Studying effects of storage types on performance of CNG filling stations

At CNG filling station, compressed natural gas must be stored in storage system in order to make the utilization of the station more efficient. There are two systems for storing natural gas namely buffer and cascade storage systems. In buffer storage, CNG is stored at single high-pressure reservoirs. The cascade storage system is usually divided into three reservoirs, generally termed low, medium and high-pressure reservoirs. In current study, based on first and second laws of thermodynamics, conversation of mass and real gas assumptions, a theoretical analysis has been developed to study effects of reservation type on performance of CNG filling stations and filling process. Considering the same final natural gas vehicle cylinder (NGV) on-board in-cylinder pressure for both storage systems, the results show that each storage type has advantages over the other. The best configuration should be selected by balancing these advantages. (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.