The Galileo Femtobox unit installed at HAM's second CNG filling station.
Spain’s HAM Group, a liquid natural gas (LNG) distributor and transport company, will open its second public service station for natural gas vehicles in L’Hospitalet de Llobregat, the first in the Barcelona metropolitan area, in mid June this year. Gas will be sourced from a medium pressure natural gas pipeline which supplies the city. A Galileo Femtobox plug-and-play CNG compressor-package has been installed, specifically designed for small NGV fleets and very small CNG filling-stations. This package integrates compression, storage and CNG dispenser in a single unit.
The system compresses the piped natural gas to 200 bar, necessary for the operation of vehicles. At peak demand the compressor can supply natural gas to about 10 vehicles per hour; Galileo specifications state the technology is capable of fuelling 150 vehicles per day.
Installation and pressure levels will be controlled automatically by a computer connected on-line 24 hours a day, with an automated emergency alert direct to the company responsible for maintenance.
HAM has also purchased natural gas vehicles for its own fleet, including the VW Passat, C3 and Class B, Berlingo and Sprinter vans. The company also makes these vehicles available for testing purposes to parties interested in switching to natural gas.
The Abrera natural gas service station, opened in March 2009, is part of an existing HAM LNG plant which has been supplying their own LNG tractor units since 2000.
Sub-contracted by Gas Natural, the HAM Group is currently constructing a CNG supply station for a fleet of around 400 buses of the Municipal Transport Company (EMT) in Madrid, and will become the largest European installation of both the volume of the fleet and due to the compression capability, and will be one of the largest in the world.
GNC GALILEO products, including the Femtobox unit, were on display at NGV 2010 in Rome this week.
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