Pressure vessel
A pressure vessel includes a liner configured to store a target fluid and including a boss provided at an end thereof, a reinforcement layer surrounding a periphery of the liner, and a thermal conduction member provided between the liner and the reinforcement layer and having a first end in contact with the boss and a second end in contact with the liner at a target position. The thermal conduction member is configured to transfer heat applied to the boss to the target position, thereby obtaining an advantageous effect of improving safety and reliability.
1 . A pressure vessel comprising:
a liner configured to store a target fluid, the liner including a boss disposed at an end portion of the liner;
a reinforcement layer that surrounds a periphery of the liner; and
a thermal conduction member disposed between the liner and the reinforcement layer, the thermal conduction member having (i) a first end in contact with the boss and (ii) a second end in contact with a target position defined at the liner,
wherein the thermal conduction member is configured to transfer heat from the boss to the target position,
wherein the thermal conduction member comprises:
a first thermal conduction layer having a first thermal conductivity, the first thermal conduction layer having (i) the first end in contact with the boss, (ii) the second end in contact with the target position, (iii) an inner surface that faces an outer surface of the liner, and (iv) an outer surface that faces an inner surface of the reinforcement layer,
a second thermal conduction layer disposed at the inner surface of the first thermal conduction layer facing the outer surface of the liner, the second thermal conduction layer having a second thermal conductivity less than the first thermal conductivity, wherein the second thermal conduction layer is disposed at the inner surface of the first thermal conduction layer in a range between the first end and the second end of the first thermal conduction layer, and
a third thermal conduction layer disposed at the outer surface of the first thermal conduction layer facing the inner surface of the reinforcement layer, the third thermal conduction layer having a third thermal conductivity less than the first thermal conductivity,
wherein the first thermal conduction layer is disposed between the second thermal conduction layer and the third thermal conduction layer,
wherein the pressure vessel further comprises a thermally activated pressure relief device (TPRD) connected to the boss and configured to selectively discharge the target fluid through the boss to an outside of the liner along a discharge direction,
wherein the liner is configured to discharge the target fluid through the target position along a direction corresponding to the discharge direction,
wherein the thermally activated pressure relief device is configured such that a metal fuse in a safety valve is melted by a temperature in an event of fire to thereby open a flow path for discharging the target fluid from the pressure vessel,
wherein the boss comprises:
a neck portion having a first end exposed to an outside of the liner, and
a flange portion connected to a second end of the neck portion,
wherein a cross-sectional area of the flange portion is greater than a cross-sectional area of the neck portion,
wherein the first end of the thermal conduction member is in contact with a lateral surface of the neck portion and disposed adjacent to an outermost peripheral end of the neck portion, and
wherein the first end of the thermal conduction member defines a circumferential surface that extends along the lateral surface of the neck portion to the outermost peripheral end of the neck portion and that is in surface contact with the lateral surface of the neck portion.
2 . The pressure vessel of claim 1 , wherein the liner comprises:
a cylinder part; and
a side part that has a dome-shape and is provided at one of two opposite ends of the cylinder part, and
wherein the boss is connected to the side part.
3 . The pressure vessel of claim 2 , wherein the target position is defined at the cylinder part, and
wherein the second end of the thermal conduction member is in contact with the cylinder part through the side part.
4 . The pressure vessel of claim 3 , wherein the target position is defined at least one of a central region of the cylinder part or two opposite edge regions of the cylinder part.
5 . The pressure vessel of claim 1 , wherein a thermal conductivity of the boss is greater than thermal conductivities of the liner and the reinforcement layer.
6 . The pressure vessel of claim 1 , wherein the first thermal conductivity is 500 to 1200 W/mk, and a melting point of the first thermal conduction layer is 500° C. or more, and
wherein the second thermal conductivity is 0.05 to 0.2 W/mk, and a melting point of the second thermal conduction layer is 250° C. or more.
7 . The pressure vessel of claim 1 , wherein the boss is one of a plurality of bosses provided at the liner, the plurality of bosses comprising (i) a first boss provided at a first end of the liner and (ii) a second boss provided at a second end of the liner.
8 . The pressure vessel of claim 1 , wherein the reinforcement layer comprises a carbon fiber layer that surrounds the periphery of the liner.
9 . The pressure vessel of claim 8 , wherein the reinforcement layer comprises a fiberglass layer that surrounds a periphery of the carbon fiber layer.
10 . The pressure vessel of claim 1 , wherein the target position is defined at a lower portion of the liner based on a gravitational direction.
11 . The pressure vessel of claim 1 , wherein a thermal conductivity of the thermal conduction member is greater than a thermal conductivity of the reinforcement layer.
12 . The pressure vessel of claim 1 , wherein the thermal conduction member defines a shortest route that connects the boss and the target position.
13 . The pressure vessel of claim 1 , wherein the thermally activated pressure relief device is coupled to the boss in an axial direction of the pressure vessel and configured to discharge the target fluid in the discharge direction that is orthogonal to the axial direction of the pressure vessel.
14 . The pressure vessel of claim 1 , wherein the target fluid is hydrogen.
15 . The pressure vessel of claim 1 , wherein the thermally activated pressure relief device is attached to the neck portion of the boss and covers the first end of the neck portion.
16 . The pressure vessel of claim 1 , wherein distal ends of the first thermal conduction layer and the third thermal conduction layer are disposed at a position corresponding to the outermost peripheral end of the neck portion.
17 . The pressure vessel of claim 1 , wherein the first thermal conduction layer defines the circumferential surface that is in surface contact with the lateral surface of the neck portion.