Natural gas conditioning facility
AssigneeConsolidated Natural Gas Service Company, Inc.
InventorsRalph E. Hise, Paul F. Swenson
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A facility for conditioning compressed natural gas to be dispensed to vehicle fuel tanks is provided that includes a fuel storage system, a chilling apparatus, and a fuel dispensing system. The chilling apparatus includes a refrigeration system and a liquid separator. The refrigeration system cools the compressed natural gas to near freezing temperature and/or a sub freezing temperature to remove water vapor, to remove higher hydrocarbons, and/or to obtain a full fill of the vehicle fuel tanks. The liquid separator is located downstream of the refrigeration system to remove any condensed liquids from the natural gas. A desiccant bed can be provided downstream of the liquid separator to remove any residual liquids remaining in the natural gas.
Claims25
A facility for conditioning natural gas to be dispensed in a compressed state to vehicle fuel tanks, said facility comprising:
- a fuel storage system for compressed natural gas;
- a dispensing system for dispensing said compressed natural gas to the vehicle fuel tanks;
- a chilling apparatus including a refrigeration unit for cooling the natural gas to a sub ambient temperature and a liquid separator for removing condensed water and other liquid contaminants from the natural gas cooled by said refrigeration unit;
- and
- a fuel delivery circuit coupling said fuel storage system, said dispensing system, and said chilling apparatus in a manner such that gas passing through said circuit to said dispensing system is chilled by said chilling apparatus and thereby permits a fuel tank to be filled without overpressuring such tank.
A method for conditioning compressed natural gas in a vehicle fueling process comprising the steps of chilling the compressed natural gas with a refrigeration unit to a sub ambient temperature, and separating condensed water vapor from the natural gas with a liquid separator.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.