Patent ID: 8100151

Claim:
Storage tank apparatus for high pressure fuel gas including: a) a plurality of tubes or rods comprising either a gas absorbent media or heat absorbent media, the tubes or rods being in an ordered side by side arrangement extending along a longitudinal axis of the tank; b) a plurality of spaces for gas flow adjacent to the tubes or rods; c) a heat exchanger centrally disposed internally within the tank such that the heat exchanger is surrounded by the tubes or rods; d) a heat exchanger external to the tank; e) a gas flow circuit defining gas flow into, through and from the tank, the internal heat exchanger, and the external heat exchanger, wherein gas is circulated depending on the operational mode of the vehicle on which the tank is installed such that, in a refill mode, gas from a refuel depot introduced into the internal heat exchanger for circulation therein and flows into the external heat exchanger where heat absorbed from gas in the tank is exhausted before the gas enters the tank for storage, and, in a driving mode, before the gas is conveyed to the vehicle power plant, the gas flows from the tank in the flow circuit into the external heat exchanger where the gas is warmed and then introduced into the internal heat exchanger whereby the gas otherwise stored in the tank is warmed.