JP2001263649A - Vaporizer - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] [PROBLEMS] To provide a vaporizer that effectively utilizes energy and has good workability. SOLUTION: A power generation means 11 is provided by branching from a gas pipe 4 connected to an evaporator 1 having a heating means 2, and power is supplied from the power generation means 11 to supply electric power to a flow rate measurement means 7 and a transmission means 12. In addition to the power control means 13 to be supplied, a transmission means 12 for receiving a signal from the flow rate measuring means 7 and transmitting a gas consumption value or the like to a remote place is provided.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates to a vaporizer for evaporating a liquefied gas such as propane gas, and more particularly to a vaporizer having a power generation function and a flow rate measurement function.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, this type of vaporizer has the structure shown in FIG. That is, the evaporator 1 is provided with a heating means 2 such as a heater, the evaporator 1 is connected to a liquid pipe 3 and a gas pipe 4, and the liquid pipe 3 is provided with a throttle means 5. The liquid pipe 3 is connected to open a liquid portion in a pressure vessel 6 such as a cylinder or a bulk storage tank for storing a liquefied gas such as propane gas, and the gas pipe 4 is provided with a flow rate measuring means 7 for measuring a gas flow rate and a propane gas. A water heater 8 or the like that consumes gas is connected.

Further, the gas space in the pressure vessel 6 and the gas pipe 4 are connected to each other by a bypass pipe 10 via a switching valve 9 for use.

Normally, a switching valve 9 is used so as to supply gas from a gas space in a pressure-resistant container 6 to a water heater 8 through a bypass pipe 10. In response, the water vaporizes and evaporates in the pressure-resistant container 6, and flows into the water heater 8 through the bypass pipe 9.

On the other hand, when the outside air temperature is low and the gas consumption is high, the latent heat of evaporation increases and it is difficult to receive heat from the surrounding air, so that the temperature of the liquid in the pressure-resistant container 6 rapidly decreases. As a result, the amount of gas evaporation decreases, and it becomes impossible to supply a sufficient amount of gas to the water heater 8.

At this time, by switching the switching valve 9, the liquid in the pressure-resistant container 6 passes through the liquid pipe 3, the pressure of which is reduced by the valve or the throttle means 5 of the capillary tube, and then enters the evaporator 1 and is heated. Heated by means 2 evaporates. The evaporated gas passed through the gas pipe 4 and was measured by the flow rate measuring means 7 and then supplied to the water heater 8 for consumption.

[0007]

However, in the conventional vaporizer, when the outside air temperature is high and the gas consumption is small, low-temperature energy is released to the outside air by evaporating the liquefied gas in the pressure vessel. There was a problem that energy could not be used effectively.

When the temperature of the outside air is low and the gas consumption is large, energy such as electricity or propane gas is consumed to evaporate the liquefied gas, so that the liquefied gas is evaporated. Had the problem of.

Further, the gas consumption can be measured by the flow rate measuring means provided in the gas pipe, but the measured value is processed by a method of being recorded and collected by a person, but it takes time and costs. Had.

In addition, piping is required from both the liquid portion and the gas space portion of the pressure vessel, and a switching valve for switching the piping is required. .

An object of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned problems and to provide a vaporizer which effectively utilizes energy and has good workability.

[0012]

According to the present invention, there is provided an evaporator, a liquid pipe connected to an input side of the evaporator and having a throttle means,
A gas pipe connected to the output side of the evaporator, a heating means for heating the evaporator, a power generation means branched from the gas pipe, and a flow rate measurement means provided on the gas pipe, A transmitter which receives a signal from the flow rate measuring means and sends a signal to a remote place, and which has an output of the power generation means as an input and includes a power control means for supplying power to the flow rate measuring means and the transmitter, By using a part of the evaporated liquefied gas to generate power without using a power supply or a large number of dry batteries, it becomes possible to transmit the measurement value of the flow rate measurement means to a remote place, so that the gas usage can be reduced. Since it is not necessary to go to the place where the flow rate measuring means is provided for recording, it is possible to collect gas consumption data at low cost and realize a vaporizer excellent in workability.

