015-06-23
Publication date: 2015-12-30

Abstract

Exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure is directed towards a system and method for Generating hydrogen fuel from the wasted steam/extra superheated steam produced from thermal power production. The system including a steam/superheated steam collecting chamber configured to collect steam/superheated steam from a water boiler or steam/superheated steam chamber, an electrolysis chamber configured to receive the steam/superheated steam from the steam/superheated steam collecting chamber for separating the steam into hydrogen and oxygen, a compression and storage station configured to collect the hydrogen from the electrolysis chamber for reserving the hydrogen with a predetermined pressure, a hydrogen filling station configured to collect the hydrogen from the hydrogen compression and storage station for utilizing in hydrogen internal combustion engine vehicles and a fuel cell configured to collect the separated hydrogen and oxygen for generating clean power and clean water (H20).

Description

SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR GENERATING HYDROGEN FUEL

TECHNICAL FIELD

[0001] The present disclosure relates to the field of electrolysis process for separating hydrogen and oxygen. More particularly, the present disclosure relates to a system and method for generating hydrogen fuel by using wasted steam/extra superheated steam energy as a part of energy to produce hydrogen fuel.

BACKGROUND

[0002] Conventionally, hydrogen is one of the best sources of fuel. At the very high temperatures of the primeval earth, unstable hydrogen molecules (H2) were produced that were attracted towards oxygen molecules (02), forming water molecules (H20). Likewise, the hydrogen molecules attracted towards carbon molecules formed hydrocarbons (fossil fuels). Water molecules, because of their form and temperature are difficult to combust and use as a fuel while hydrocarbon based fuels are easy to combust and generate energy. Owing to their ready availability and ease of combustion, fossil fuels became the primary source of fuel but burning of hydrocarbons produced from fossil fuels impacts the environment adversely like causing greenhouse effects and global warming. To control the carbon emissions which are mostly delivered from transport vehicles there is a strong need to stop using carbon emitted fuels and replace/promote clean fuels instead. Hydrogen is such a clean fuel with zero-emission and it has other advantages as being readily available, highly efficient and renewable. But the existing methods for separating hydrogen from sources other than fossil fuels need lots of energy.

[0003] In the light of aforementioned discussion, there is a need for a system and method for generating hydrogen fuel by using wasted steam/superheated steam in thermal power productions that is energy efficient compared to other means of hydrogen production.

BRIEF SUMMARY [0004] The following presents a simplified summary of the disclosure in order to provide a basic understanding to the reader. This summary is not an extensive overview of the disclosure and it does not identify key/critical elements of the invention or delineate the scope of the invention. Its sole purpose is to present some concepts disclosed herein in a simplified form as a prelude to the more detailed description that is presented later.

[0005] A more complete appreciation of the present invention and the scope thereof can be obtained from the accompanying drawings which are briefly summarized below and the following detailed description of the presently preferred embodiments.

[0006] Exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure are directed towards a system and method for generating hydrogen fuel.

[0007] According to an exemplary aspect, the system includes a steam/superheated steam collecting chamber configured to collect steam/superheated steam from a water boiler. The water boiler or steam chamber produces the steam to rotate turbines.

[0008] According to an exemplary aspect, the system includes an electrolysis chamber configured to receive the steam/superheated steam from the steam/superheated steam collecting chamber for separating the steam/superheated steam into hydrogen and oxygen. The electrolysis chamber is configured to use an external power or clean power from the fuel cell for separating hydrogen and oxygen.

[0009] According to an exemplary aspect, the system includes a compression and storage station configured to collect hydrogen and oxygen from the electrolysis chamber for reserving the hydrogen and oxygen with a predetermined pressure.

[0010] According to an exemplary aspect, the system includes a hydrogen filling station configured to collect hydrogen from the compression and storage station for utilizing in hydrogen internal combustion engine vehicles. [0011] According to an exemplary aspect, the system includes a fuel cell configured to collect the separated hydrogen and oxygen for generating clean power and clean water (H20). The fuel cell transmits clean power to the electrolysis chamber for separating hydrogen and oxygen. An outlet of the fuel cell transmits generated clean water (H20) for domestic utility. The DC power produced by utilizing hydrogen in fuel cell can be utilized for electrolysis, compression or can be utilized for self-sustainability or external power any other purpose.

[0012] According to an exemplary aspect, the system includes a hydrogen collecting chamber configured to collect the separated hydrogen from the electrolysis chamber.

[0013] According to an exemplary aspect, the system includes an oxygen collecting chamber configured to collect the separated oxygen from the electrolysis chamber.

[0014] According to an exemplary aspect, the system includes a steam condensate removal trap coupled to an outlet of the steam/superheated steam collecting chamber.

