Adsorption system with heat pipe thermal control for mobile storage of gaseous fuel

Abstract

Mobile storage of gaseous fuel is the design bottleneck in a commercialization of vehicles powered by natural gas and hydrogen. This paper is devoted to the questions of development of the system of effective accumulation and safe storage of natural gas in a coupled state by activated carbon fiber based on commercially available “Busofit TM-055”. Original experimental setup was developed for carrying out investigation of the processes of adsorption of gaseous fuel in the different carbon adsorbents and for simulation of gas charging/discharging of a storage vessel. The experimental data for methane equilibrium adsorption in a wide temperature range between 233 and 313 K and pressure up 5 MPa are obtained and analyzed from the standpoint of the theory of volume filling of micropores and the linearity of the adsorption isosteres. In the supercritical temperature region modified Dubinin–Astakhov equation are proposed for the prediction of the isotherms and isosteric heat of adsorption.In a second part, the basic settings of CFD model in terms of adsorption equilibrium, kinetics and coupled heat and mass transfer are described and results are discussed in regard to measures. The heat pipes are considered as a basic element of the thermal control for the storage vessels. A more detailed study of dynamic behavior of thermally controlled storage has been performed for constant mass flow rate and constant pressure of the methane at the inlet of the adsorber-vessel.