초록 ▼

1. An inerting system for a vented controlled atmosphere container, for inerting a flammable gas comprising a flammable vapor and oxygen, comprising: (i) a container; (ii) an outlet in the container for the flammable gas; (iii) a compressor, in fluid communication with the outlet, which compres

1. An inerting system for a vented controlled atmosphere container, for inerting a flammable gas comprising a flammable vapor and oxygen, comprising: (i) a container; (ii) an outlet in the container for the flammable gas; (iii) a compressor, in fluid communication with the outlet, which compresses the flammable gas from the container; (iv) a separator, in fluid communication with the compressor, for removing oxygen from the flammable gas to produce an oxygen-depleted flammable gas; (v) an inlet in the container, which is in fluid communication with the separator; through which the oxygen-depleted flammable gas is fed into the container.

대표청구항 ▼

1. An inerting system for a vented controlled atmosphere container, for inerting a flammable gas comprising a flammable vapor and oxygen, comprising: (i) a container; (ii) an outlet in said container for said flammable gas; (iii a compressor, in fluid communication with said outlet, which compr

1. An inerting system for a vented controlled atmosphere container, for inerting a flammable gas comprising a flammable vapor and oxygen, comprising: (i) a container; (ii) an outlet in said container for said flammable gas; (iii a compressor, in fluid communication with said outlet, which compresses the flammable gas from the container; (iv) a separator, in fluid communication with said compressor, for removing oxygen from said flammable gas to produce an oxygen-depleted flammable gas; (v) an inlet in said container, which is in fluid communication with said separator, through which said oxygen-depleted flammable gas is fed into said container. 2. The system of claim 1, further comprising a supply of makeup gas to replace any lost volume in said container. 3. The system of claim 1, wherein said makeup gas is oxygen-depleted air. 4. The system of claim 2, further comprising a second separator for removing oxygen from air to obtain said make-up gas of oxygen-depleted air. 5. The system of claim 4, further comprising a source of compressed air for feeding air to said second separator. 6. The system of claim 3, wherein said second separator is a membrane separator. 7. The system of claim 1, wherein said vented container is a fuel tank. 8. The system of claim 7, wherein said flammable gas is fuel tank ullage. 9. The system of claim 1, wherein said separator is a membrane separator. 10. The system of claim 1, wherein said separator is a pressure swing absorption separator. 11. A method of inerting a flammable gas, comprising a flammable vapor and oxygen, in a vented controlled atmosphere container comprising the steps of: (i) removing said flammable gas from said container; (ii) compressing said gas; (iii) removing an amount of oxygen from said flammable gas to produce an oxygen-depleted gas; (iv) feeding said oxygen-depleted gas into said container. 12. The method of claim 11, further comprising the step of feeding an amount of oxygen-depleted makeup gas to the container. 13. The method of claim 12, wherein the amount of oxygen-depleted makeup gas fed into the container substantially corresponds to the amount, by volume, of oxygen depleted from said flammable gas. 14. The method of claim 12, wherein said step of feeding an amount of oxgyen-depleted makeup gas to the container comprises the steps of removing an amount of oxygen from air to obtain an oxygen-depleted air and feeding the oxygen-depleted air to said container. 15. The method of claim 14, comprising removing oxygen from compressed air. 16. The method of claim 14, comprising removing oxygen from air by pressure swing absorption. 17. The method of claim 14, comprising removing oxygen from air by a permeable membrane. 18. The method of claim 11, wherein said container is a fuel tank. 19. The method of claim 18, wherein said flammable gas is fuel tank ullage. 20. The method of claim 11, comprising removing oxygen from said flammable gas by membrane separation. 21. The method of claim 11, comprising removing oxygen from said flammable gas by pressure swing absorption.