화학공학소재연구정보센터
AIChE Journal, Vol.43, No.4, 1108-1113, 1997
High-Energy Density Storage of Natural-Gas in Light-Hydrocarbon Solutions
The storage of natural gas in other light hydrocarbons is one procedure for automotive natural gas usage that reduces the requirement of high-pressure or cryogenic storage. Model solutions of methane in n-butane, propane, and a liquefied-bottled-gas mixture were simulated using the Benedict-Webb-Rubin-Starling equation of stare to determine the pressures necessary to maintain a liquid phase with perturbations in both temperature (- 1 degrees C to 38 degrees C) and mole fraction (50 to 80 mol% methane). Methane storage in these liquid solutions is between 45 and 93% of an equal "tank"volume of compressed natural gas (CNG) at 21 MPa and 15 degrees C. The simulation results indicate that solutions of this type contain 40 to 67% of the energy of gasoline at pressures that range from 60 to 40% that of CNG at 21 MPa and 15 degrees C.