Virtual gaseous fuel pipeline
Various embodiments provide an end-to-end gaseous fuel transportation solution without using physical pipelines. A virtual pipeline system and methods thereof may involve transportation of gaseous fuels including compressed natural gas (CNG), liquefied natural gas (LNG), and/or adsorbed natural gas (ANG). An exemplary pipeline system may include a gas supply station, a mother station for treating gaseous fuels from the gas supply station, a mobile transport system for receiving and transporting the gaseous fuels, and a user site for unloading the gaseous fuels from the mobile transport system. The unloaded gaseous fuels can be further used or distributed.
1. A method of transferring compressed gas from a plurality of source vessels to a destination vessel, the method comprising:
bringing either (a) the plurality of source vessels or (b) the destination vessel to a geographic site of the other of (a) the plurality of source vessels and (b) the destination vessel; and
sequentially transferring compressed gas from sequential ones of the source vessels to the destination vessel, wherein said sequential transfer results in a pressure in the destination vessel being higher than a post-transfer pressure in at least one of the source vessels from which compressed gas was transferred to the destination vessel,
wherein said sequentially transferring of compressed gas comprises:
transferring compressed gas from a first one of the source vessels to a first one of the destination vessels along a first flow path, and
transferring compressed gas from the first one of the source vessels to the first one of the destination vessels along a second flow path while actively refrigerating at least a portion of the second flow path, wherein the second flow path differs from the first flow path.