Patent ID: 8469676

Claim:
A gas compressor for compressing a gas provided by a source and delivering the compressed gas to a target, said compressor comprising: a plurality of pressure vessels provided in a series, where a first one of the pressure vessels is fluidly coupled to the source and a last one of the pressure vessels is fluidly coupled to the target; a plurality of one-way valves including a one-way valve in a gas line between the source and the first pressure vessel in the series, a one-way valve in a gas line between each of the pressure vessels and a one-way valve in a gas line between the last pressure vessel in the series and the target; a first heater coupled to the first pressure vessel in the series and every other pressure vessel thereafter in the series; and a second heater coupled to the second pressure vessel in the series and every other pressure vessel thereafter, said first and second heaters being turned on to heat the gas in the pressure vessels in an alternating manner so as to draw the gas from the source and deliver it to the target at a higher pressure.