The United States of America as represented by the Secretary of the Navy
대리인 / 주소
Kaiser, Howard
인용정보
피인용 횟수 :
2인용 특허 :
16
초록▼
According to typical inventive practice, an algorithm controls a reformer in order to produce a pure hydrogen stream for a hydrogen-using device. The inventive algorithmic feedback control maintains the permeate hydrogen stream at a permeate pressure setpoint. Pressure measurements are performed of
According to typical inventive practice, an algorithm controls a reformer in order to produce a pure hydrogen stream for a hydrogen-using device. The inventive algorithmic feedback control maintains the permeate hydrogen stream at a permeate pressure setpoint. Pressure measurements are performed of the permeate hydrogen stream. Control data (e.g., including a “lookup” table) establishes at least three output levels (scaled from zero output to maximum output) of the permeate hydrogen stream and, for each output level, five variable setpoints (air flow rate, hydrocarbon flow rate, and steam flow rate preceding the reformer reaction; steam flow rate preceding the water-gas shift reaction; shaft rotational speed in the energy recovery device). The pressure signals and the control data are processed to determine the optimal output level and the associated variable setpoints. Control signals are sent to adjust the variables to the determined variable setpoints.
대표청구항▼
1. A method for chemically processing a hydrocarbon so as to produce a high purity hydrogen stream, the method comprising: performing a first reaction, said first reaction including the combination of oxygen-containing gas, hydrocarbon, and steam, said first reaction further including the production
1. A method for chemically processing a hydrocarbon so as to produce a high purity hydrogen stream, the method comprising: performing a first reaction, said first reaction including the combination of oxygen-containing gas, hydrocarbon, and steam, said first reaction further including the production of a first mixture, said first mixture containing hydrogen and carbon monoxide;performing a second reaction, said second reaction including the combination of steam and said first mixture, said second reaction further including the production of a second mixture, said second mixture containing hydrogen and carbon dioxide;performing a third reaction, said third reaction including the membrane separation of hydrogen from non-hydrogen ingredients of said second mixture so as to produce a permeate hydrogen stream and a retentate stream;performing a fourth reaction, said fourth reaction including the oxidation of said retentate stream, thereby producing hot and pressurized gas;rotating a shaft, said rotating of said shaft including using heat and pressure of said hot and pressurized gas to drive said shaft using a turbine mounted on said shaft;producing energy and compressed air, said energy being produced using said turbine and a generator connected to said turbine, said compressed air being produced using a compressor mounted on said shaft;maintaining a constant pressure of said permeate hydrogen stream, said pressure of said permeate hydrogen stream being maintained on an ongoing basis at a permeate pressure setpoint, said maintaining at said permeate pressure setpoint including using a master controller and five subordinate controllers, said five subordinate controllers controlling five subordinate setpoints, each said subordinate controller independently controlling a different one of said subordinate setpoints, the first said subordinate setpoint representing the flow rate of said oxygen-containing gas preceding said first reaction, the second said subordinate setpoint representing the flow rate of said hydrocarbon preceding said first reaction, the third said subordinate setpoint representing the flow rate of said steam preceding said first reaction, the fourth said subordinate setpoint representing the flow rate of said steam preceding said second reaction, the fifth said subordinate setpoint representing the speed of said shaft rotation, said use of said master controller and said five subordinate controllers including accessing control data contained in said master controller, said control data establishing a relationship among said five subordinate setpoints and at least three optimal output levels of said permeate hydrogen stream, said optimal output levels varying in said relationship on a scale from zero output of said permeate hydrogen stream to maximum output of said permeate hydrogen stream, each said optimal output level in said relationship having corresponding thereto a group of said five subordinate setpoints, wherein on said ongoing basis:a pressure sensor transmits sensory signals to said master controller, said sensory signals being indicative of said pressure of said permeate hydrogen stream;said master controller processes said sensory signals in relation to said control data so as to determine said optimal output level resulting in restoring said pressure of said permeate hydrogen stream to said permeate pressure setpoint, and so as to determine said group of said five subordinate setpoints that corresponds to the determined said optimal output level;said master controller simultaneously transmits master control signals to said five subordinate controllers, said master control signals transmitted to the first said subordinate controller being indicative of the determined first said subordinate setpoint, said master control signals transmitted to the second said subordinate controller being indicative of the determined second said subordinate setpoint, said master control signals transmitted to the third said subordinate controller being indicative of the determined third said subordinate setpoint, said master control signals transmitted to the fourth said subordinate controller being indicative of the determined fourth said subordinate setpoint, said master control signals transmitted to the fifth said subordinate controller being indicative of the determined fifth said subordinate setpoint;said subordinate controllers separately and simultaneously transmit subordinate control signals in accordance with said master control signals, said subordinate control signals transmitted by the first said subordinate controller being indicative of the determined first said subordinate setpoint, said subordinate control signals transmitted by the second said subordinate controller being indicative of the determined second said subordinate setpoint, said subordinate control signals transmitted by the third said subordinate controller being indicative of the determined third said subordinate setpoint, said subordinate control signals transmitted by the fourth said subordinate controller being indicative of the determined fourth said subordinate setpoint, said subordinate control signals transmitted by the fifth said subordinate controller being indicative of the determined fifth said subordinate setpoint. 