High-efficiency fast fill of compressed natural gas

作为燃烧最清洁、碳含量最低的化石燃料，天然气是全球能源讨论的核心。鉴于不断增长的能源需求和与传统化石燃料相关的高温室气体(GHG)排放，运输部门是天然气的关键市场。人们建造了压缩天然气(CNG)加气站，以便在加油站为天然气汽车(NGV)加油的速度与传统汽车一样快。由于快速灌装过程中的显著温升，CNG钢瓶只能灌装到额定容量的80%以下。有限的加油效率和减少的车辆行驶里程是广泛采用新能源汽车的严重障碍。 作为重型汽车CNG燃料系统的领先供应商，雅捷燃料系统公司正在寻找一种创新的解决方案，将CNG加气量增加10%以上。此外，还需要最小的附加重量和低功耗，以便该解决方案可以轻松集成到CNG燃料系统中 凭借在热管理和流量控制方面的专业知识，UBC Okanagan的电子冷却实验室(Sunny Li博士)和计算流体动力学实验室(Joshua Brinkerhoff博士)正在与Agility合作解决这一工程问题。此次合作旨在开发一种散热系统，该系统可以在CNG钢瓶装满时有效地从钢瓶内部排出热量。将进行实验、分析和数值研究，以研究CNG填充的热问题，并设计、测试和优化散热系统。 该项目将增加CNG在加拿大交通部门的渗透率，从而提高能源效率并减少温室气体排放。它将为加拿大的可持续能源和环境未来带来重大贡献。这将增强加拿大在全球NGV市场的竞争力。它符合加拿大支持行业竞争力的议程，并支持加拿大的环境保护目标。

As the cleanest-burning and lowest-carbon fossil fuel, natural gas is at the heart of energy discussions across the world. Given the increasing energy demand and high greenhouse gases (GHG) emissions associated with conventional fossil fuels, the transportation sector is a key market for natural gas. Compressed natural gas (CNG) stations have been built to fill natural gas vehicles (NGV) as fast as fueling conventional vehicles at gasoline stations. Due to significant temperature rise during fast fill, CNG cylinders can be filled only to less than 80% of rated capacity. The limited fill efficiency and the reduced vehicle driving range that results is a serious obstacle to the widespread adoption of NGVs. As the leading provider of CNG fuel systems for heavy duty vehicles, Agility Fuel Systems is looking for an innovative solution to increase CNG fill by more than 10%. Additionally, minimum added weight and low power consumption are required so that the solution can be easily integrated into CNG fuel systems With expertise in thermal management and flow control, the Electronics Cooling Lab (Dr. Sunny Li) and Computational Fluid Dynamics Lab (Dr. Joshua Brinkerhoff) at UBC Okanagan are collaborating with Agility to solve this engineering problem. The collaboration aims to develop a heat rejection system that can efficiently remove heat from inside CNG cylinders while the cylinders are being filled. Experimental, analytical, and numerical research will be carried out to investigate the thermal issues of CNG fill, and design, test, and optimize the heat rejection system. The project will increase the penetration of CNG into the Canadian transportation sector, thereby increasing energy efficiency and reducing GHG emission. It will bring significant contribution to Canada's sustainable energy and environment future. It will strengthen Canada's competitiveness in the world-wide NGV market. It fits into Canada's agenda to support industry competitiveness and supports Canada's aims for environmental protection.