Device for filling pressurized gas tanks, in particular hydrogen tanks of vehicles, comprising a fluid transfer circuit having an upstream end connected to a plurality of sources (2 to 10) of pressurized fluid and a downstream end comprising at least one dispenser intended to be connected to a tank to be filled, the sources (2 to 10) being connected in parallel to the at least one dispenser, each source (2 to 10) comprising a fluid outlet connected to a respective outlet valve (22 to 30), the sources (2 to 10) being connected in parallel in different subgroups to respective transfer lines (35 to 37), i.e. all the sources of a same subgroup are connected in parallel to a dedicated transfer line (35 to 37), each of several subgroups and preferably all subgroups of sources comprising multiple sources, the transfer lines (35 to 37) being connected in parallel to the at least one dispenser and each comprising a respective transfer valve (32 to 34), the at least one dispenser comprising a set of control valve(s), the at least one dispenser and its set of control valve(s) being dimensioned so as to transfer a predetermined maximum filling gas flow, the outlet valves (22-30), the transfer lines (35-37) and the transfer valves (32-34) being dimensioned so as to transfer a maximum transfer gas flow which is smaller than the maximum filling gas flow, the sum of a plurality of maximum transfer gas flows provided by a plurality of outlet valves (22-30) and a plurality of transfer lines (35-37) being greater than or equal to the maximum filling gas flow.

The invention relates to an integrated hydrogen fueling station for fueling of vehicle tanks with hydrogen characterized in that it comprises an electrochemical compressing unit in which secondary hydrogen originating from leakage, boiling-off or venting of hydrogen-containing gas in one or more of the fueling station's operative units is compressed wherein the secondary hydrogen contains hydrogen and further gaseous components, and to a method for operating such a hydrogen fueling station.

The present invention relates to a method for improving stability of a hydrogen gaseous dispensing system. An example of such system is hydrogen powered vehicle fuel filling station. Vehicle is filled by multiple high pressure gaseous hydrogen tubes, usually one tube at a time. For safety and reliability reasons a control requirement for such system is to be able to deliver the hydrogen at constant rate to the fuel tank so that its rate of pressure increase stays constant during entire filling process. A dual pressure regulator arrangement is proposed to better maintain flow continuity and/or pressure during tube switching.

Method for filling a tank with pressurized hydrogen via a filling station comprising at least one buffer container and a fluid circuit connected to said at least one buffer container, the circuit of the filling station comprising a first end connected to at least one source of hydrogen gas, the circuit comprising a second end fitted with a transfer pipe intended to be connected removably to the tank that is to be filled, the method involving a step of purifying the hydrogen supplied by the source in a purification member before transferring same to the at least one buffer container, the circuit of the filling station further comprising at least one compression member for compressing the pressurized gas in order to fill the at least one buffer container, the method being characterized in that it comprises a step of transferring heat energy between, on the one hand, the compressed gas of the outlet from the compression member and, on the other hand, the purification member.

A method for filling at least one buffer container of a hydrogen filling station, the station comprising a fluid circuit linked to said at least one buffer container, the circuit of the filling station comprising a first end linked to at least one source of hydrogen gas, the circuit comprising a second end provided with a transfer conduit intended to be removably connected to a tank, the method being characterized in that it comprises a step of determining the current concentration of at least one impurity in the hydrogen in the buffer container during the filling of same, a step of comparing said current concentration of the impurity relative to a predefined threshold concentration and, when the current concentration of the at least one impurity reaches said threshold concentration, stopping the filling of said buffer container.

A filling station for pressurized fluids has a storage container and a dispenser supplied thereby, comprising a high-pressure path and a low-pressure path. The storage container is partitioned into separate sections, which are each connected to the input of a high-pressure pump via a first switching valve and to the output of said high-pressure pump via a second switching valve. The first or second switching valves are connected on their pump sides to the low-pressure path of the dispenser via a third switching valve. The output of the high-pressure pump supplies a high-pressure reservoir via a fourth switching valve, which high-pressure reservoir is connected to the high-pressure path of the dispenser via a fifth switching valve.

Compressed gas dispensing methods using cascade dispensing from a first plurality of storage vessels and a second plurality of storage vessels. A compressor is used to provide very high pressure compressed gas for the second plurality of pressure storage vessels. Various methods are described for different sources of the compressed gas. The methods are particularly suitable for dispensing hydrogen into storage vessels in vehicles.

A device for filling a tank or tanks with pressurized gas comprising a circuit comprising a plurality of upstream ends connected respectively to separate pressurized gas sources, at least one compressor, at least one buffer storage, a set of controlled valves and at least one downstream end intended to be connected to the tank(s) to be filled, the device further comprising an electronic control member configured to control the valves and/or the compressor in order to ensure a transfer of gas into the tank from at least one source and/or at least one buffer storage and/or via the compressor, the device comprising a set of sensors for measuring the pressure in the sources and the buffer storages, the control member comprising member for receiving or generating signal representative of the filling demand from a relatively high demand to a relatively low demand, the control member being configured to ensure the transfer of gas into the tank according to at least a first transfer mode using the source having the highest pressure and a second transfer mode using a source having a pressure lower than this highest pressure in response, respectively, to a relatively high or low filling demand.

A method of dispensing compressed natural gas (CNG) includes assigning a first priority to the filling of a first destination tank and assigning a second priority to the filling of a second destination tank. The second priority is lower than the first priority. The method also includes filling the first destination tank from a first CNG source while filling the second destination tank from a second CNG source. The second CNG source provides CNG at a lower pressure relative to the pressure at which the first CNG source provides CNG.

This invention relates to a novel method and system for dispensing CO2 vapor without over pressurization. The system includes one or more liquid containers and one or more vapor containers. The system is designed to operate in a specific manner whereby a restricted amount of CO2 liquid is permitted into the vapor container through a restrictive pathway that is created and maintained by a shuttle valve during the filling operation so that equalization of container pressures is achieved, thereby allowing shuttle valve to reseat when filling has stopped. During use, a pressure differential device is designed to specifically isolate the vapor container from the liquid container so as to preferentially deplete liquid CO2 from the vapor container and avoid over pressurization of the system until the vapor container. The system is operated so that at least 50% of the CO2 product is dispensed from the vapor container. The system also includes novel control methodology for performing pre-fill integrity checks to ensure safety of subsequent dispensing of CO2 liquid from a source vessel to the onsite CO2 containers.