A method and apparatus for compressing gases and supplying fuel to a gaseous fuel consuming device, such as a gaseous fueled vehicle or the like. One embodiment includes a gas compressor for compressing the gaseous fuel to an array of tanks having predetermined initial set points which are increasing for tanks in the array. One embodiment provides a selecting valve having first and second families of ports wherein the valve can be operated to select a plurality of ports from the first family to be fluidly connected with a plurality of ports with the second family, and such fluid connections can be changed by operation of the valve.

A process for producing and storing hydrogen includes providing an intermediate gas mixture having an increased proportion of hydrogen and contacting of the intermediate gas mixture with a hydrogen carrier medium in order to hydrogenate the hydrogen carrier medium.

A system to prevent the formation of hydrates in a pipeline includes a heater assembly. The heater assembly has a vortex tube mounted on an outer surface of a first section of the pipeline and a compressed gas source. The vortex tube is configured to separate gas from an inlet into a hot gas pathway and a cold gas pathway. The vortex tube includes an inlet, a cold gas outlet, and a hot gas outlet. The hot gas outlet of the vortex tube is fluidly connected to an opening defined in the first section of the pipeline. The hot gas outlet is configured to flow hot gas from the vortex tube into an interior volume of the pipeline. The compressed gas source is fluidly connected to the inlet of the vortex tube.

A volatile organic compounds (“VOC”) collection system has an inlet, a positive displacement pump (“PDP”), a first automated control valve, a pressure vessel (“PV”), and PV top and bottom portion outlets. The PV has PV top and bottom portions. The inlet receives a VOC emission and is in fluid communication with the PDP through an inlet-PDP connector. The PDP is in fluid communication with the PV through a PDP-PV connector. The first automated control valve is in fluid communication with the PDP-PV connector. The PV top and bottom portions are in fluid communication with the PV top and bottom portion outlets respectively. The inlet-PDP connector is under a pressure that keeps the VOC emission in a vapor phase. The PDP-PV connector and the PV are under a pressure that condenses the VOC emission and separates the VOC emission into a gas phase and a liquid phase.

A passive insulating tank support structure includes a first interface ring mounted to a first tank, a first support ring surrounding and spaced apart from the first interface ring, a second interface ring mounted to a second tank, a plurality of first struts coupling the first and second interface rings, a plurality of second struts coupling the first support ring and second interface ring, a plurality of third struts coupling the first support ring and a first heat source, a third interface ring mounted to the second tank, and a plurality of fourth struts coupling the third interface ring and a second heat source.

A method and apparatus for compressing gases and supplying fuel to a gaseous fuel consuming device, such as a gaseous fueled vehicle or the like. One embodiment includes a gas compressor for compressing the gaseous fuel to an array of tanks having predetermined initial set points which are increasing for tanks in the array. One embodiment provides a selecting valve having first and second families of ports wherein the valve can be operated to select a plurality of ports from the first family to be fluidly connected with a plurality of ports with the second family, and such fluid connections can be changed by operation of the valve.

A mobile liquefaction plant (7) for liquefying helium, includes a liquefaction device (8) that liquefies helium, an intermediate storage tank (9) for liquefied helium, a cleaning device (29) which removes non-helium components from the helium and is connected upstream of the liquefaction device, and an additional collecting device (25) that collects gaseous helium which evaporates when an application cryostat (4) is filled with liquid helium and that includes a container (26) with a flexible wall and which stores the collected gaseous helium approximately at atmospheric pressure. The container (26) has an available container volume of at least 5 m.sup.3. Systems provided with such a mobile liquefaction plant exhibit an improved recovery of helium from application cryostats in a simple and cost-effective manner.

The present invention relates to a breathing air charger for detecting a tank state, capable of providing air properly adjusted in the concentration of oxygen and nitrogen to a breathing air tank used by a firefighter or a scuba diver, and of effectively discharging air from the breathing air tank.

A device equipped with a tank, includes: the tank to be filled with a fuel gas; a valve mechanism provided in the tank; a receptacle with which a nozzle of a fuel gas filling device is connectable; a first filling path, an upstream end of the first filling path communicating with the receptacle; a second filling path, a downstream end of the second filling path communicating with the tank through the valve mechanism; and a storage container hermetically communicating between a downstream end of the first filling path and an upstream end of the second filling path, and storing foreign matter contained in the fuel gas, wherein the storage container is positioned vertically above the downstream end of the first filling path.

A system and method for supplying a backup product in an air separation device, as well as a system and method for supplying a lower-pressure product to a user by means of pressurization of a cryogenic liquid pump during normal operation of an air separation device, i.e., when the cryogenic liquid pump is in the cold standby state. By means of the system and method, a cryogenic liquid product taken from a storage tank is pressurized by the cryogenic liquid pump to produce a lower-pressure product by taking full advantage of the low-speed operation of the cryogenic liquid pump in the cold standby state, and the lower-pressure product is transmitted to product supply lines of a user, to achieve the function of supplying the lower-pressure product to the user. The system and method not only reduce the energy loss of the cryogenic liquid pump in the cold standby state for a long time, but also avoid the bleeding rate of the cryogenic liquid product generated by sending a part of the cryogenic liquid product back to the storage tank, so that the advantage of quickly starting the cryogenic liquid pump from the cold standby state is ensured, and the requirements of the user to the higher-pressure product and the lower-pressure product can be satisfied.