Patent ID: 9683518
Date: 2017-06-20
CPC Classifications: B63B,B63H,F02D,F02M,F04B,F17C,Y02T,Y10T

Claim:
1. A ship comprising: at least one fuel tank containing fuel; a fuel pump in fluid communication with the at least one fuel tank and configured to pressurize fuel from the at least one fuel tank to a pressure in a range from 150 bar absolute (bar(a)) to 400 bar(a); a heater in fluid communication with the fuel pump and configured to heat pressurized fuel from the fuel pump to a supercritical state of the fuel; a supercritical fuel engine in fluid communication with the heater and configured to consume the fuel from the heater in its supercritical state; a hydraulic pump configured to convert mechanical power into a pressurized flow of a hydraulic fluid; a hydraulic motor in fluid communication with the hydraulic pump and configured to convert the pressurized flow from the hydraulic pump into torque to power the fuel pump; hydraulic fluid conduits interconnecting the hydraulic pump and the hydraulic motor to form a closed loop of the hydraulic fluid; a vaporizer in fluid communication with the at least one fuel tank and configured to vaporize the fuel from the at least one fuel tank; and a vapor fuel engine in fluid communication with the vaporizer and configured to consume the fuel from the vaporizer in its vapor state; a fuel pump compartment enclosing the fuel pump and the hydraulic motor; a fuel processing compartment enclosing the heater and the vaporizer; and wherein the fuel pump compartment and the fuel processing compartment are air-tightly separated by at least one partitioning wall therebetween such that the fuel pump is air-tightly isolated from the heater and the vaporizer.