IRVINE, Calif., April 17 /PRNewswire/ -- IMPCO Technologies, Inc. announced today that its Advanced Technology Center in Irvine, California, has been awarded a patent for its new and innovative In-Tank Fuel Pressure Regulator Technology for Hydrogen Fuel Cell Vehicles (FCVs) and Natural Gas Vehicles (NGVs).
IMPCO's new In-Tank Regulator combined with the company's proprietary, "TriShield" ultra-light weight, advanced composite fuel storage tanks offer a significant reduction in fuel system cost while at the same time increasing vehicle safety to a level not previously attained in the alternative fuel system industry.
In conventional gaseous fuel delivery systems, the fuel is transported at high pressure to the engine bay where the pressure is reduced prior to delivery to the engine. Thus, a large amount of high-pressure gas is contained in the fuel delivery lines at all times. The IMPCO patented in-tank
regulator reduces the pressure of the gas prior to exiting the tank. As an added safety feature, the regulator also automatically shuts off the fuel flow in the event of an emergency and will enhance the safety of the entire vehicle and its occupants.
IMPCO solved this problem through the design of a high-pressure regulator housed inside the vehicle fuel tank. The IMPCO design not only minimizes fuel system operating pressure, but it can also reduce overall fuel system cost through integration of key system functions such as tank filling, fuel filtering, fuel tank monitoring, thermal relief valve and tank isolation (lock-off). The new In-Tank regulator also enables low cost, low-pressure fuel delivery lines to be easily installed as the total number of parts
required is reduced from seven to one. The current high-pressure fuel delivery lines are both expensive
and labor intensive to install throughout the chassis of the vehicle.
IMPCO plans to offer two models of In-Tank Regulator designs:
1.0 H2R 5000 - Hydrogen Fuel Cells and Hydrogen Internal Combustion Engines (5000-psi (+) operating pressure, 150-psi outlet pressure)
2.0 NGR 3600 - Compressed Natural Gas Fuel Cells and Natural Gas Vehicles (3600-psi operating pressure, 150-psi outlet pressure)
Syed Hussain, Vice President and General Manager of IMPCO's Technology and Automotive OEM Division said, "We are delighted to offer a product that will 'raise the bar' in terms of increasing the safety of fuel cell and natural gas vehicles at a lower fuel storage system price to the OEM. Our goal is to continue to develop advanced technologies in the areas of fuel storage, fuel metering and electronic
control systems which are cost effective for the automotive OEMs." |
