TOTAL SYSTEM FOR DISTRIBUTING ENERGY SUCH AS LIQUID HYDROGEN

• US 20120073682A1
• Filed: 06/21/2010
• Published: 03/29/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 06/29/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Astrium Sas (Airbus SE)
• Original Assignee: Astrium Sas (Airbus SE)
• Inventors: Geneste, Jean-Francois
• Granted Patent: US 8,939,396 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 137/561.R
• CPC Class Codes: B64B 1/40 Balloons B64B1/58 takes precedence; toy balloons A63H27/10
• CPC Class Codes: B64D 39/00 Refuelling during flight filling or emptying fuel tanks B64D37/14
• CPC Class Codes: F17C 2205/0142 bundled in parallel
• CPC Class Codes: F17C 2221/012 Hydrogen
• CPC Class Codes: F17C 2223/0161 cryogenic, e.g. LNG, GNL, PLNG
• CPC Class Codes: F17C 2223/033 Small pressure, e.g. for liquefied gas
• CPC Class Codes: F17C 2223/046 in the liquid
• CPC Class Codes: F17C 2225/0161 cryogenic, e.g. LNG, GNL, PLNG
• CPC Class Codes: F17C 2225/033 Small pressure, e.g. for liquefied gas
• CPC Class Codes: F17C 2225/046 in the liquid
• CPC Class Codes: F17C 2227/0121 by gravity
• CPC Class Codes: F17C 2260/044 Avoiding pollution or contamination
• CPC Class Codes: F17C 2265/065 for refuelling vehicle fuel tanks
• CPC Class Codes: F17C 2270/0189 Planes
• CPC Class Codes: F17C 2270/0192 Hot air balloons
• CPC Class Codes: F17C 6/00 Methods and apparatus for filling vessels not under pressure with liquefied or solidified gases
• CPC Class Codes: Y02E 60/32 Hydrogen storage
• CPC Class Codes: Y02E 60/36 Hydrogen production from non-carbon containing sources, e.g. by water electrolysis
• CPC Class Codes: Y02P 90/45 Hydrogen technologies in production processes
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 137/8593 Systems

Abstract

According to the present disclosure, the system includes a plurality of liquid-hydrogen-producing balloon stations that form a total network for distributing liquid hydrogen, and said balloon stations in the network are positioned at the nearest of said target areas of use, substantially above the latter, such that the transfer of the liquid hydrogen between said production balloon stations and said target areas of use is minimal.

Claims

1. A global system for distributing energy such as liquid hydrogen obtained and stored from a balloon station located in altitude, on top of cloud layers, and converting a water supply on board said balloon station into liquid hydrogen from sun radiation, comprising

a plurality of balloon stations for producing liquid hydrogen forming a global distribution network of liquid hydrogen in the direction of use target areas of said liquid hydrogen, wherein said balloon stations in network are positioned as close as possible to said use target areas, substantially on top of the latter, so that the transfer of liquid hydrogen between said production balloon stations and said use target areas is minimum.

2. The system according to claim 1, wherein

each balloon station carries a plurality of controllable flying bodies containing the liquid hydrogen being produced and having as a mission to reach said use target areas for supplying them.

3. The system according to claim 1, wherein

said balloon stations located in altitude could be free and autonomous, the various phases of climbing, descending and level flying of said balloon stations being ensured by adjusting the variable volume of the balloons of said stations.

4. The system according to claim 1, wherein

said balloon stations located in altitude are captive and connected to the ground by controllable links.

5. The system according to claim 4, wherein

each link comprises at least two cables assembled one after the other by means of an auxiliary balloon and connected, for one of them, to the ground, and for the other one, to said balloon station.

6. The system according to claim 4, wherein

with the controllable links, connecting said balloon stations to the ground, respective pipes are associated for supplying said supplies from steam under pressure.

7. The system according to claim 1, wherein

said network of balloon stations comprises several groups of n balloon stations, located on top of said use target areas, at least one balloon station of one of said groups being able to migrate toward another group as a function of needs and in that the number of flying bodies in each balloon station is variable, as a function of the use target areas to be supplied.

8. The system according to claim 1, of the type wherein said target areas are movable, such as airplanes to be supplied with energy and operated with liquid hydrogen, wherein

the density of balloon stations in each flight phase of said airplanes, such as phases of climbing, level flying and descending is uniform and in that in each one of said flight phases, the densities of balloon stations are different.

9. The system according to claim 8, wherein

said balloon stations allotted to a use target area are piloted by a computer system managing the resource of said balloon stations at the level of said target area and, in that said computer management system for the resource is included in a management software for the air traffic.

10. The system according to claim 1, wherein

when said stations are autonomous, each one of them comprises a master-slave calculator to which is connected a piloting-guiding equipment, said master-slave calculators communicating therebetween so that a defective calculator of one of said balloon stations is replaced by an operational calculator of any other balloon station.

11. The system according to claim 10, wherein

replacing said defective calculator by an operational calculator could be ensured by a voting unit able to be triggered remotely and allowing to switch from the defective calculator to the other one while neutralizing the data from the defective calculator to the corresponding equipment, while letting that from the operational calculator go through.

12. The system according to claim 10, wherein

said calculators communicate therebetween and with said respective equipment via radiofrequency or optically and said voting units communicate with said calculators via radiofrequency or optically.

13. The system according to claim 10, wherein

each calculator of said balloon stations has the calculation ability needed for managing said balloon stations of a group.

14. The system according to claim 1, wherein

said balloon stations of a group form therebetween a permanently connected communications graph, the intrinsic topology of said graph being optimized so as to cope with a link loss.