Method and apparatus for dispensing compressed natural gas and liquified natural gas to natural gas powered vehicles
First Claim
1. A fueling station comprising:
- at least one pump configured to boost a pressure of a volume of liquefied natural gas (LNG) supplied thereto, the at least one pump having at least one pressurized output configured to supply pressurized LNG;
at least one diverter valve operably coupled to the at least one pressurized output of the at least one pump, wherein the at least one diverter valve is configured to selectively divert the flow of any pressurized LNG flowing from the at least one pressurized output of the at least one pump between a first flow path and a second flow path;
at least one LNG dispensing unit in fluid communication with the first flow path;
a vaporizer in fluid communication with the second flow path, the vaporizer being configured to receive and convert pressurized LNG to compressed natural gas (CNG); and
at least one CNG dispensing unit in fluid communication with the vaporizer.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A fueling facility and method for dispensing liquid natural gas (LNG), compressed natural gas (CNG) or both on-demand. The fueling facility may include a source of LNG, such as cryogenic storage vessel. A low volume high pressure pump is coupled to the source of LNG to produce a stream of pressurized LNG. The stream of pressurized LNG may be selectively directed through an LNG flow path or to a CNG flow path which includes a vaporizer configured to produce CNG from the pressurized LNG. A portion of the CNG may be drawn from the CNG flow path and introduced into the CNG flow path to control the temperature of LNG flowing therethrough. Similarly, a portion of the LNG may be drawn from the LNG flow path and introduced into the CNG flow path to control the temperature of CNG flowing therethrough.
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Citations
31 Claims
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1. A fueling station comprising:
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at least one pump configured to boost a pressure of a volume of liquefied natural gas (LNG) supplied thereto, the at least one pump having at least one pressurized output configured to supply pressurized LNG;
at least one diverter valve operably coupled to the at least one pressurized output of the at least one pump, wherein the at least one diverter valve is configured to selectively divert the flow of any pressurized LNG flowing from the at least one pressurized output of the at least one pump between a first flow path and a second flow path;
at least one LNG dispensing unit in fluid communication with the first flow path;
a vaporizer in fluid communication with the second flow path, the vaporizer being configured to receive and convert pressurized LNG to compressed natural gas (CNG); and
at least one CNG dispensing unit in fluid communication with the vaporizer. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
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16. A method of dispensing natural gas fuel comprising:
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providing a supply of saturated liquified natural gas (LNG) at a first relatively low pressure to a pump;
flowing the LNG through a pump and increasing the pressure of the LNG to a second relatively high pressure;
providing a first flow path between the pump and an LNG dispensing unit;
providing a second flow path between the pump and a compressed natural gas (CNG) dispensing unit;
selectively flowing the LNG through the first flow path, the second flow path or through both the first and the second flow paths;
reducing the pressure of any LNG flowing through the first flow path to a third intermediate pressure lower than the second pressure and higher than the first pressure and dispensing at least a portion thereof through the LNG dispensing unit; and
vaporizing any LNG flowing through the second flow path to produce CNG therefrom and dispensing at least a portion of the CNG through the CNG dispensing unit. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30)
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31. A method of dispensing natural gas fuel comprising:
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providing a supply of saturated liquified natural gas (LNG) at a first relatively low pressure to a pump;
flowing the LNG through a pump and increasing the pressure of the LNG to a second pressure greater than the first relatively low pressure;
providing a first flow path between the pump and an LNG dispensing unit;
providing a second flow path between the pump and a compressed natural gas (CNG) dispensing unit;
selectively flowing the LNG through the first flow path, the second flow path or through both the first and the second flow paths wherein, selectively flowing the LNG through the first flow path includes selectively flowing LNG through the first flow path substantially at the second pressure, and wherein selectively flowing LNG through the second flow path includes increasing the pressure of any LNG flowing through the second path to a third pressure greater than the second pressure; and
dispensing at least a portion of any LNG flowing through the first flow path through the LNG dispensing unit; and
vaporizing any LNG flowing through the second flow path to produce CNG therefrom and dispensing at least a portion of the CNG through the CNG dispensing unit.
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Specification