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US 4,527,600 AGranted
Compressed natural gas dispensing system
AssigneeRockwell International Corporation
InventorsHarry W. Fisher, Emil E. Hrivnak
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A system and method for dispensing compressed gas from a storage tank is disclosed in which the temperature and pressure in the tank is measured before and after the dispensing cycle and electric signals representative of these values are applied to a processor/computer which is programmed to compute from these signals the volume of gas dispensed.
Claims28
A system for dispensing compressed gas comprising;
- a source of gas under pressure, conduit means for connecting said source to a receptacle to be charged with gas from said source, a control valve in said conduit for selectively closing and opening said conduit, temperature transducer means adapted to produce respective signals corresponding to the change in the temperature of the gas in said source as a result of a dispensing operation, pressure transducer means adapted to produce respective signals corresponding to the change in the pressure of the gas in said source as a result of a dispensing operation, a process control computer, means for applying said temperature and pressure signals to said computer, said computer being comprised of means for registering the value of said signals and means for calculating the volume of gas dispensed as a function of said respective temperature and pressure signals.
A system for dispensing compressed gas comprising:
- a source of gas under pressure, conduit means extending from said source for connecting said source to a receptacle to be charged with gas from said source, a control valve in said conduit for selectively closing and opening said conduit, a temperature transducer adapted to produce a signal representative of the temperature of the gas in said source, a pressure transducer adapted to produce a signal representative of the pressure of the gas in said source, computer means, means for applying said temperature and pressure signals to said computer, said computer including means for registering the temperature and pressure of the gas in said source before and after a dispensing operation and including means for calculating the volume of gas dispensed as a function of said temperature and pressure signals before and after said dispensing operation.
A system for dispensing compressed gas comprising:
- a source of gas under pressure, conduit means extending from said source for connecting said source to a receptacle to be charged with gas from said source, a control valve in said conduit for selectively closing and opening said conduit, temperature transducer means adapted to produce respective signals corresponding to the change in the temperature of the gas in said source as a result of a dispensing operation, pressure transducer means adapted to produce respective signals corresponding to the change in the pressure of the gas in said source as a result of a dispensing operation, computer means, means for applying said temperature and pressure signals to said computer means, said computer means being comprised of means for registering the value of said signals and means for calculating the volume of gas dispensed as a function of said respective temperature and pressure signals, a regulator in said conduit downstream of said control valve adapted to maintain the pressure in said conduit downstream of said regulator at a preselected value less than the value of the pressure in said vessel, a flow sensing transducer in said conduit adapted to apply a signal to said computer means indicative of whether or not gas is flowing in said conduit, said computer means being programmed to close said control valve when the signal from said flow transducer indicates that the flow in said conduit has terminated.
The method of dispensing compressed natural gas from a pressurized storage vessel to a receptacle under less pressure than the vessel comprised of the steps of:
- (1) connecting said storage vessel and said receptacle with a conduit;
- (2) sensing the temperature and pressure of the gas within the vessel before the dispensing cycle is initiated;
- (3) initiating the flow of gas through said conduit from said vessel to said receptacle;
- (4) sensing the temperature and pressure in said vessel after the flow through said conduit has been terminated;
- (5) calculating the amount of gas in standard terms discharged from said storage vessel from the initial and final values of pressure and temperature.
2 more elements
The method of dispensing compressed natural gas from a closed storage vessel containing gas under pressure to a receptacle comprising the steps of:
- (1) connecting said storage vessel and said receptacle with a conduit;
- (2) recording the actual values of the temperature and pressure within said storage vessel before the dispensing operation is initiated;
- (3) calculated and recording the standard volume of gas within said storage vessel before and dispensing operation is initiated;
- (4) initiating the flow of gas through said conduit from said storage vessel to said receptacle.
- (5) recording the final values of the temperature and pressure within said storage vessel after said dispensing operation is completed;
- (6) calculating and recording the standard volume of the gas within said storage vessel after said dispensing operation is completed;
- and
- (7) subtracting the standard volume within said storage vessel after the dispensing operation from the standard volume within said storage vessel before said dispensing operation was initiated.
5 more elements
A system for dispensing compressed gas comprising:
- a source of gas under pressure, conduit means connecting said source to a receptacle to be charged with gas from said source, a control valve in said conduit for selectively closing and opening said conduit, a temperature transducer adapted to produce a signal representative of the temperature of the gas in said source, a pressure transducer adapted to produce a signal representative of the pressure of the gas in said source, computer means having memory, means for applying said temperature and pressure signals to said computer means, said computer means including means for registering the temperature and pressure of the gas in said source before and after a dispensing operation, said computer means having a program stored in said memory to calculate the volume of gas dispensed as a function of said temperature and pressure signals before and after said dispensing operation.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.