2. The method for chemically processing a hydrocarbon as recited in claim 1, the method further comprising: cooling and compressing the permeate hydrogen stream, thereby forming a delivery hydrogen stream;maintaining a constant pressure of said delivery hydrogen stream, said pressure of said delivery hydrogen stream being maintained on an ongoing basis at a delivery pressure setpoint, said maintaining at said delivery pressure setpoint including:receiving signals indicative of said pressure of said permeate hydrogen stream;transmitting control signals to adjust the pressure of said delivery hydrogen stream in accordance with said delivery pressure setpoint. 3. The method for chemically processing a hydrocarbon as recited in claim 2, wherein said delivery pressure setpoint is higher than said permeate pressure setpoint. 4. The method for chemically processing a hydrocarbon as recited in claim 1, wherein said control data includes a lookup table, said lookup table being informative with respect to said relationship among said five subordinate setpoints and said optimal output level of said permeate hydrogen stream, the method further comprising creating said lookup table, said creating of said lookup table including recording optimal steady state operating data points representing said five subordinate setpoints, said optimal steady state operating data points being recorded with respect to each of at least three said optimal output levels ranging between said zero output and said maximum output. 5. The method for chemically processing a hydrocarbon as recited in claim 4, the method further comprising interpolating the recorded data to obtain additional said optimal steady state operating data points representing said five subordinate setpoints, said additional said optimal steady state operating data points being obtained with respect to at least one additional said optimal output level ranging between said zero output and said maximum output. 6. The method for chemically processing a hydrocarbon as recited in claim 5, wherein: the producing energy includes using an energy recovery device;the energy recovery device includes a turbine shaft, a turbine expander, a main compressor, and a generator;the shaft rotation is rotation of the turbine shaft;the rotation of the turbine shaft drives the generator to produce electricity;the rotation of the turbine shaft drives the main compressor to produce compressed air. 7. A method for chemically processing a hydrocarbon in order to produce a high purity hydrogen stream, the method comprising: using an autothermal reformer reactor to receive oxygen-containing gas, hydrocarbon, and steam and to produce a mixture containing hydrogen and carbon monoxide;using a water-gas shift reactor to receive steam, to receive carbon monoxide produced by the autothermal reformer, and to produce a mixture containing hydrogen and carbon dioxide;using a hydrogen membrane separator to receive hydrogen and carbon dioxide from the water-gas shift reactor and to separate hydrogen therefrom so as to produce a permeate hydrogen stream;using an energy recovery device to receive non-hydrogen gases from the hydrogen membrane separator and to produce energy for the reformer system, the energy recovery device including a rotatable shaft;using a master computer and five subordinate computers to continually maintain constancy of the permeate hydrogen stream at a permeate pressure setpoint, a first subordinate setpoint being controlled by the first subordinate computer and representing the mass flow rate of the oxygen-containing gas received by the autothermal reformer reactor, a second subordinate setpoint being controlled by the second subordinate computer and representing the mass flow rate of the hydrocarbon received by the autothermal reformer reactor, a third subordinate setpoint being controlled by the third subordinate computer and representing the mass flow rate of the steam received by the autothermal reformer reactor, a fourth subordinate setpoint being controlled by the fourth subordinate computer and representing the mass flow rate of the steam received by the water-gas shift reactor, a fifth subordinate setpoint being controlled by the fifth subordinate computer and representing the speed of the rotatable shaft, wherein the use of the master computer and the five subordinate computers to continually maintain said constancy includes repeatedly performing the following: inputting, from a pressure sensor to the master computer, sensory signals indicative of the pressure of the permeate hydrogen stream;processing, using the master computer, the sensory input in relation to control data resident in the memory of the master computer, the control data including plural output levels, on a scale from zero output to maximum output, of the permeate hydrogen stream, the control data further including the five subordinate setpoints, each output level having corresponding thereto a group of the five subordinate setpoints, the processing including correlating the sensory input to the output levels in the control data so as to select the output level in the control data that results in reinstating the pressure of the permeate hydrogen stream at the permeate