Thermal conditioning fluids for an underwater cryogenic storage vessel

摘要

Technologies are described herein for conditioning fluids stored in an underwater cryogenic storage vessel designed for use in a fuel system of an underwater vehicle. According to one aspect of the disclosure, a fuel system includes a fuel cell and a storage vessel, which stores a first fluid that is supplied to the fuel cell and a second fluid that is produced by the fuel cell. The fuel system also includes a thermal conditioning module that receives the first fluid from the storage vessel and receives the second fluid from the fuel cell. The first fluid stored in the storage vessel is conditioned by absorbing heat from the second fluid, such that the fuel cell receives the conditioned first fluid. The second fluid received from the fuel cell is in gaseous state and is converted to a liquid. The liquid second fluid is stored in the storage vessel.

主权项

1. A method for operating a fuel system, comprising:
receiving a gaseous fuel from a storage vessel at a thermal conditioning module; supplying the gaseous fuel to a fuel cell via the thermal conditioning module; receiving a gaseous effluent from the fuel cell at the thermal conditioning module; converting the gaseous effluent to a liquid effluent within the thermal conditioning module; storing the liquid effluent in the storage vessel that provided the gaseous fuel to the thermal conditioning module; and continuously routing a portion of the gaseous fuel from the thermal conditioning module back to the storage vessel containing a liquid fuel such that the storage vessel is configured to continuously supply gaseous fuel to the thermal conditioning module.