[0015] According to an exemplary aspect, the method includes collecting steam/superheated steam from a water boiler by a steam/superheated steam collecting chamber. The water boiler produces the steam/superheated steam to rotate turbines.

[0016] According to an exemplary aspect, the method includes separating the steam/superheated steam into hydrogen and oxygen by an electrolysis chamber.

[0017] According to an exemplary aspect, the method includes collecting hydrogen and oxygen from the electrolysis chamber for reserving hydrogen and oxygen with a predetermined pressure by a compression and storage station.

[0018] According to an exemplary aspect, the method includes storing hydrogen by a hydrogen filling station from the compression and storage station for utilizing in hydrogen internal combustion engine vehicles. [0019] According to an exemplary aspect, the method includes supplying hydrogen (H2), oxygen (02) to the fuel cell based run vehicles. Further hydrogen is mixed in other fuels for best fuel efficiencies and low carbon emissions.

[0020] According to an exemplary aspect, the method includes collecting separated hydrogen (H2) and oxygen (02) by a hydrogen collecting chamber and an oxygen collecting chamber.

[0021] According to an exemplary aspect, the method includes passing hydrogen (H2) and oxygen (02) through the fuel cell.

[0022] According to an exemplary aspect, the method includes producing steam for hydrogen fuel production.

[0023] According to an exemplary aspect, the steam that is generated/wasted/produced after other uses/produced from cogeneration of energy is collected by a steam/superheated steam collecting chamber and sent to an electrolysis chamber.

[0024] According to an exemplary aspect, the steam/superheated steam produced for any application may be used for producing hydrogen before losing the heat energy.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0025] Other objects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon reading the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments, in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein like reference numerals have been used to designate like elements, and wherein:

[0026] FIG. 1 is a block diagram depicting a system for generating a hydrogen fuel, in accordance with exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure. [0027] FIG. 2 is a diagram depicting a hydrogen fuel generation in thermal power production, in accordance with exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0028] FIG. 3 is a diagram depicting a hydrogen and oxygen utilization process, in accordance with exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0029] FIG. 4 is a flow diagram depicting a method for generating hydrogen fuel, in accordance with exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0030] FIG. 5 is a flow diagram depicting a method for generating clean power by a fuel cell, in accordance with exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0031] It is to be understood that the present disclosure is not limited in its application to the details of construction and the arrangement of components set forth in the following description or illustrated in the drawings. The present disclosure is capable of other embodiments and of being practiced or of being carried out in various ways. Also, it is to be understood that the phraseology and terminology used herein is for the purpose of description and should not be regarded as limiting.

[0032] The use of "including", "comprising" or "having" and variations thereof herein is meant to encompass the items listed thereafter and equivalents thereof as well as additional items. The terms "a" and "an" herein do not denote a limitation of quantity, but rather denote the presence of at least one of the referenced item. Further, the use of terms "first", "second", and "third", and the like, herein do not denote any order, quantity, or importance, but rather are used to distinguish one element from another.

[0033] Referring to FIG. 1, is a block diagram 100 depicting a system for generating a hydrogen fuel, in accordance with exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure. It will be understood and appreciated by those of ordinary skill in the art that the system architecture 100 shown in FIG. 1 is merely an example of one suitable hydrogen fuel generating system and is not intended to suggest any limitation as to the scope of use or functionality of the present disclosure.

[0034] As shown in FIG.l, the system 100 includes a steam/superheated steam collecting chamber 102 that may be configured to collect steam/superheated steam from a water boiler or a steam collecting chamber in thermal power station through one or more collecting channels. The water boiler here may refer to a water boiler of thermal power production, a water boiler of power plants and the like without limiting the scope of the disclosure. In the thermal power production, the predetermined steam energy may be used for rotating the turbines to generate kinetic energy and remaining steam/superheated steam collected by the one or more collecting channels. The steam/superheated steam collecting chamber 102 may be used for collecting the fresh steam energy before it is cooled and condensed, here the steam may be referred as superheated steam, saturated steam, unsaturated steam, any kind of steam and the like without limiting the scope of the disclosure.

[0035] As shown in FIG.l, the system 100 includes an electrolysis chamber 104 that may be configured to receive the steam/superheated steam from the steam/superheated steam collecting chamber 102. The electrolysis chamber 104 separates the steam/superheated steam into hydrogen (H2) and oxygen (02) by using additional electrical power. Through not depicted in FIG.l, the separated hydrogen (H2) and oxygen (02) may be collected into separate chambers such as a hydrogen collecting chamber and an oxygen collecting chamber. The separated hydrogen (H2) and oxygen (02) are may be used for producing water, which are used for domestic purpose and the like without limiting the scope of the disclosure.

