CASCADE
SOFTWARE FOR NATURAL GAS & HYDROGEN FUELING STATION SIZING
CASCADE - Gaseous Fueling System Sizing/Analysis Engineering Tool
What's new in Upgrade Version 3.1
The CASCADE gaseous fueling station sizing program was developed by Gas Technology Institute and InterEnergy Software to aid designers of natural gas vehicle and hydrogen fueling systems in analyzing the performance of these fueling systems and their often complex interaction with vehicles.
CASCADE provides a simple, yet powerful tool for looking at a broad range of fueling station and vehicle factors, including: compressor size, cascade storage size and pressure, number of cascade banks, vehicle fuel storage capacity and operating pressure, etc.
With the CASCADE gaseous fueling system simulation tool it is possible to quickly and easily examine system-sizing trade-offs and optimize parameters such as compressor size and ground storage cascade sizing—resulting in potential capital and operating cost savings while also meeting vehicle customer expectations.
CASCADE is a valuable software product that enables NGV and hydrogen vehicle industry participants better understand gaseous fueling system operation and sizing.
Features:
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NGV Fueling Stations Analysis
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Hydrogen Fueling Stations Analysis
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Fuel Storage Cascade and Compressor Sizing
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Simulation of Vehicle Fueling Patterns
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Real-time Graphical Displays
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Summary and Detailed Reports
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User friendly – compatible with Windows 95/98/2000/XP/Me
Potential Users:
Hydrogen Station Designers and Specifiers
NGV Station Designers and Specifiers
Fueling Station packagers and marketers
Gas, electric, energy marketers
Vehicle and component manufacturers
Vehicle owners/operators and fleet managers
CASCADE Version 3.1 - What's new in Upgrade Version 3.1
Important new features in CASCADE V3.1 program are:
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GTI’s patented dispenser control algorithm, Accufill 2, 3, 4 is used to compute the required full-fill pressure and temperature within the cylinder at its rated mass content.
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The dispenser flow rate, at any instant of time, to the vehicle cylinder is computed by considering the combined restriction of the dispenser and the vehicle’s connection receptacle, as being an orifice. The rated flow through the dispenser is user inputted, together with an associated rated dispenser inlet pressure. The flow rate to the vehicle is computed based on this user information, and the instantaneous cascade bank and vehicle cylinder pressures. Choked flow occurs through this simulated dispenser/receptacle orifice when the vehicle cylinder pressure is below the critical pressure at any instant during the fill.
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The vehicle fill time is computed based on a summation of a 50 step incremental determination of the time for the vehicle cylinder to be filled to its rated mass of gas. At each increment of vehicle fill, the dispenser flow rate is computed, based on the methodology described above. As a cascade bank becomes depleted, the average pressure at the dispenser inlet is reduced. This results in longer vehicle fill times relative to those achieved when the cascade bank is completely filled.
Additional upgrades/revisions include:
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Revised tables of Hydrogen properties.
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User option to disable CASCADE modeling visualization screen to shorten processing time.
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Enhanced customization of output graphs.
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Modeling of Natural Gas and Hydrogen vehicle fuelling stations (Pure Methane option is no longer available)
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