AIRCRAFT ENERGY MANAGEMENT SYSTEM FOR MULTI FUNCTIONAL FUEL CELLS

• US 20150364780A1
• Filed: 01/15/2014
• Published: 12/17/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 01/15/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Safran Aerotechnics SAS (Safran SA)
• Original Assignee: Zodiac Aerotechnics
• Inventors: Libis, Jean-Paul, Masset, Franck, Brunaux, Yannick
• Granted Patent: US 9,966,619 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: B64D 2041/005 Fuel cells
• CPC Class Codes: B64D 41/00 Power installations for auxiliary purposes
• CPC Class Codes: H01M 2250/20 Fuel cells in motive systems, e.g. vehicle, ship, plane
• CPC Class Codes: H01M 2250/405 Cogeneration of heat or hot water
• CPC Class Codes: H01M 8/04955 Shut-off or shut-down of fuel cells
• CPC Class Codes: H01M 8/04992 characterised by the implementation of mathematical or computational algorithms, e.g. feedback control loops, fuzzy logic, neural networks or artificial intelligence
• CPC Class Codes: H01M 8/0656 by electrochemical means H01M8/065 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H01M 8/249 comprising two or more groupings of fuel cells, e.g. modular assemblies
• CPC Class Codes: Y02B 90/10 Applications of fuel cells in buildings
• CPC Class Codes: Y02E 60/50 Fuel cells
• CPC Class Codes: Y02T 90/40 Application of hydrogen technology to transportation, e.g. using fuel cells

Abstract

Disclosed is an aircraft resource management system. The system may include at least one fuel cell cluster having at least one fuel cell system configured to receive and convert a hydrogen input comprising hydrogen and an oxygen input comprising a fluid having an initial oxygen content so as to yield a number of products. The products can include water, thermal energy, an oxygen-depleted product comprising the fluid having a second oxygen content lower than the initial oxygen content, and electrical power. The system may include at least one load cluster with at least one load configured to utilize at least one product of the fuel cell cluster. The system may compare a demand level of the load cluster with a supply level of the fuel cell cluster and manage operating levels of the fuel cell cluster based at least in part on the comparison.

Claims

1. An aircraft resource management system comprising:

(A) a fuel cell cluster including at least one fuel cell system configured to;

(i) receive a hydrogen input comprising hydrogen,

(ii) receive an oxygen input comprising a fluid having an initial oxygen content,

(iii) convert the hydrogen input and the oxygen input so as to yield products including;

(a) a water product comprising water,

(b) a thermal product comprising thermal energy,

(c) an oxygen-depleted product comprising the fluid having a second oxygen content lower than the initial oxygen content, and

(d) an electric product comprising electrical power;

(B) a load cluster including at least one load configured to utilize at least one product from said fuel cell cluster;

(C) one or more resource management devices collectively configured to at least;

compare a demand level of the load cluster with a supply level of the fuel cell cluster, wherein the demand level and the supply level correspond to a set of at least one of the products of the fuel cell cluster; and

instruct adjusting or maintaining an operating level of said at least one fuel cell system of said fuel cell cluster based at least in part on the comparison of the demand level with the supply level.

2. The aircraft resource management system of claim 1, wherein said one or more resource management devices includes at least one of:

a cluster load managing device;

a fuel cell cluster managing device;

a fuel cell cluster load management device;

or

a thermal management device.

3. The aircraft resource management system of claim 1, wherein the one or more resource management devices are further collectively configured to at least:

instruct at least one fuel cell system of said fuel cell cluster to deactivate when the supply level differs from the demand level by a first set amount or to activate when the demand level differs from the supply level by a second set amount.

4. The aircraft resource management system of claim 1, wherein said load cluster includes a first load and a second load, wherein the one or more resource management devices are further collectively configured to at least:

determine a supply to the load cluster of a product from said fuel cell cluster;

compare a first demand from the first load for the product to a second demand from the second load for the product;

instruct distributing at least a portion of the supply of the product among the first load and the second load based at least in part on the comparison of the first demand to the second demand.

5. The aircraft resource management system of claim 4, wherein the one or more resource management devices are further collectively configured to at least compare a first amount of the first demand to a second amount of the second demand.

6. The aircraft resource management system of claim 4, wherein the one or more resource management devices are further collectively configured to at least:

determine a difference in priority level between the first demand and the second demand; and

instruct prioritized distribution based on the difference in priority level.

7. The aircraft resource management system of claim 1, wherein the one or more resource management devices are further collectively configured to at least:

instruct, when the supply level exceeds the demand level for electrical power, at least a part of the electrical output of at least one fuel cell system of said fuel cell cluster to be at least one of;

A) stored in an electrical storage device;

B) directed to a water electrolysis device configured to receive the electrical output and separate water into hydrogen and oxygen using the received electrical output;

or

C) directed to one or more additional load clusters other than said load cluster.

8. The aircraft resource management system of claim 1, further comprising a catalytic burner configured to produce thermal energy, wherein said load cluster includes at least one thermal load configured to utilize at least thermal energy from at least one of said catalytic burner or said thermal product of said fuel cell cluster;

wherein the one or more resource management devices are further collectively configured to at least;

determine a thermal demand of said at least one thermal load for thermal energy;

determine a thermal supply level indicative of an amount of the thermal product produced by said fuel cell cluster;

determine a difference between the thermal demand and the thermal supply;

based at least in part on the difference between the thermal supply and the thermal demand, selectively instruct operation of said catalytic burner to produce thermal energy for said at least one thermal load.