pressure setpoint, the selected output level in the control data having corresponding thereto a selected group of the five subordinate setpoints;contemporaneously outputting, from the master computer to the five subordinate computers, master control signals indicative of the selected group of the five subordinate setpoints, the first subordinate computer thereby being instructed by the master computer to establish the first subordinate setpoint in the selected group of the five subordinate setpoints, the second subordinate computer thereby being instructed by the master computer to establish the second subordinate setpoint in the selected group of the five subordinate setpoints, the third subordinate computer thereby being instructed by the master computer to establish the third subordinate setpoint in the selected group of the five subordinate setpoints, the fourth subordinate computer thereby being instructed by the master computer to establish the fourth subordinate setpoint in the selected group of the five subordinate setpoints, the fifth subordinate computer thereby being instructed by the master computer to establish the fifth subordinate setpoint in the selected group of the five subordinate setpoints. 8. The method for chemically processing a hydrocarbon as defined in claim 7, wherein an apparatus produces a delivery hydrogen stream for cooling and compressing the permeate hydrogen stream, and wherein the method further comprises using the master computer to receive signals indicative of the pressure of the delivery hydrogen stream, and to transmit control signals to adjust the pressure of the delivery hydrogen stream in accordance with the delivery pressure setpoint. 9. The method for chemically processing a hydrocarbon as defined in claim 8, wherein the delivery pressure setpoint is higher than the permeate pressure setpoint. 10. The method for chemically processing a hydrocarbon as defined in claim 7, wherein: the energy recovery device includes the rotatable shaft, a turbine expander, a main compressor, and a generator;the producing energy includes rotation of the rotatable shaft;the speed of the rotatable shaft is the speed of the rotation of the rotatable shaft;the rotation of the rotatable shaft drives the generator to produce electricity;the rotation of the rotatable shaft drives the main compressor to produce compressed air. 11. The method for chemically processing a hydrocarbon as defined in claim 7, the method further comprising creating a lookup table the control data including the lookup table, the lookup table including the output levels and the five subordinate setpoints, the creating of the lookup table including recording optimal steady state operating data points representing the five subordinate setpoints, the optimal steady state operating data points being recorded with respect to each of at least three output levels ranging between the zero output and the maximum output. 12. The method for chemically processing a hydrocarbon as defined in claim 11, wherein: the energy recovery device includes the rotatable shaft, a turbine expander, a main compressor, and a generator;the producing energy includes rotation of the rotatable shaft;the speed of the rotatable shaft is the speed of the rotation of the rotatable shaft;the rotation of the rotatable shaft drives the generator to produce electricity;the rotation of the rotatable shaft drives the main compressor to produce compressed air. 13. The method for chemically processing a hydrocarbon as defined in claim 11, the method further comprising interpolating the recorded data to obtain additional optimal steady state operating data points representing the five subordinate setpoints, the additional optimal steady state operating data points being obtained with respect to at least one additional output level ranging between the zero output and the maximum output. 14. The method for chemically processing a hydrocarbon as defined in claim 13, wherein: the energy recovery device includes the rotatable shaft, a turbine expander, a main compressor, and a generator;the producing energy includes rotation of the rotatable shaft;the speed of the rotatable shaft is the speed of the rotation of the rotatable shaft;the rotation of the rotatable shaft drives the generator to produce electricity;the rotation of the rotatable shaft drives the main compressor to produce compressed air. 15. The method for chemically processing a hydrocarbon as defined in claim 13, wherein the use of the master computer and the five subordinate computers to continually maintain said constancy includes repeatedly performing individual and contemporaneous outputting, from the five subordinate computers, of subordinate control signals indicative of the selected group of the five subordinate setpoints, the first subordinate computer outputting the first subordinate setpoint in the selected group of the five subordinate setpoints, the second subordinate computer outputting the second subordinate setpoint in the selected group of the five subordinate setpoints, the third subordinate computer outputting the third subordinate setpoint in the selected group of the five subordinate setpoints, the fourth subordinate computer outputting the fourth subordinate setpoint in the selected group of the five subordinate setpoints, the fifth subordinate computer outputting the fifth subordinate setpoint in the selected group of the five subordinate setpoints.
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이 특허에 인용된 특허 (16)
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Clawson, Lawrence G.; Dorson, Matthew H.; Mitchell, William L.; Nowicki, Brian J.; Thijssen, Johannes; Davis, Robert; Papile, Christopher; Rumsey, Jennifer W.; Longo, Nathan; Cross, III, James C.; Ri, Integrated hydrocarbon reforming system and controls.
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McAlister, Roy Edward, Reactor vessels with pressure and heat transfer features for producing hydrogen-based fuels and structural elements, and associated systems and methods.
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