[0013]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION According to the present invention, there is provided an evaporator, a liquid pipe connected to an input side of the evaporator and having a throttle means, and a gas pipe connected to an output side of the evaporator. Heating means for heating the evaporator, power generation means branched from the gas pipe, flow rate measurement means provided on the gas pipe, and a signal received from the flow rate measurement means at a remote location. And a power control means for supplying power to the flow rate measurement means and the transmitter with the output of the power generation means as an input, using a part of the liquefied gas evaporated and vaporized by the evaporator. By operating the flow rate measuring means and the transmitter with the generated power, data such as gas consumption can be sent to a remote location.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, the power generating means is formed by a gas combustor and a thermoelectric generator heated by the heat generated by the gas combustor. Can be realized.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, the power generation means is formed by a fuel cell, and a small and high-performance electric generator can be realized.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, the power generation means is formed by a gas combustor, a gas turbine, and a power generator, so that a small-sized and large power generation can be performed.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, there is provided an evaporator, heating means for heating the evaporator, a liquid pipe having a turbine connected to an input side of the evaporator, and a flow meter connected to the evaporator. A gas pipe having means, a generator for generating electric power by the rotational force of the turbine, a transmitter for receiving a signal from the flow rate measuring means and sending a signal to a remote location, and the flow rate measuring means with an output of the generator as an input. And a power control means for supplying power to the transmitter, thereby realizing a device with excellent energy efficiency that can generate power only by the pressure of the liquefied gas without consuming energy.

[0018]

(Embodiment 1) Hereinafter, a first embodiment of the present invention will be described.

FIG. 1 is an explanatory view showing the structure of the vaporizer of the present embodiment. The electric generator according to the present embodiment includes a liquid pipe 3 having a heating means 2 such as a hot water heater and provided with a throttle means 5 such as an expansion valve and a gas pipe 4 provided with a flow rate measuring means 7 such as a gas flow meter. The evaporator 1 to be connected, the power generation means 11 such as a gas engine provided branching from the gas pipe 4, and the transmitter 1 which receives a signal from the flow rate measurement means 7 and sends the signal to a remote place.
2 and a power control means 13 for supplying power to the flow rate measuring means 7 and the transmitter 12 after temporarily storing the power supplied from the power generating means 11.

The operation of this embodiment will be described below.
The electric generator according to the present embodiment opens the liquid pipe 3 to the liquid part in the pressure-resistant container 6 and connects the gas pipe 4 to a water heater 7 that consumes gas.
It is used by connecting to the like. At this time, the liquefied gas in the pressure-resistant container 6 flows through the liquid pipe 3 and is reduced in pressure by the throttle means 5 and then evaporated in the evaporator 1.

The amount of the vaporized gas passes through the gas pipe 4 and is measured by the flow rate measuring means 7 and then supplied to the water heater 8 for consumption. A part of the vaporized gas is generated by the power generation means 11 branched from the gas pipe 4 and temporarily stored in the power control means 13, and then supplied to the flow measurement means 7 and the transmitter 12 as motive energy. The transmitter 12 receiving the data from the flow rate measuring means 7 can transmit a value such as gas consumption to a receiver provided at a remote data collection place. Furthermore, even if the gas consumption is large or the ambient temperature is low, the liquefied gas can be stably evaporated at low cost by introducing the exhaust heat of the power generation means 11 to the heating means 2.

(Embodiment 2) Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described. FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing the configuration of the present embodiment. In the present embodiment, the power generation means 11 includes a combustor 14 provided by branching from the gas pipe 4 and a thermoelectric generator 15 heated by the combustion heat of the combustor 14.

With the above configuration, the combustion heat generated by the combustor 14 heats the heating surface of the thermoelectric generator 15 and cools the cooling surface of the thermoelectric generator 15 with the latent heat of evaporation in the evaporator 1. Highly efficient power generation is possible. Further, when the pressure inside the evaporator 1 becomes abnormally high, the power stored in the power control device 13 is passed through the thermoelectric element 15 to cool the cooling surface of the thermoelectric element 15 to obtain a low temperature. By using the heater 2 as a cooler, the inside of the evaporator 1 can be cooled to prevent damage to the apparatus.

(Embodiment 3) Next, a third embodiment of the present invention will be described. FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing the configuration of the present embodiment. In this embodiment, the gas pipe 4
Since the fuel cell 16 is provided by branching from the fuel cell 16, power generation can be performed with high efficiency.

(Embodiment 4) Next, a fourth embodiment of the present invention will be described. FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing the configuration of the present embodiment. In the present embodiment, the power generation means 11 is
And a gas turbine 17 having a high-temperature gas of the gas combustor 14 as an input, and a generator 18 having a rotational energy of the gas turbine 17 as an input. By introducing the exhaust heat to the heating means 2, the liquefied gas can be evaporated at low cost.

(Embodiment 5) Next, a fifth embodiment of the present invention will be described. FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram showing the configuration of the present embodiment. In the present embodiment, the evaporator 1 has a heating means 2 such as a hot water heater and connects a liquid pipe 3 and a gas pipe 4 provided with a flow rate measuring means 7 such as a gas flow meter. A gas combustor 14 provided, a power generator 11 including a turbine 19 provided in the liquid pipe 3 and a generator 18 which receives the torque of the turbine 19 as an input, and receives a signal from the flow rate measuring means 7 and sends the signal to a remote place. And a power generation means 1
Power supply means 13 for supplying power to the flow rate measuring means 7 and the transmitter 12
It is provided with.

