Patent ID: 8549877

Claim:
A portable natural gas discharge system for decompressing and discharging incoming compressed natural gas into a receiving location while maintaining an essentially consistent outlet temperature of the natural gas irrespective of an available heat capacity, comprising: a base skid for holding the natural gas discharge system and all system components, said base mountable to a trailer for transport to the receiving location; an inlet port for receiving the compressed natural gas at an inlet pressure higher than a pressure of the receiving location; an expansion valve for regulating pressure of the natural gas to a stable intermediate pressure with a pressure drop across said expansion valve cooling the natural gas; a cryogenic line disposed after the expansion valve for carrying a two-phase fluid mix comprising natural gas liquids and natural gas; a natural gas liquids recovery unit for recovering a portion of the natural gas liquids having a discharge line into a storage vessel adapted to store the recovered natural gas liquids for later pickup; a heat exchanger for heating up a remaining fluid mix comprising essentially natural gas; a temperature-measuring device disposed after the expansion valve for measuring a temperature signal of the natural gas; a control valve, disposed after the heat exchanger, said control valve automatically actuated by the temperature signal received from said temperature-measuring device to control a flow-rate of the natural gas through the expansion valve and the heat exchanger, wherein the flow-rate is controlled automatically depending on the available heat capacity in the heat exchanger to maintain the essentially consistent outlet temperature of the natural gas at a lower discharge pressure; and a discharge port for discharging the heated, decompressed natural gas into the receiving location.