in 1996 the City of El Monte installed a compressed natural gas station at their Transportation facility on Lexington, which consisted of two Ingersol-Rand compressors with a total connected load of 50 scfm combined, two storage vessels, and four time-fill hoses. In 2001 the Transportation facility moved to 3629 Cypress Avenue in El Monte and the existing CNG station equipment was moved, adding a two-hose fast-fill dispenser with monitoring capabilities, two storage vessels and a mini fast-fill hose. Downtime was a difficult issue we dealt with. If one of the 3600 psi fast-fill hoses went out during a workday we'd have to use the 3000 fast-fill hose, which shortened the vehicle range, and if the fast-fill idspenser was out of service, vehicles had to fuel at the time-fill station, which is time consuming, limiting vehicle use for those working in the field providing service to our community. If the compressors went down we did not have fuel to operate programs and had to rely on nearby agencies for asssistance,which was inconvenient for them and us and extremely costly. The city contracts with SoCal Gas for ongoing facility maintenance of the city's CNG Fueling Station, and also hired them in 2008 to overhaul the then 12-year-old compressors, allowing the city of continue to operate until a new compressor could be acquired.
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Our MSRC grant application was submitted to SCAQMD on 10/6/06, and approval was received on 12/6/2006. The grant contract was signed on 3/6/08. The City of El Monte hired Fuel Solutions as a consultant in 2007 for development and design of plans and specification for El Monte's CNG Station Upgrade Project and to oversee contract compliance with hired construction contractor. Opening of the Notice for Inviting Sealed Bids went out 3/37/08, with closing date of 4/21/08. Opening of submitted bids occurred on 4/21/08 at 5:00 p.m. at the City Clerk's Office; Weaver Eelctric, Inc., was the lowest bidder. El Monte Council Council approved Weaver Electric, Inc., as the hired contractor for this project at their 6/3/08 City Council Meeting. Weaver Electric signed the Station Upgrade Project contract on 6/27/08, and the city's pre-construction meeting was held on 7/21/08. A Notice to Proceed was issued to Weaver Electric to allow for product and supply ordering on 7/3/08. The project was completed on 10/29/09. Status: Project scope of work consists of upgrading the city's Cypress facility electrical as required by Edison to enable the city to install a larger capacity compressor; this was completed by eliminating the indoor facility electrical panels and installation of one panel relocate on the facility lot but outdoors near the street; relocation of the transformer, previsouly located on a street pole, now located in a ground vault located on the facility lot also near the street, along with all necessary wiring throughout facility. Installation of an ANGi compressor providing additional 260 scfm, which required a new meter set assembly by SoCal Gas. Installation of a new CNG storage fill management system to maximize fill speed and comprressor capacity. This new programmable controller and new value panel that controls the fill sequence from the three storage banks and the compressors, along with upgrading the tubing in the valve panel and piping to the storage vessel from 3/8" to 1/2 " boosts performance providing for faster fills and not as much pressure loss. Shutoff devices were installed throughout station. The city installed a new 3600 psi dual-hose fast-fill dispenser equip with a card reader, connecting to existing Fuel Force monitoring system. The city upgraded the station lighting by installation of a new pole light on the new fast-fill dispenser island, and a canopy was built over the time-fill station with nine fireproof lighting fixtures, three of which are on photocells and the other six are on a toggle switch. Fire extinguishers and emergency shutoff devices were placed at the new compressor, new fast-fill dispenser and canopy areas. A new dryer was installed - not part of the grant's scope of work. The time-fill station piping previously located on above-ground k-rails was placed underground, with hoses and fueling nozzles located on new canopy islands - not part of grant's scope of work. Station was completed and training proved on October 29, 2009.
To enable the city to provide CNG fuel for our existing fleet to operate at current service level and anticipate for future growth of compressed natural gas vehicles, station improvement became imperative. The city's CNG fleet vehicles are used in several vital programs to our community; i.e., five CNG buses are used on the city's fixed-route transit program, consisting of five routes operating six days a week, our commuter shuttle operating five days a week, maintenance staff utilizes Ford F150 CNG trucks, CNG Hondas are used as pool vehicles, we have a plumber's van, along with backup transit vehicles, requiring additional compressor capacity. To meet El Monte's CNG fuel needs, the project objective was to design a station that not ony would reliably support current CNG fueling needs for the City of El Monte but also provide support for future needs of the city and our community agencies with CNG fleets.
The old compressors' conected load of 50 scfm was increased by an additional 260 scfm with the new compressor, for a total discharge of 310 scfm. This added scfm discharge pressure provides for quicker fill times, coupled with additional increased capacity with the new 3600 psi dual-hose fast-fill dispenser provides for larger service range and more flexibility with routes, increasing fleet performance. Having a backup compressor as a redundant system improves up time for the station. Improved up time, higher pressure and increase capacity will allow for greater dependence on CNG as a vehicle fuel. From a maintenance standpont of not having to time-fill all vehicle each night, we are now afforded the opportunity daily to provide cleaning and maintenance repairs in a more timely manner. A quantitative emission reduction cannot be determined at this time, as the increase of the city's fleet of CNG vehicles and station use by other community agencies is unknown at this time, but continual increase in both are anticipated for many years. The City of El Monte has only added one CNG transit bus to our fleet since the grant application was submitted; it serves as a back-up transit vehicle. With now improved station performance, CNG vehicle purchases are more desirable, and contract agreements with other community agencies for station use can possibly be negotiated.