In this configuration, the high-pressure liquefied gas flowing through the liquid pipe 3 is expanded by rotating the turbine 19 which also functions as the throttle means in the above-described embodiment, and becomes low-temperature and low-pressure, thereby evaporating the evaporator 1.
After being vaporized and measured by the flow rate measuring means 7 of the gas pipe 4, the gas is consumed by the water heater 8. On the other hand, the turbine 19
Is transmitted to the generator 18 to generate electric power, which is sent to the electric power control means 13. Further, the power temporarily stored in the power control means 13 is supplied to the flow rate measuring means 7 and the transmitter 12 as motive energy.

The transmitter 12 receiving the data from the flow rate measuring means 7 can transmit a value such as gas consumption to a receiver provided at a remote data collection place. Further, when the gas consumption is large or the ambient temperature is low, the gas combustor 14 branched from the gas pipe 4 is provided.
By introducing the heat generated in the evaporator 1 to the heater 2
The liquefied gas inside can be stably evaporated at low cost.

[0029]

As described above, according to the vaporizer of the present invention, the following effects can be obtained.

According to the first aspect of the present invention, since the flow rate measuring means and the transmitter are operated by the electric power generated by using a part of the liquefied gas evaporated and vaporized by the evaporator, no commercial power supply is used. It has excellent workability, such as sending data such as gas consumption to a remote location, and can function as an independent energy source even in the event of a disaster.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, since the power generating means is composed of the gas combustor and the thermoelectric generator heated by the gas combustor, a small-sized and low-noise vaporizer can be realized.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, since the power generation means is constituted by a fuel cell, power can be generated with high efficiency, and the exhaust heat of the fuel cell is used as a heat source of a heater of an evaporator. Therefore, a vaporizer excellent in economy can be realized.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a gas combustor having a power generation means branched from a gas pipe, a gas turbine having combustion gas of the gas combustor as an input, and a power generator driven by the gas turbine. , The waste heat can be used as a heat source of the heater of the evaporator, so that it is excellent in economic efficiency and can generate large electric power.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a turbine having a function of a throttling means in which a power generating means is provided in a liquid pipe, and a generator for generating power by the rotational force of the turbine. Since the turbine is rotated by pressure to generate power, an economical vaporizer with low energy consumption can be realized.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of a vaporizer showing a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram of a vaporizer showing a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a configuration diagram of a vaporizer showing a third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a configuration diagram of a vaporizer showing a fourth embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a configuration diagram of a vaporizer showing a fifth embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a configuration diagram of a vaporizer showing a conventional example.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Evaporator 2 Heating means 3 Liquid pipe 4 Gas pipe 5 Throttling means 6 Pressure vessel 7 Flow rate measuring means 8 Water heater 9 Switching valve 10 Bypass pipe 11 Power generating means 12 Transmitter 13 Power control means 14 Gas combustor 15 Thermoelectric generator 16 Fuel cell 17 Gas turbine 18 Generator 19 Turbine

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁷ Identification code FI theme coat ゛ (reference) // H02N 11/00 H02N 11/00 A F term (reference) 2F030 CC13 CE09 2F031 AE09 3K068 AA02 AB23 BB01 5H027 DD06 KK52 MM01

Claims (5)

[Claims] An evaporator, a liquid pipe connected to an input side of the evaporator and having a restrictor, a gas pipe connected to an output side of the evaporator, and a heating means for heating the evaporator; A power generating means branched from the gas pipe, a flow measuring means provided in the gas pipe, a transmitter for receiving a signal from the flow measuring means and sending a signal to a remote location, and an output of the power generating means And a power control means for supplying power to the flow rate measuring means and the transmitter with the input as an input. 2. The vaporizer according to claim 1, wherein the power generation means includes a gas combustor and a thermoelectric generator heated by the gas combustor. 3. The fuel cell according to claim 1, wherein the power generation means is formed by a fuel cell.
The vaporizer described in 1. 4. The vaporizer according to claim 1, wherein the power generation means is formed by a gas combustor, a gas turbine, and a power generator. 5. An evaporator, heating means for heating the evaporator, a liquid pipe connected to the input side of the evaporator and having a turbine, a gas pipe connected to the evaporator and having a flow rate measuring means, A generator that generates electric power by the rotational force of the turbine, a transmitter that receives a signal from the flow rate measuring unit and sends a signal to a remote location, and supplies power to the flow rate measuring unit and the transmitter by using an output of the generator as an input Vaporizing device provided with a power control means that performs the control.