Queuing-based approach for optimal dispenser allocation to hydrogen refueling stations

Dispenser allocation to hydrogen refueling stations aims at minimizing the number of dispensers while ensuring satisfactory performance of vehicle queues during the peak hour of a peak day. A queuing model is developed in this study to evaluate the queuing performance at such stations by incorporating the statistical and thermodynamic characteristics of refueling. An optimization framework is proposed to determine the minimal number of dispensers required to meet the upper limits imposed on two important performance measures: mean waiting time and mean queue length. Reasonable upper limits are provided for 70 MPa stations according to the effects of dispenser allocation and station capacity on queuing performance. Server (dispenser nozzle) utilization under the optimal dispenser allocation generally increases with an increase in station size and tends to exceed 50% for large stations. The proposed approach can offer significant performance improvements for small stations and considerable savings in the number of dispensers for large ones. Copyright (C) 2014, Hydrogen Energy Publications, LLC. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.