Modeling and Analysis of a CNG Residential Refueling System

Abstract

Natural gas has recently been proposed as an alternative fuel for transportation in the United States. Refueling infrastructure is the major technological barrier to the market penetration of passenger compressed natural gas (CNG) vehicles. Currently, there is about one natural gas refueling station every 150 gasoline pumps. Nevertheless, natural gas is widely available in American houses, and thus distributed residential refueling is seen as a viable solution. Generally, residential CNG refueling systems use compressors driven by electric motors. With a potential increase in the number of residential natural gas refueling systems over the next few years, the additional load that this system will introduce on the electric power infrastructure can be significant. In this paper, a system dynamic model of a residential refueling system has been developed and validated against data available in the literature. Ultimately, the model will allow for exploring the impact of residential refueling of CNG vehicles on the electric power infrastructure.