Pražská plynárenská has opened the largest compressed natural gas (CNG) refuelling station in the Czech Republic

May 25, 2009; Jan Žákovec

On Wednesday 13 May 2009, Pražská plynárenská, a.s. opened its third CNG refuelling station in Prague, located in the area of Pražské služby, a.s. at Pod Šancemi 444/1, Praha 9. It is the largest CNG station in the Czech Republic and the third largest in Central Europe (after Linz and Bratislava). The self-service station has three dispensers, one of them dual-hose, i.e. the station has four fuelling points. It will operate non-stop and is intended for both municipal vehicles of Pražské služby and other companies that collect refuse in Prague (A.S.A., AVE, Ipodec, and Komwag), and for the general public. The POS terminal, unique in Europe, will accept not only normal payment cards (VISA, EC/MC, etc.) and cards of the CNG Card Centrum payment system, but also cash for the CNG taken.
Bonett Bohemia, a.s. delivered the CNG station on a turn-key basis (design, engineering services, construction work, supply of equipment, etc.).
By building the new CNG station, Pražská plynárenská, a.s., in co-operation with the Municipality of Prague and Pražské služby, a.s., is continuing its involvement in a scheme geared towards improving the environment in Prague.

The environmental scheme continues
The opening ceremony for the new CNG fuelling station took place in the area of Pražské služby, a.s. at Pod Šancemi in Praha 9. It was attended by the most senior representatives of the City of Prague, Pražská plynárenská, a.s., and Pražské služby, a.s., and also those of the contractor, Bonett Bohemia, a.s., the Czech Gas Association, gas companies, CNG vehicle importers, CNG vehicle and station operators, and the press. Petr Štěpánek, Prague Councillor responsible for the environment, Eckart Baum, Pražská plynárenská, a.s. Vice-Chairman, and Patrik Roman, Pražské služby, a.s. CEO  gave introductory addresses. Petr Štěpánek said that the new natural gas station created new opportunities for CNG use in transport in Prague. It is also open to the public and makes it possible for environmentally-aware drivers to drive CNG vehicles in Prague. Mr Štěpánek highlighted the fact that NGVs pollute the city’s air less than petrol and diesel vehicles. Eckart Baum disclosed further plans of Pražská plynárenská, a.s. Another two public CNG stations will soon be built in addition to the currently existing three stations in Prague. Pražská plynárenská’s business strategy includes plans to build CNG stations. Mr Baum outlined for the guests the key parameters of the new station, and drew their attention to a feature that is unique in Europe – an automatic payment machine, called “Tankoautomat”, making all methods of paying for the gas taken possible. In his address, Patrik Roman expressed thanks to the project partners, the City of Prague and Pražská plynárenská, a.s., for their co-operation in this municipal environmental scheme for gradually converting diesel vehicles to CNG, and he appreciated the swift completion of the new CNG station. Pražské služby currently operates 16 NGVs: for collecting municipal waste, for cleaning roads in Prague, for transporting containers, and for road marking and signage. The company plans to obtain another five CNG vehicles this year. It operates all of these NGVs mainly in areas that are most exposed to pollution, such as the city centre.
The ribbon cutting ceremony marked the commissioning of the station; the very first fuelling of a Pražské služby refuse collection vehicle with natural gas then followed.

The largest, most powerful and most modern CNG station
The new CNG station’s expected flow capacity is 1.2 million kg CNG/year; 4,000 kg/day: 50 lorries, each with a capacity of 60 kg, and 50 passenger cars, each with a capacity of 20 kg. The station has the flow capacity to dispense 1,000 kg CNG/hour in peak time for one hour (16 trucks, each with a capacity of 60 kg), and 700 kg CNG/hour for the next two hours.

Non-lubricated, or “oil free” compressors
At the heart of the CNG station are two compressors manufactured by Canada-based IMW, each having a peak flow rate of 614 Sm3/hr. The compressors compress piped natural gas from 1 bar to an output pressure of 275 bar. They are fully automatically controlled and connected to the control room of the supplier, Bonett, via the Internet and a remote monitoring system. The compressors are “oil free”, i.e., non-lubricated, in line with the global trend in this area. Before entering a compressor the piped natural gas is completely dried by a world-class Zander dryer so that the dew point at 200 bar is lower than -25 °C. Tanks with a total volume (water equivalent) of 5.6 m3 form another part of the CNG station. They store 1,540 Sm3 of natural gas compressed to 275 bar.

Fill in four minutes
Customers can use three dispensers with four hoses – fill nozzles; the dispensers were manufactured by Canada-based Kraus Global. Two dispensers have fill nozzles for NGV2 trucks (featuring a flow rate of up to 70 kg CNG/minute). One dispenser (Fig. 6) has a fill nozzle for NGV1 passenger cars and light commercial vehicles (a flow rate of up to 15 kg/minute). Vehicles are refuelled on a self-service basis; a passenger car will spend one to two minutes refuelling, and Pražské služby trucks take three to four minutes.

Communication via a colour touch screen display – all forms of payment accepted
The Tankautomat Card Manager payment terminal, unique in Europe, supplied by UNICODE Systems, s.r.o., has a colour touch screen for communication with customers; it has a user-friendly control logic similar to that of ATMs. The vandal-proof high-contrast screen communicates in Czech, Slovak, English, and German. The Tankautomat has been designed for three ways of paying for the CNG taken (Fig. 7). One option is acceptance of the cards of the CNG Card Centrum payment system, which is run by gas companies. The other option is acceptance of ordinary bank cards (VISA, EC/MC, etc.). This option (it is currently only available in the Czech Republic at Pražská plynárenská’s CNG station in Prague - Michle) supports CNG refuelling for the general public, particularly foreign drivers and customers of the First CNG Car Rental operated by Pražská plynárenská. The third payment option at this CNG station is brand new in the Czech Republic – payments in cash. The Tankautomat terminal has a banknote acceptor and customers can pay for their CNG by inserting banknotes into it. The banknote acceptor checks the security elements of banknotes and will reject them only if they are seriously damaged. In the event of overpayment, i.e. the amount of the cash inserted in advance exceeds the payable amount, the machine will print out an overpayment note which can then be used for next refuelling (within 30 days).
The Tankautomat terminal is directly connected with the dispensers, and vehicle refuelling is therefore very simple. Having selected the dispenser from which the customer wants to refuel and keyed in the payment option on the Tankautomat touch screen (CNG card, bank card, cash) the customer is invited to start filling. Turning a switch on the dispenser automatically starts vehicle refuelling, which stops automatically once the required pressure in the cylinders has been reached. Thereupon Tankautomat will print a receipt, appropriate for tax purposes, on CNG fuelling.