CNG DISTRIBUTION

Skill Development Program July, 2022

Types of CNG Stations

Daughter Booster
Stations
Mother Stations
CNG Stations Daughter Stations
Online Stations

Skill Development Program July, 2022

Skill Development Program July, 2022
Major Equipments at CNG stations

▷ CNG Compressors

▷ Priority Panels

▷ Dispensers (Car & Bus)

▷ Stationary and Mobile Cascades

▷ Loading/Unloading Points

▷ Odorizer Unit

▷ Electrical Systems

▷ DG Sets

▷ Uninterrupted Power Supply (UPS)

Skill Development Program July, 2022
 Mother CNG Station

▷ Mother stations are connected to natural gas pipeline and having a

compressor meant primarily (have high compression capacity) to fill mobile
cascades for the daughter station (through mobile cascades).
▷ Also fills stationary cascades for CNG dispensing into vehicles.
▷ Typically they have the facility of filling all types of vehicles –
buses/autos/cars.
▷ In addition to its own sales, it is able to feed 2 to 3 daughter stations.
▷ It is preferred to install more than one compressor at each Mother Station
for better reliability.
Skill Development Program July, 2022
 250 barg

Schematic of Mother Station

200 bar

15-19 bar

250 barg

Skill Development Program July, 2022

Online CNG Station

▷ Online stations are connected to natural gas pipeline

▷ CNG vehicle storage cylinders need to be filled at a pressure of 200 bars.
▷ Online Stations are equipped with a compressor of relatively small capacity, which
compresses low pressure pipeline gas to the pressure of 250 bar for dispensing CNG
to the vehicle on-board cylinder
▷ On line station may have the facility to feed small vehicles alone or small vehicles
and Buses

Skill Development Program July, 2022

15-19 bar

200-250 bar

Skill Development Program July, 2022

Daughter CNG station

▷ The “Daughter Stations” dispense CNG using mobile cascades.

▷ These mobile cascades at daughter stations are replaced when pressure falls and pressure depleted mobile
cascade is refilled at the “Mother Station”.

▷ There is reduction in storage pressure at daughter stations with each successive filling. Once the storage
pressure drops, the refueling time increases, while the quantity of CNG dispensed to vehicle also
decreases

▷ Sizing of mobile cascade and truck to be decided based on distance and capacity to be transported from
Mother stations.

▷ Nos. of LCV/HCV, To & Fro frequency & cut off pressure may be decided based on load

▷ Daughter station may have the facility to feed small vehicles alone

Skill Development Program July, 2022

Daughter CNG station

250 BARG

250 BARG

LCV-MOUNTED-CASCADES

200 STORAGE
BARG CASCADE

CNG VEHICLE

Skill Development Program July, 2022

Daughter booster CNG station

▷ Daughter-Booster stations are not connected to natural gas pipeline

▷ They dispense CNG using mobile cascades.
▷ These mobile cascades at daughter stations are replaced when pressure falls and pressure
depleted mobile cascade is refilled at the Mother Station
▷ Booster station improve the utilization of residual CNG in mobile cascade up to 70-80%.
▷ Daughter station may have the facility to feed small vehicles alone
▷ Installing a booster compressor can eliminate drawbacks of daughter stations. The mobile
cascade can be connected to the dispensing system through a booster.
▷ Daughter booster (compressor) is designed to take variable suction pressure and discharge at
constant pressure of 200 bars to the vehicle being filled with CNG.

Skill Development Program July, 2022

Daughter Booster CNG station

250 BARG

250 BARG

LCV-MOUNTED-CASCADES "BOOSTER"
COMPRESSOR

200 STORAGE
BARG CASCADE

CNG VEHICLE

Skill Development Program July, 2022

Stationary and Mobile Cascades

 Cascade is the arrangement of Cylinders which acts like a buffer

vessel in which Natural Gas is stored at High Pressure and than used
for Dispensing.

 Cascade is divided in three banks; High Bank, Medium Bank and

Low Bank. The division of banks are done for fast filling and
maintaining High pressure in of the customer vehicle cylinder.

Skill Development Program July, 2022

Stationary and Mobile Cascades

▷ Stationary Cascade:
Stationary Cascade is installed at CNG Station, these cascades are used for
minimizing the stop/start of compressor. All the cylinders in Cascade acts as
buffer vessel.
▷ Mobile Cascade:
Mobile Cascades are the cascades mounted on Heavy Commercial Vehicles
(HCV) or Light Commercial Vehicle that are used for transportation of Gas
from Mother Station to Daughter Station.

Skill Development Program July, 2022

Stationary and Mobile Cascades

Stationary Cascade Mobile Cascade

Skill Development Program July, 2022

Loading/Unloading Points

▷ Loading Point:
Loading point is the installation at Mother Station which is used for filling
Natural gas at the High Pressure up to 250 kg/cm2g in the Mobile Cascade and
than transferred to daughter station.

▷ Unloading Point:
Unloading Point is the Installation at Daughter Station through which filled
Mobile Cascades are emptied out.

