Patent ID: 7938150

Claim:
A coolant system for reducing the heat of compression of a high pressure gas in the refill of a vehicle fuel tank at a high pressure gas refueling station comprising: a station cooler at the high pressure gas refueling station providing a temperature to a coolant media circulating therein approximately equivalent to the ambient temperature in the tank environment, the cooler having an inlet and an outlet for the flow of the coolant media from and returning to the cooler; an interior heat exchanger (HEX 1 ) in the vehicle fuel tank, the interior HEX 1 having a gas flow circuit allowing the flow of gas therethrough from a gas inlet to a gas outlet thereof, the interior HEX 1 allowing heat generated by the high pressure refueling to be transferred to the gas flowing therethrough; a heat exchanger exterior to the vehicle fuel tank (HEX 2 ), the HEX 2 having a gas flow circuit allowing the flow of gas therethrough from a gas inlet to a gas outlet thereof, the exterior HEX 2 dissipating the heat absorbed by the gas flowing within HEX 1 , the HEX 2 further having a coolant media flow circuit therein, separate from the gas flow circuit, allowing the flow of coolant media therethrough from a coolant inlet of HEX 2 to the coolant outlet of HEX 2 , a gas flow circuit interconnection for gas flow from the refueling station to the inlet of HEX 1 and from the outlet of HEX 1 to the gas inlet of HEX 2 and from the gas outlet of HEX 2 into the vehicle tank; a flow circuit for the coolant media leading in a closed flow loop from the outlet of the cooler at the station to the coolant inlet of HEX 2 , circulating through HEX 2 , exiting from the coolant outlet of HEX 2 , and returning the coolant media to the cooler through the cooler inlet; a refueling gas flow interconnection between the inlet of HEX 1 and the refueling station gas dispenser; and a coolant media flow interconnection connecting the flow of the coolant media to and from HEX 2 and from and to the station cooler.