Advanced carbon dioxide fuel tank inerting system
First Claim
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1. An onboard inert gas generation system comprising:
- an evaporator that receives a quantity of liquid hydrocarbon fuel from a source of liquid fuel, separates a first portion of the quantity into vapor fuel components, leaves a second portion of the quantity as liquid fuel components, drains the second portion of the quantity through a fuel return line for return to the source of liquid fuel, establishes a nearly constant fuel vapor composition, and outputs the first portion of the quantity as fuel vapor through a vapor line; and
a catalytic reactor that receives the output of fuel vapor from the vessel and an air input containing oxygen as reactive components.
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Abstract
An onboard inert gas generation system includes an evaporator comprising a vessel that receives a hydrocarbon fuel from a fuel tank, separates vapor fuel components from liquid fuel components, establishes a nearly constant fuel vapor composition, and outputs the fuel vapor to be mixed with air prior to combusting the fuel vapor and air mixture in a catalytic reactor. Water is separated from the inert gas produced and the inert gas is introduced into the ullage space of the fuel tank to prevent or reduce possible hazardous conditions in the fuel tank.
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Citations
18 Claims
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1. An onboard inert gas generation system comprising:
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an evaporator that receives a quantity of liquid hydrocarbon fuel from a source of liquid fuel, separates a first portion of the quantity into vapor fuel components, leaves a second portion of the quantity as liquid fuel components, drains the second portion of the quantity through a fuel return line for return to the source of liquid fuel, establishes a nearly constant fuel vapor composition, and outputs the first portion of the quantity as fuel vapor through a vapor line; and a catalytic reactor that receives the output of fuel vapor from the vessel and an air input containing oxygen as reactive components. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5)
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6. An aircraft fuel system comprising:
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a fuel valve that meters fuel; a fuel heater that heats the metered fuel from the fuel valve; an evaporator that receives the metered, heated fuel and provides a fuel vapor having a nearly constant fuel vapor composition; a mixing tee that mixes the fuel vapor with air; a catalytic reactor that reacts the fuel vapor and air mixture to produce an inert gas; an air valve that meters air; an air heater that heats the metered air fed from the air valve; and a reactor inlet temperature indicator that provides a first control signal to the air heater. - View Dependent Claims (7, 8, 9, 10, 11)
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12. A method for fuel tank inerting, comprising the steps of:
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introducing a quantity of liquid fuel from a fuel supply into an evaporator; evaporating a first fraction of the quantity of the fuel into a fuel vapor; draining a remaining fraction of the quantity of fuel, as a liquid, from the evaporator into the fuel supply; combusting the fuel vapor with air in a reactor to form an inert gas; and introducing the inert gas into an ullage space of the fuel tank. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
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Specification