[0036] As shown in FIG.l, Further the separated hydrogen (H2) and oxygen (02) may be transmitted to a fuel cell 110, a hydrogen filling station 108 and an oxygen filling station 124. The fuel cell 110 receives the hydrogen (H2) and oxygen (02) for clean power generation. The generated power may be used in electrolysis or supplied to the grid requirement. Further the fuel cell produces clean water, which is pumped for domestic utility. The DC power produced by fuel cell 110 can be utilized for electrolysis, compression or can be utilized for any other purpose. The hydrogen filling station 108 may be configured to receive the hydrogen (H2) from a hydrogen compression and storage unit 106. The stored hydrogen (H2) may be mixed with natural gas to form Hythane which is used directly as fuel for compressed natural gas (CNG) consumers. And the hydrogen (H2) may be directly used in hydrogen combustion engine vehicles.

[0037] Referring to FIG. 2, is a diagram 200 depicting hydrogen fuel generation in thermal power production, in accordance with exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure. The hydrogen fuel generating system includes a steam/superheated steam collecting chamber 202, an electrolysis chamber 204, a compression and storage unit 206, a hydrogen filling station 208, a fuel cell 210, a water boiler 212, turbines 214, a steam/superheated steam condensate removal trap 216, a hydrogen collecting chamber 218 and an oxygen collecting chamber 220 and a clean water (H20) outlet 222.

[0038] As shown in FIG.2, in the water boiler 212 may be configured to boil the water at a predetermined temperature for generating the steam/superheated steam. The water boiler 212 may use chemical energy for boiling the water. The generated steam/superheated steam may be directly collected in a predetermined quantity by the steam/superheated steam collecting chamber 202. The steam/superheated steam collecting chamber 202 may be configured to collect steam/superheated steam from a thermal power station through one or more collecting channels 202a and 202b. In the thermal power production, the predetermined energy may be used for rotating the turbines to generate kinetic energy and remaining steam/superheated steam collected by the one or more collecting channels 202a and 202b. The steam/superheated steam is used for rotating the turbines 214 to generate kinetic energy. The steam/superheated steam collecting chamber 202 may be collecting the steam/superheated steam before it is cooled and condensed for power production. The steam/superheated steam condensate removal trap 216 is coupled to an outlet of the steam/superheated steam collecting chamber 202 for transmitting the steam in a required speed. Then the steam/superheated steam is transmitted to the electrolysis chamber 204 for separating the steam/superheated steam into hydrogen (H2) and oxygen (02) by using additional/external electrical power. [0039] As shown in FIG.2, the separated hydrogen (H2) and oxygen (02) may be collected by a hydrogen collecting chamber 218 and an oxygen collecting chamber 220. Further the separated hydrogen (H2) and oxygen (02) may be transmitted to a fuel cell 210 and a hydrogen filling station 212. The fuel cell 210 receives the hydrogen (H2) and oxygen (02) for clean power generation. The generated power may be used in electrolysis or supplied to the grid requirement. Further the fuel cell produces clean water which is pumped for domestic utility. The hydrogen (H2) filling station 208 may be configured to receive the hydrogen (H2) from a hydrogen compression and storage unit 206 which collects the hydrogen (H2) from the hydrogen collecting chamber and compresses with a predetermined pressure. The stored hydrogen (H2) may be mixed with natural gas to form Hythane which is used directly as fuel for compressed natural gas (CNG) consumers. And the hydrogen (H2) may be directly used in hydrogen combustion engine vehicles.

[0040] As shown in FIG.2, the generated clean power at the fuel cell 210 is transmitted to the electrolysis chamber 204 for separating the hydrogen (H2) and oxygen (02). And the generated clean water at the fuel cell 210 is further transmitted through the clean water (H20) outlet for domestic utility.

[0041] Referring to FIG. 3, is a diagram 300 depicting a hydrogen and oxygen utilization process, in accordance with exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure. The separated hydrogen (H2) and oxygen (02) may be collected from an electrolysis chamber by a hydrogen (H2) collecting chamber 318 and an oxygen (02) collecting chamber 320. Further the separated hydrogen (H2) and oxygen (02) may be transmitted to a compression and storage unit 306 and then transmitted to a fuel cell 310, hydrogen (H2) filling station 308 and oxygen (02) filling station 324. The fuel cell 310 receives the hydrogen (H2) and oxygen (02) from the compressed and stored unit 306 for clean power generation. The generated power may be used in electrolysis or supplied to the grid requirement. Further the fuel cell produces clean water which is pumped for domestic utility. The hydrogen filling station 308 may be configured to receive the hydrogen from the compression and storage unit 306 which collects the hydrogen from the hydrogen collecting chamber 318 and compresses with a predetermined pressure. The stored hydrogen (H2) may be mixed with natural gas to form Hythane which is used directly as fuel for compressed natural gas (CNG) consumers. And the hydrogen (H2) is directly used in hydrogen combustion engine vehicles. Further Hydrogen (H2) and oxygen (02) may be supplied from the fuel station for fuel cell based transport vehicles.