9. The aircraft resource management system of claim 1, further comprising a catalytic burner configured to produce thermal energy, wherein said load cluster includes at least one thermal load configured to utilize at least thermal energy from at least one of said catalytic burner or said thermal product of said fuel cell cluster;

wherein the one or more resource management devices are further collectively configured to at least;

determine a thermal demand of said at least one thermal load for thermal energy;

determine a non-thermal supply level, the non-thermal supply level indicative of an amount of a non-thermal product that would be produced by said fuel cell cluster while producing an amount of thermal energy associated with the thermal demand, the non-thermal product including at least one of the water product, the oxygen-depleted product, and the electric product of the fuel cell cluster;

determine a non-thermal demand from the load cluster for said non-thermal product;

compare the non-thermal supply with the non-thermal demand;

selectively instruct operation of said catalytic burner based at least in part on the comparison of the non-thermal supply with the non-thermal demand.

10. The aircraft resource management system of claim 1, wherein said fuel cell cluster is a first fuel cell cluster comprising a first fuel cell system and a second fuel cell system, the aircraft resource management system further comprising:

a second fuel cell cluster comprising the second fuel cell system and a third fuel cell system;

wherein the one or more resource management devices are further collectively configured to at least one of;

instruct the first fuel cell cluster to provide one or more products from the second fuel cell system based on a determination that the first fuel cell system is producing an insufficient amount of products to meet a demand on the first fuel cell cluster;

or

instruct the second fuel cell cluster to provide one or more products from the second fuel cell system based on a determination that the third fuel cell system is producing an insufficient amount of products to meet a demand on the second fuel cell cluster.

11. A method for managing resources aboard an aircraft, the method comprising:

providing i) a fuel cell cluster including at least one fuel cell system, and ii) a load cluster including at least one load configured to utilize at least one product from said fuel cell cluster;

comparing a demand level of the load cluster with a supply level of the fuel cell cluster, wherein the demand level and the supply level correspond to a set of at least one of the products of the fuel cell cluster; and

adjusting or maintaining an operating level of said at least one fuel cell system of said fuel cell cluster based at least in part on the comparison of the demand level with the supply level.

12. The method of claim 11, further comprising:

deactivating at least one fuel cell system of said fuel cell cluster when the supply level differs from the demand level by a first set amount or activating at least one fuel cell system of said fuel cell cluster when the demand level differs from the supply level by a second set amount.

13. The method of claim 11, further comprising:

determining a supply to the load cluster of a product from said fuel cell cluster;

comparing a first demand for the product from a first load in the load cluster to a second demand for the product from a second load in the load cluster;

distributing at least a portion of the supply of the product among the first load and the second load based at least in part on the comparison of the first demand to the second demand.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein comparing the first demand to the second demand includes comparing a first amount of the first demand to a second amount of the second demand.

15. The method of claim 13, wherein comparing the first demand to the second demand includes determining a difference in priority level between the first demand and the second demand, and wherein distributing the product among the first load and the second load includes prioritizing distribution based on the difference in priority level.

16. The method of claim 11, further comprising:

when the supply level exceeds the demand level for electrical power, directing at least a part of an electrical output of at least one fuel cell system of said fuel cell cluster to at least one of;

A) an electrical storage device;

B) a water electrolysis device configured to receive the electrical output and separate water into hydrogen and oxygen using the received electrical output;

or

C) one or more additional load clusters other than said load cluster.

17. The method of claim 11, further comprising:

providing a catalytic burner configured to produce thermal energy, wherein said providing a load cluster includes providing a load cluster including at least one thermal load configured to utilize at least thermal energy from at least one of said catalytic burner or a thermal product of said fuel cell cluster;

determining a thermal demand of the thermal load for thermal energy;

determining a thermal supply level indicative of an amount of the thermal product produced by said fuel cell cluster;

determining a difference between the thermal demand and the thermal supply;

based at least in part on the difference between the thermal supply and the thermal demand, selectively operating said catalytic burner to produce thermal energy for the thermal load.

18. The method of claim 11, further comprising:

providing a catalytic burner configured to produce thermal energy, wherein said providing a load cluster includes providing a load cluster including at least one thermal load configured to utilize at least thermal energy from at least one of said catalytic burner or a thermal product of said fuel cell cluster;

determining a thermal demand of the thermal load for thermal energy;

determining a non-thermal supply level, the non-thermal supply level indicative of an amount of a non-thermal product that would be produced by said fuel cell cluster while producing an amount of thermal energy associated with the thermal demand, the non-thermal product including at least one of a water product, an oxygen-depleted product, and an electric product of the fuel cell cluster;

determining a non-thermal demand from the load cluster for said non-thermal product;

comparing the non-thermal supply with the non-thermal demand;

selectively operating said catalytic burner based at least in part on the comparison of the non-thermal supply with the non-thermal demand.

19. The method of claim 11, wherein said providing a fuel cell cluster includes i) providing a first fuel cell cluster comprising a first fuel cell system and a second fuel cell system, and ii) providing a second fuel cell cluster comprising the second fuel cell system and a third fuel cell system, the method further comprising:

providing for the first fuel cell cluster one or more products from the second fuel cell system based on a determination that the first fuel cell system is producing an insufficient amount of products to meet a demand on the first fuel cell cluster; and

/or

providing for the second fuel cell cluster one or more products from the second fuel cell system based on a determination that the third fuel cell system is producing an insufficient amount of products to meet a demand on the second fuel cell cluster.

20. The method of claim 11, further comprising:

providing a catalytic burner configured to produce thermal energy, wherein said providing a load cluster includes providing a load cluster including at least one thermal load configured to utilize at least thermal energy from at least one of said catalytic burner or a thermal product of said fuel cell cluster;

operating the catalytic burner to produce thermal energy for the thermal load independent of activating an unactivated fuel cell system in the fuel cell cluster.