Experimental Study on Wet Storage of Methane on Porous Materials
摘要
Wet storage of natural gas on porous materials in form of hydrate is an emerging and promising technology for natural gas storage and transportation. This work aims to systematically investigate methane storage on porous media in form of hydrate. A custom-designed high-pressure autoclave was constructed to evaluate methane adsorption under controlled conditions. Five commercially available porous media were used. In adsorption experiments, powdered activated carbon (PAC) shows the best methane uptake capability of 114.0 V/V among the five porous media. For most porous materials, wet storage dramatically improves methane uptake compared with dry adsorption. Notably, sodium dodecyl sulphate (SDS) aqueous solution proves to be more effective than pure water in accelerating hydrate formation. Methane uptake of SDS-added PAC reaches up to 139.5 V/V at 8 MPa, achieving a 22.4% improvement when compared with pure PAC. It is found that 200 mL of SDS solution and 2 °C of ambient temperature in the given experimental condition present the best methane uptake. Moreover, morphology of methane hydrate was directly observed and mechanism of wet storage of methane on porous media was analysed from the perspective of pore structure. Sensitivity analysis revealed that optimal methane storage on porous material requires specific water content and temperature conditions. Grain diameter of porous media presents a complex impact on the methane storage capacity and methane hydrate formation process. These findings confirm the potential of wet storage of methane in form of hydrate on porous materials and are conducive for this technology towards industrial application.