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A method and apparatus for introducing a compressed gas into a pressure vessel, for instance, hydrogen into a vehicle fuel tank, in which hydrogen is compressed in an initial and final compressions stages which can be powered by a common source. The initial compression stage can continually operate

A method and apparatus for introducing a compressed gas into a pressure vessel, for instance, hydrogen into a vehicle fuel tank, in which hydrogen is compressed in an initial and final compressions stages which can be powered by a common source. The initial compression stage can continually operate to compress the gas in a lower pressure storage bank during the time that hydrogen is dispensed to a vehicle fuel tank. In time periods between dispensing, the gas from the lower pressure stage and from the lower pressure storage bank is compressed in the final compression stage and stored in a higher pressure storage bank. When the pressure vessel is to be filled, the compressor compresses the gas from the higher pressure storage bank to fill the vessel.

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1. A method of introducing a compressed gas into a pressure vessel comprising:compressing a gas feed stream of a gas in an initial compression stage to form a lower pressure gas stream;during the introduction of said compressed gas into said pressure vessel;charging a lower pressure storage bank wit

1. A method of introducing a compressed gas into a pressure vessel comprising:compressing a gas feed stream of a gas in an initial compression stage to form a lower pressure gas stream;during the introduction of said compressed gas into said pressure vessel;charging a lower pressure storage bank with said lower pressure gas stream, thereby to store lower pressure gas; andintroducing a compressed gas stream and therefore the compressed gas into the pressure vessel, the compressed gas stream formed by compressing a stream of higher pressure gas in a final compression stage, the higher pressure gas stored in a higher pressure storage bank; andduring periods between the introduction of said compressed gas into said pressure vessel, charging said higher pressure storage bank with said compressed gas stream, the compressed gas stream formed by compressing a combined gas stream in said final compression stage, the combined gas stream composed of said lower pressure gas stream and a stream of stored lower pressure gas from said lower pressure storage bank. 2. The method of claim 1, wherein said charging of said higher pressure storage bank further comprises initially compressing said combined gas stream in said final compression stage and then completing the charging of said higher pressure storage bank by compressing a further combined stream in said final compression stage, the further combined stream composed of said lower pressure gas stream and a part of said compressed gas stream, and introducing a remaining part of said compressed gas stream, into said higher pressure storage bank. 3. The method of claim 1 wherein:said charging of said high pressure storage bank with said higher pressure gas stream further comprises initially compressing said combined gas stream in said final compression stage and then completing the charging of said higher pressure storage bank by solely compressing said lower pressure gas stream within said final compression stage;said final compression stage is a variable speed compressor; anda speed of said variable speed compressor is reduced when said higher pressure storage bank is charged solely by compressing said lower pressure gas stream. 4. The method of claim 1, wherein said initial and final compression stages have moving compression elements and motion is imparted to said moving compression elements from a common source. 5. The method of claim 4, wherein:said initial and final compression stages are formed by first and second hydraulically powered reciprocating compressors, respectively;said feed stream is compressed in first and second cylinders of said first hydraulically powered reciprocating compressor, the first and second cylinders being operated at successively higher pressures;said combined steam and said stream of higher pressure gas are each alternately compressed in third and forth cylinders of said second hydraulically powered reciprocating compressor; andhydraulic fluid pumped by a common pump is used to impart motion to moving compression elements formed by pistons within said first, second, third and forth cylinders. 6. The method of claim 1 or claim 2 or claim 3, wherein:said pressure vessel is a vehicle fuel tank; andsaid gas is hydrogen. 7. The method of claim 6, wherein:said feed stream is at a source pressure of between about 70 psig and about 200 psig;said lower pressure storage bank is charged to a lower pressure of between about 850 psig and about 1500 psig; andsaid higher pressure storage bank is charged to a higher pressure of between about 850 psig and about 7000 psig. 8. A method of introducing a compressed gas into a pressure vessel comprising:during periods between the introduction of said compressed gas into said pressure vessel;compressing a feed stream in an initial compression stage to form a lower pressure gas stream;compressing the lower pressure gas stream in a final compression stage to form a compressed gas stream;charging a storage bank with said compressed gas stream to store higher pressure gas; andduring the introduction of said compressed gas into said pressure vessel, introducing a compressed gas stream and therefore said compressed gas into said pressure vessel, the compressed gas stream formed by compressing a stream of the higher compressed gas in said final compression stage; andimparting motion to moving compression elements contained within said initial and final compression stages that act to compress said feed stream, said lower pressure gas stream, and said steam of the higher pressure gas from a common source. 