Experimental Measurement of Bulk Thermal Conductivity of Activated Carbon with Adsorbed Natural Gas for ANG Energy Storage Tank Design Application

• Main Authors: Atila Ertas, Christopher T. R. Boyce, Utku Gulbulak
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2020-02-01
• Series: Energies
• Subjects: gas storage; activated carbon; thermal conductivity; adsorbed natural gas (ang)
• Online Access: https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/13/3/682

The development of adsorptive natural gas storage tanks for vehicles requires the synthesis of many technologies. The design for an effective Adsorbed Natural Gas (ANG) tank requires that the tank be filled isothermally within a five-minute charge time. The heat generated within the activated carbon is on the order of 150 MJ/m<inline-formula> <math display="inline"> <semantics> <msup> <mrow></mrow> <mn>3</mn> </msup> </semantics> </math> </inline-formula> of storage volume. The tank can be effectively buffered using Phase Change Material (PCM) to absorb the heat. The effective design of these tanks requires knowledge of the thermal properties of activated carbon with adsorbed methane. This paper discusses experimental measurements of the thermal conductivity of activated carbon with adsorbed methane. It was found that within the tank the thermal conductivity remains almost constant within the temperature and pressure ranges that ANG tanks will operate.