Thermodynamics of Sorption–Desorption Cycles of a Temperature-Controlled Conformal Methane Accumulator Loaded with a Compacted Carbon Adsorbent

Abstract

Methane adsorbed natural gas (ANG) is a promising technology applicable to gas storage and transportation. ANG provides higher capacity at relatively low operating pressures compared to CNG, as well as increased fire and explosion safety and energy efficiency of the charge/discharge processes. This allows us to move to new engineering principles for gas accumulators based on conformal designs instead of cylindrical cylinders. A scaled natural gas accumulator (SNGA) of a conformal design with a volume of 24 L loaded with a compacted industrial carbon adsorbent, KS-HAM, was developed, and the comprehensive study of its cyclic operation was carried out. As part of the experiment, the cyclic operation of SNGA was studied under conditions of high-speed charge (up to 2 min) and slow discharge with gas flow rates of 5 and 10 L (NTP)¹/min in two modes: with active temperature control and natural convection. For theoretical studies of the cyclic operation of the SNGA, a lumped parameter model was developed and verified using experimental data. The investigations resulted in the characteristics of the cyclic operation of the SNGA that are essential for the purposes of actual usage on passenger vehicles.