9. The method of claim 8, wherein:said initial and final compression stages are formed by first and second hydraulically powered reciprocating compressors, respectively;said feed stream is compressed in first and second cylinders of said first hydraulically powered reciprocating compressor, the first and second cylinders being operated at successively higher pressures;said lower pressure gas stream and said steam of the higher pressure gas are each alternately compressed in third and forth cylinders of said second hydraulically powered reciprocating compressor; andhydraulic fluid pumped by a common pump is used to impart the motion to the moving compression elements formed by pistons within said first, second, third and forth cylinders. 10. The method of claim 8 or claim 9, wherein: said pressure vessel is a vehicle fuel tank; and said gas is hydrogen. 11. An apparatus for introducing a compressed gas into a pressure vessel, comprising:an initial compression stage to compress a feed stream of a gas and thereby to form a lower pressure gas stream;a lower pressure storage bank connected to said initial compression stage to allow said lower pressure storage bank to be charged with said lower pressure gas stream during the introduction of said gas into said pressure vessel, thereby to store lower pressure gas therein;a final compression stage selectively connected to a higher pressure storage bank to compress a stream of higher pressure gas stored in the higher pressure storage bank, thereby to produce a compressed gas stream composed of said compressed gas during the introduction of said compressed gas into said pressure vessel and selectively connected to the lower pressure storage bank, the initial compression stage, and said higher pressure storage bank to compress a combined stream composed of the lower pressure gas stream produced by the initial compression stage and a stream of stored lower pressure gas from said lower pressure storage bank, thereby to charge said higher pressure storage bank with said compressed gas stream during periods between the introduction of said compressed gas into said pressure vessel; anda fill line configured to be coupled to said pressure vessel and to be connected to said final compression stage to introduce said compressed gas stream and therefore, said compressed gas into said pressure vessel. 12. The apparatus of claim 11, further comprising a recycle line connected to recycle part of said compressed gas stream in said final compression stage such that charging of said higher pressure storage bank can in part be effectuated by compressing a further combined stream in said final compression stage, the further combined stream composed of said lower pressure gas stream and said part of said compressed gas stream and introducing a remaining part of said compressed gas stream, into said higher pressure storage bank. 13. The apparatus of claim 11 wherein said final compression stage is a variable speed compressor to allow a speed of said variable speed compressor is reduced to allow a speed of said final compression stage to be reduced and said higher pressure storage bank to be charged solely by compressing said lower pressure gas stream. 14. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein said initial and final compression stages have moving compression elements and motion is imparted to said moving compression elements from a common sour ce. 15. The apparatus of claim 14, whereinsaid initial and final compression stages are first and second hydraulically powered reciprocating compressors, respectively;said first hydraulically powered reciprocating compressor has first and second cylinders, the first and second cylinders connected in series to operate at successively higher pressures;said second hydraulically powered reciprocating compressor has third and forth cylinders connected for alternate compression; anda common pump to pump hydraulic fluid used in imparting motion to moving compression elements formed by pistons within said first, second, third and forth cylinders. 16. An apparatus for introducing a compressed gas into a pressure vessel comprising:an initial compression stage to compress a feed stream of a gas and thereby to form a lower pressure gas stream;a final compression stage connected to a storage bank to compress a stream of higher compressed gas stored in the higher pressure storage bank, thereby to produce a compressed gas stream during the introduction of said compressed gas into said pressure vessel;said initial and final compression stages formed by first and second hydraulically powered reciprocating compressors, respectively;a common pump to pump hydraulic fluids used to impart motion to moving compression elements formed by pistons within said first and second hydraulically powered reciprocating compressors;the storage bank and the initial compression stage being selectively connected to the final compression stage during periods between the introduction of said compressed gas into said pressure vessel such that the lower pressure gas stream is compressed within said final compression stage to produce said compressed gas stream and said compressed gas stream is introduced into said storage bank to store said pressurize gas therewithin;the storage bank also being selectively connected to the final compression stage during the filling of said pressure vessel to allow compression of a compressed gas stream of the compressed gas stored within the storage bank; anda fill line configured to be coupled to said pressure vessel and to be connected to said final compression stage to introduce said compressed gas stream and therefore, said compressed gas into said pressure vessel. 17. The apparatus of claim 16, wherein:said first hydraulically powered reciprocating compressor has first and second cylinders to compress the feed stream, the first and second cylinders connected in series to operate at successively higher pressures; andsaid second hydraulically powered reciprocating compressor has third and forth cylinders to alternately compress said gas.