Patent ID: 6591926
Filing Date: 2003-07-15
Classification: F02B,H01M,Y02E,Y02T

Abstract:
A system for recovering potential energy from a pressurized gas fuel supply which is used to power a fuel cell within a vehicle, said system comprising:a fuel tank which stores said pressurized gas; a conduit system which selectively and fluidly couples said fuel tank to said fuel cell; said conduit system having at least one pressure-reducing regulator disposed therein; an energy conversion unit including a turbine which is disposed within said conduit system and which is selectively and rotatably driven by said pressurized gas, effective to generate torque and lower the pressure of said pressurized gas, and a generator which is coupled to said turbine and which utilizes the torque generated by said turbine to generate electrical power; a bypass valve which is effective to cause said pressurized gas to selectively bypass said energy conversion unit; at least one sensor that is effective to measure at least one vehicle operating attribute and to generate a signal representing said measured vehicle operating attribute, a controller which is communicatively coupled to said bypass valve and to said at least one sensor, said controller being effective to receive said signal and to selectively actuate said bypass valve based upon the value of said signal; and a switching module which is electrically and communicatively coupled to said controller and which is electrically coupled to a plurality of electrical components wherein said controller selectively controls said switching module, effective to selectively transfer said generated power to at least one said plurality of electrical components.