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RFID to Ensure Safe Refueling of Natural Gas Vehicles
In order to improve air quality and deal with rising fuel costs, many nations—especially in Asia, and particularly in India, Bangladesh and Pakistan—have mandated that conventional gasoline-powered vehicles be replaced by (or converted to) CNG engines. In these countries, Patterson says, hundreds of thousands of CNG buses and other vehicles, such as three-wheeled auto-rickshaws, are currently in use.
And while these nations have set safety standards requiring that specific types of cylinders be used in vehicles, and that safe dispensing practices be followed, these standards and practices are often ignored. As a result, the number of deaths and injuries linked to the unsafe refueling of CNG vehicles has risen steadily, along with their popularity.
"In many countries, people are trying to save money, and they might get a cylinder that isn't up to spec," Patterson says. "And if the cylinder isn't designed for compressed natural gas, it'll fail. In Bangladesh alone, there have been 17 people killed in explosions" while fueling vehicles with CNG.
To ensure that only valid tags—and cylinders—are accepted during refilling, the Viridis software encrypts the data when it is encoded to the tag. The software controlling the fuel dispenser later decrypts this information upon reading the tag. Because the fueling stations are often located in rural areas where the dispensers lack a constant, reliable link to an Internet connection, Patterson says, the software that reads and verifies the tag ID number is designed to operate offline. In addition, the vehicle owner could choose to associate a credit card account with the tag ID, so that the fueling station could process a payment transaction at the same time that the vehicle is being fueled.
Patterson says he is presently in discussions with customers in Southeast Asia, and that he plans to soon begin a pilot project with one of them to test the patent-pending RFID system.
Radio frequency identification is also slated to play a role in powering up vehicles running on another type of alternative energy source: electricity. Last year, green energy startup company Coulomb Technologies revealed that RFID would be an important element in the operation of the electric-car charging stations it deploys around the San Francisco Bay area (see RFID Is the Key to Electric Vehicle Recharging Stations).
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| Viridis sells its CNG dispensers to fueling stations operators around the world. |
"In many countries, people are trying to save money, and they might get a cylinder that isn't up to spec," Patterson says. "And if the cylinder isn't designed for compressed natural gas, it'll fail. In Bangladesh alone, there have been 17 people killed in explosions" while fueling vehicles with CNG.
To ensure that only valid tags—and cylinders—are accepted during refilling, the Viridis software encrypts the data when it is encoded to the tag. The software controlling the fuel dispenser later decrypts this information upon reading the tag. Because the fueling stations are often located in rural areas where the dispensers lack a constant, reliable link to an Internet connection, Patterson says, the software that reads and verifies the tag ID number is designed to operate offline. In addition, the vehicle owner could choose to associate a credit card account with the tag ID, so that the fueling station could process a payment transaction at the same time that the vehicle is being fueled.
Radio frequency identification is also slated to play a role in powering up vehicles running on another type of alternative energy source: electricity. Last year, green energy startup company Coulomb Technologies revealed that RFID would be an important element in the operation of the electric-car charging stations it deploys around the San Francisco Bay area (see RFID Is the Key to Electric Vehicle Recharging Stations).