Skill Development Program July, 2022

Unloading Points

Skill Development Program July, 2022

CNG FUELING
STATIONS
Skill Development Program July, 2022
Types of CNG Stations

▷ Fast Fill
▷ Time Fill
▷ Combination

Skill Development Program July, 2022

Fast-fill stations
Best suited for retail situations where light duty vehicles, such as vans, pickups,
and sedans, arrive randomly and need to fill up quickly.

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Fast Fill CNG Stations

▷ Fast fill stations receive fuel at a low pressure and then use a
compressor on site to compress the gas to a high pressure.
▷ Once compressed, the CNG moves to a series of storage vessels so
the fuel is available for a quick fill-up.
▷ CNG at fast fill stations is often stored in the vessels at a high
service pressure, so it can deliver fuel to a vehicle faster than the
fuel coming directly from the compressor, which delivers fuel at a
lower volume.

Skill Development Program July, 2022

Fast-fill CNG refueling station

Skill Development Program July, 2022

Benefits of Fast Fill CNG Stations

▷ Retail opportunities

▷ High fuel delivery speeds

▷ Simultaneously fuels multiple vehicles

▷ Smaller setup

▷ Increased storage available for peak fuelling times

Skill Development Program July, 2022

Time-fill:
CNG is dispensed slowly directly to vehicles’ onboard storage tanks. Lower cost station
investment. Best for fleets that return to central lot and sit idle overnight or for extended
periods and do not need fast fill capability.

Skill Development Program July, 2022

▷ The time it takes to fuel a vehicle depends on the number of vehicles, compressor
size, and the amount of buffer storage.
▷ Vehicles may take several minutes to many hours to fill.
▷ The advantage of using a time fill station is that the heat of recompression is less,
so vehicle cylinder usually gets a fuller fill than with a fast fill station.
▷ With a time fill station time of filling the vehicles can be controlled. The
compressor can be run during off-peak hours (like at night), to achieve lower
electricity rates

Skill Development Program July, 2022

Benefits of Time Fill CNG Stations

▷ Overnight CNG fuelling

▷ Simultaneously fuels multiple heavy-duty vehicles

▷ Fewer components

▷ Auto-stop when 100% full

▷ Customizable fuelling rates

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Combination-fill

▷ Comprises both time-fill and fast-fill. Often good for fleets that can fuel on time-fill
but need occasional “top off” or want/need ability to provide public access
▷ Gas moves to one or more compressors. Then, based on need, CNG is delivered to
high-pressure storage tanks for Fast-Fill fuelling or directly to Time-Fill CNG fuel
lines.
▷ Unlike a standalone Time-Fill or Fast-Fill station, Combination CNG stations allow
for fuelling flexibility for a varied fleet and can accommodate public access if
necessary.

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Benefits of Combination

▷ Complete CNG fuelling solution

▷ Allows for light, medium, heavy duty vehicles

▷ Adds flexibility to fuelling schedules

▷ Retail opportunities

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Comparative Analysis

Time Fill CNG Fast Fill CNG Combination CNG

Stations Stations Stations

Unattended CNG
X X
Fuelling
Easily Scalable X X
100% Fill X X
On-Demand CNG
X X
Fueling

Retail Application X X

Metered Fuelling X X

Skill Development Program July, 2022

Filling CNG Fuel Tanks

Fuelling rate:
▷ As the rate of fuelling increases, the temperature of the fuel also increases.
▷ As the fuel warms up, it expands and becomes less dense, therefore containing less energy by volume when

the fuel system reaches the rated pressure.

▷ For this reason, usually more CNG is filled into a tank with a time fill versus a fast fill application.
▷ This is because when gas molecules are compressed they create heat.
▷ The faster they are compressed, the more they heat up and expand.
▷ So when gas is compressed rapidly by using a fast fill station, the molecules will heat up and expand more

than if filled slowly over time.

Skill Development Program July, 2022

Ambient temperature:
▷ The outside temperature affects the temperature of the CNG.
▷ At higher temperatures, CNG is less dense, and therefore does not contain as much energy
per unit volume as it would at a lower temperature.
▷ When the CNG is stored in warm ambient temperatures, it expands and becomes less dense,
so when the tank reaches the rated pressure, the CNG inside does not contain as much
energy as it would at lower temperatures.

Skill Development Program July, 2022

Pressure rating:
▷ The cylinders are actually designed to hold up to 125% of their operating
pressure.
▷ This makes it possible to fill a tank to a higher pressure on hot days when the
gas is expanding, as well as compensate for the heat of recompression.

Skill Development Program July, 2022

Cylinder type:
▷ The material used to make the cylinder also affects the temperature in the tank, and
thus, affects how “full” you can fill the tank.
▷ For example, carbon fibre tanks hold heat better than steel tanks.
▷ The temperature inside the tank affects the expansion and contraction of the gas, and
therefore, how much gas the tank will hold.

Skill Development Program July, 2022

Thank You

Skill Development Program July, 2022