Experimental studies of the performance of adsorbed natural gas storage system during discharge

In this work, comparative experiments were carried out to study the thermal effect of the adsorption heat on the discharge performance of an adsorbed natural gas (ANG) storage system. A storage vessel with u-shaped heat exchanging pipe round the central region was designed according to the temperature field determined by the finite element analysis of the adsorbent bed within 1 L cylinder. Discharge performances of the ANG on the activated carbon within the storage vessel were tested on a volumetrically built experimental unit. Results show that the central region of the adsorbent bed suffers from the severest temperature fluctuation in a short period of the initial discharge state; introduction of the hot water whose temperature is similar to that of the cooling water of a vehicular engine can significantly moderate the temperature fluctuation of the adsorbent bed, shorten the discharge process for about 60 % in comparing with that without the application of the supplemental heat. Conclusions are drawn that the heat from the cooling water of a vehicular engine should be a consideration to improve the discharge performance of the ANG storage system.