[0042] Referring to FIG. 4, is a flow diagram 400 depicting a method for generating hydrogen fuel, in accordance with exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure. The method starts at step 402, a steam/superheated steam collecting chamber collects the steam/superheated steam from a water boiler of the thermal power production and the like without limiting the scope of the disclosure. The collected steam/superheated steam then diverted to an electrolysis chamber. The steam/superheated steam condensate removals trap which is coupled at an outlet of the steam/superheated steam collecting chamber at step 404. The electrolysis chamber separates the steam/superheated steam into hydrogen (H2) and oxygen (02) by using external power/additional power at step 406. At step 408 the separated hydrogen (H2) and oxygen (02) are collected from the electrolysis chamber by hydrogen collecting chamber and an oxygen collecting chamber. Further at step 410, the collected hydrogen (H2) and oxygen are compressed, stored and supplied by the compression and storage. Last at step 412, hydrogen and oxygen supplied as per requirement and hydrogen to be mixed with natural gas to form Hythane and then used directly as fuel for compressed natural gas (CNG) consumers. Further the hydrogen (H2) may be directly used in hydrogen combustion engine vehicle.

[0043] Referring to FIG. 5 is a flow diagram 500 depicting a method for generating clean power by a fuel cell, in accordance with exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure. The method starts at step 502, the fuel cell collecting the hydrogen (H2) and oxygen (02) from the hydrogen (H2) collecting chamber and oxygen (02) collecting chamber and passing the hydrogen (H2) and oxygen (02) through the fuel cell. At step 504, the clean DC power generated by the fuel cell is used in electrolysis and the additional power that is produced is supplied to grid as required. Further at step 506, the clean water generated in power production by fuel cell is pumped for public utility.

[0044] The claimed subject matter has been provided here with reference to one or more features or embodiments. Those skilled in the art will recognize and appreciate that, despite the detailed nature of the exemplary embodiments provided here, changes and modifications may be applied to said embodiments without limiting or departing from the generally intended scope. These and various other adaptations and combinations of the embodiments provided here are within the scope of the disclosed subject matter as defined by the claims and their full set of equivalents.

Claims

CLAIMS: What is claimed is

1. A system for generating hydrogen fuel, comprising:

a steam/superheated steam collecting chamber configured to collect steam/ superheated steam from a water boiler through one or more collecting channels, whereby the steam/superheated steam produced to rotate turbines; and an electrolysis chamber configured to receive the steam/superheated steam from the steam/superheated steam collecting chamber for separating the steam/superheated steam into hydrogen; and oxygen; a compression and storage station configured to collect hydrogen from the electrolysis chamber for reserving hydrogen and oxygen with a predetermined pressure; a hydrogen filling station configured to collect hydrogen from the hydrogen compression and storage station for utilizing in hydrogen internal combustion engine vehicles; and a fuel cell configured to collect the separated hydrogen and oxygen from the compression and storage station for generating clean power and clean water (H20).

2. The system of claim 1, wherein a hydrogen collecting chamber configured to collect the separated hydrogen from the electrolysis chamber.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein an oxygen collecting chamber configured to collect the separated oxygen from the electrolysis chamber.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein a steam/superheated steam condensate removal trap coupled to an outlet of the steam/superheated steam collecting chamber for diverting the steam/superheated steam to the electrolysis chamber.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein the fuel cell transmits clean power to the electrolysis chamber for separating the hydrogen and the oxygen.

6. The system of claim 1 , wherein the electrolysis chamber configured to use an external power and clean power from the fuel cell for separating the hydrogen and the oxygen.

7. The system of claim 1, wherein an outlet of the fuel cell transmits the generated clean water (H20) for domestic utility.

8. A method for generating hydrogen fuel, comprising:

collecting steam/superheated steam from a water boiler or heating steam/superheated steam chamber by a steam collecting chamber; separating the steam/superheated steam into hydrogen and oxygen by an electrolysis chamber; collecting hydrogen and oxygen from the electrolysis chamber for reserving hydrogen and oxygen with a predetermined pressure by a compression and storage station; storing hydrogen and oxygen by a hydrogen filling station and an oxygen filling station from the compression and storage station for utilizing in hydrogen internal combustion engine vehicles; and fuel cell run based vehicles; and generating clean power and clean water (H20) by a fuel cell by using the separated hydrogen and oxygen.

9. The method of claim 8, comprising a step of collecting the separated hydrogen (H2) and oxygen (02) by a hydrogen collecting chamber and an oxygen collecting chamber.

10. The method of claim 8, comprising a step of passing hydrogen (H2) and oxygen (02) through the fuel cell.