Microporous Adsorbent Land Gas Storage Module
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current methods for natural gas storage, such as compressed gas holders and liquefied natural gas storage, face challenges including high costs, energy inefficiency, fire and explosion hazards, and limited specific capacity, making them unsuitable for efficient and safe land storage.
Innovation Solution
The development of a land adsorptive storage system using high-pressure tanks filled with microporous adsorbents, which allow for efficient storage of natural gas by reducing fill pressure and maintaining gas quality, with modular designs that can be easily implemented and scaled, regardless of geological and geographical complexities.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Quantity of substance
If natural gas is stored in liquefied state using cryogenic tanks, then storage density increases 500-600 times, but fire and explosion hazard increases due to stratification and rollover phenomena
Solution Approach 1:
The invention changes the temperature parameter from cryogenic (-162°C) to ambient or elevated temperatures, and changes the storage mechanism from liquid phase to adsorbed phase on solid surfaces. This transformation eliminates the harmful stratification and rollover phenomena while maintaining high storage density through adsorption capacity of microporous materials.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention utilizes phase transition from gas to adsorbed state on microporous solid surfaces, rather than liquid phase storage. The adsorbed gas phase allows high density storage without the dangerous liquid stratification effects, as the gas molecules are held on surface sites through adsorption forces.
2Quantity of substance
If natural gas is stored in liquefied state, then storage capacity increases, but energy consumption increases due to continuous cooling and heating requirements
Solution Approach 1:
The invention eliminates the need for continuous cryogenic cooling by operating at ambient or elevated temperatures. The adsorption process is thermally driven rather than requiring sustained low temperatures, dramatically reducing energy consumption for temperature maintenance while preserving high storage capacity.
Solution Approach 2:
The adsorbed natural gas system is self-regulating regarding temperature - it does not require active cooling systems to maintain its state. The adsorption equilibrium automatically adjusts to ambient temperature conditions, eliminating the need for energy-intensive continuous cooling that characterizes liquefied natural gas storage.
3Stress or pressure
If high-pressure gas holders are used for natural gas storage, then storage pressure increases, but specific capacity decreases to 20 m³(gas)/m³(storage system)
Solution Approach 1:
The invention employs microporous adsorbent materials that provide extremely high internal surface area within the storage volume. The porous structure allows gas molecules to adsorb on surface sites throughout the material volume, achieving specific capacities far exceeding conventional high-pressure gas holders by utilizing the adsorbent's pore network for gas accumulation.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention changes the storage mechanism from simple compression in empty volume to adsorption on solid surfaces within porous structures. This parameter change in the storage mode allows much higher gas concentrations within the same physical volume, dramatically increasing specific capacity beyond what is achievable through compression alone.
4Volume of stationary object
If subsurface cavities are washed out in mineral salt for gas storage, then storage volume increases, but construction cost and time increase considerably
Solution Approach 1:
The invention replaces expensive, geologically constrained subsurface salt cavity construction with modular above-ground or near-surface storage units using readily available microporous adsorbent materials. These modular units can be manufactured and deployed without extensive geological surveying, drilling, and salt dissolution operations, dramatically reducing construction cost and time.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention divides the storage system into modular units containing microporous adsorbent beds, which can be independently manufactured, transported, and assembled. This segmentation allows flexible scaling of storage volume without requiring single large-scale subsurface cavity construction, enabling incremental deployment and reducing overall project complexity and cost.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This solution provides a safe, energy-efficient, and cost-effective method for natural gas storage that maintains gas quality and calorie content, reduces the need for extensive metal usage, and allows for flexible capacity adjustments, while minimizing the risk of explosions and energy consumption.
Implementation Method 1
a microporous adsorbent... which accumulates at least 155 nm3 of natural gas per 1 m3 of adsorbent
Data Source
AI summary
This group of inventions relates to gas industry, in particular, to land storage of natural gas, and it may be used for storage, distribution and supply of natural gas, methane or associated petroleum gas, regardless of geological and geographic characteristics of the complex location. Complex of strategic land storage provides for energy efficient and safe storage, distribution and supply of natural gas, methane and/or associated petroleum gas in the adsorbed condition within a wide range of temperatures and pressures. Method for adsorptive storage of natural gas, methane in the complex for land adsorptive storage of natural gas includes offtake of natural gas from a gas source, its treatment including purification from solid inclusions and foreign admixtures, and treatment of microporous adsorbent in the high-pressure tank of the land gas adsorptive storage module, further filling of the gas storage unit with purified gas directly from the gas source through the natural gas treatment unit until the gas source pressure is achieved, and then, through the natural gas compression unit, until the gas storage pressure of 3-10 MPa is achieved.