A fluid supply warning and communication system including fluid tight engagements being made with tubing having at least one connector end chosen from a universal connector, a twist-on nipple, and a v-shaped end. A gas supply warning and communication system including a first upstream gas path, a second upstream gas path, and a downstream gas path made with tubing having at least one connector end chosen from a universal connector, a twist-on nipple, and a v-shaped end. A method of increasing humidity in a downstream gas path in the gas supply warning and communication system by flowing gas through a downstream gas path tubing that increases humidity to an end use appliance.

A fuel management module for use with a CNG fuel system for a vehicle includes a housing configured to be connected to the vehicle and a number of connections, receptacles, and controls associated with the module. A defueling receptacle may be positioned on the front panel of the housing, for defueling a fuel tank of the vehicle. A defueling control valve may be positioned on the front panel of the housing for controlling operation of the defueling receptacle, allowing for selective defueling. One or more high pressure connections may be accessible on the housing and configured for connection to one or more separate fuel tanks in a plug and play configuration. A plurality of filling connections may be accessible on the housing for filling the fuel tank(s). A low pressure fuel output connection may be positioned on the back panel of the housing to provide fuel output from the high pressure connections to the engine.

A method for filling tanks with pressurized gas via a filling station comprising several storage containers and a fluid circuit for transferring the gas from the containers to the tanks, the circuit comprising a first end to which the containers are linked in parallel and a second end provided with a transfer line intended to be connected to the tank(s) to be filled, the circuit comprising, arranged in series between the first end and the second end, a first isolation valve, a flow or pressure regulation member, and a second isolation valve, the method comprising filling a first tank, characterized in that, on completion of the filling of the first tank and before filling a second tank, the first and second isolation valves are closed to trap a supply of pressurized gas in the circuit between said two valves and in that the supply of gas is used to refill at least one of the containers.

A fuel cell system includes: a high-pressure tank including a resin liner and a reinforcing layer; an acquisition portion configured to acquire a value of an internal pressure and a value of an internal temperature of the high-pressure tank; a notification portion; and a controlling portion. The controlling portion sets, in a map of the internal temperature and the internal pressure, a boundary line sectioning the map into a first region and a second region, the first region indicating a possibility that a stress caused in the resin liner damages the resin liner, the second region being a region having a higher temperature and a higher pressure than the first region. When the value of the internal temperature and the value of the internal pressure reach the boundary line, the controlling portion causes the notification portion to notify that the high-pressure tank needs to be filled with a fuel gas.

A pressure vessel balanced refuelling system enables greater volumes of gas to be used as working volumes and increases gas storage efficiency. The system includes a plurality of pressure vessels, each vessel having a liquid transfer opening for the entry and exit of a liquid that is used to displace a gas inside each vessel. A liquid transfer line extends from an outside to an inside of each vessel in the plurality of pressure vessels through the liquid transfer opening, and a liquid balance line inter-connects the liquid transfer opening of each vessel with the liquid transfer opening of each other vessel. Thus a balance liquid transfer path extends from an inside to an outside of one vessel, then from the outside to the inside of each other vessel through the liquid balance line, enabling a liquid level in the one vessel to remain approximately equal to a liquid level in each other vessel.

Disclosed herein is a system for storing gas at almost constant pressure, which involves the injection and withdrawal of a liquid in a process known as hydraulic compensation. This disclosure teaches a way to minimize that dissolution by ensuring that, as the gas containment is charged up, the hydraulic compensation liquid emerges from the containment at the gas storage pressure and the pressure of that liquid is caused to fall in a number of discrete steps with settling volumes present at the nodes between these steps. These settling volumes enable some gas to come out of solution at each node having lost relatively small amounts of pressure. The gas is compressed back up to storage pressure and re-injected into the main storage containment without significant use of energy.

An open loop cooling apparatus is provided. The open loop cooling apparatus includes gas capturing and collecting elements, an expansion valve receptive of pressurized gas from the gas capturing and collecting elements and configured to expand the pressurized gas, an evaporator coil downstream from the expansion valve through which the pressurized gas, having been expanded in the expansion valve, passes to cool air flowing over the evaporator coil and one or more storage tanks receptive of the pressurized gas from the evaporator coil for later sale.

A hydraulic system is provided to reduce a dead volume when pressurizing gas. The system includes a gas source, a gas output, a pressure vessel coupled to the gas source and the gas output, a hydraulic system that forces hydraulic fluid into the pressure vessel from the gas source to compress gas, and an overflow tank that receives overflow of hydraulic fluid once all gas has been expelled from the pressure vessel via the gas output.

A fuel cell system includes: a high-pressure tank including a resin liner and a reinforcing layer; an acquisition portion configured to acquire a value of an internal pressure and a value of an internal temperature of the high-pressure tank; a notification portion; and a controlling portion. The controlling portion sets, in a map of the internal temperature and the internal pressure, a boundary line sectioning the map into a first region and a second region, the first region indicating a possibility that a stress caused in the resin liner damages the resin liner, the second region being a region having a higher temperature and a higher pressure than the first region. When the value of the internal temperature and the value of the internal pressure reach the boundary line, the controlling portion causes the notification portion to notify that the high-pressure tank needs to be filled with a fuel gas.

A method for adjusting temperature and/or pressure of fuel in a pressured container system of a vehicle to a respective temperature setpoint and/or a respective pressure setpoint before a process of filling the pressurized containers includes extracting fuel from a first pressurized container having a first temperature and a first pressure, to bring the first temperature and/or the first pressure of the fuel closer to the temperature setpoint and/or to the pressure setpoint of the first pressurized container. The method also includes supplying the extracted fuel to either a fuel conversion device to power the vehicle or into a second pressurized container, where fuel in the second pressurized container has a second temperature and a second pressure, to bring the second temperature and/or the second pressure of the fuel closer to the temperature setpoint and/or to the pressure setpoint of the second pressurized container. The temperature setpoints and/or the pressure setpoints are determined such that, without exceeding the respective maximum operating pressure and the respective maximum operating temperature of the respective pressurized container, the amount of fuel introduced from a single filling source by a process of filling the pressurized containers which is carried out at the same time and for the same length of time is maximized.