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Experimental studies on an indigenous coconut shell based activated carbon suitable for natural gas storage

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Abstract

Experimental studies are carried out to characterize an indigenous, coconut shell based, activated carbon suitable for storage of natural gas. Properties such as BET surface area, micropore volume, average pore diameter and pore size distribution are obtained by using suitable instruments and techniques. An experimental setup is developed to estimate the equilibrium methane adsorption capacity and adsorption/desorption kinetics. The experimental isothermal uptake data is used to fit four different isotherm models. Using the constants obtained for the D–A isotherm model the variation of heat of adsorption and adsorbed phase specific heat with equilibrium pressure and temperature are obtained. Similarly Henry’s Law coefficients, important at low pressure and low uptake regime are also obtained. Finally using the kinetic data and a linear driving force model, constants in the kinetic equation are obtained. Results show that the indigenous material used in this study offers reasonably high natural gas storage capacity and fast kinetics and is suitable for adsorbed natural gas (ANG) applications. It is expected that this study will be useful in the design and development of ANG systems based on this indigenous material.

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Acknowledgement

The authors sincerely thank ICC Indo German Carbons Limited, Kerala, for supplying the above-mentioned activated carbon sample along with some of its material properties.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Mechanical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur, Kharagpur, 721302, India

    Satyabrata Sahoo & M Ramgopal

Authors
  1. Satyabrata Sahoo
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  2. M Ramgopal
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to M Ramgopal.

Appendices

Nomenclature

a :

instantaneous uptake (kg/kg)

a eq :

equilibrium uptake (kg/kg)

C p,g :

specific heat of the gaseous phase (kJ/kg)

C p,a :

specific heat of the adsorbed phase (kJ/kg)

E :

characteristic energy (J/mol)

E a :

energy of activation (J/mol)

K so :

pre-exponent constant (s−1)

K H :

Henry’s constant (MPa−1)

M :

molecular weight (kg/kmol)

m s :

mass of the adsorbent (kg)

P :

Pressure (Pa)

R :

gas constant (kJ/(kg K))

R u :

universal gas constant (kJ/(kmol K))

T :

temperature (K)

V :

volume (m3)

v :

specific volume (m3/kg)

W :

volumetric adsorbate uptake (m3/kg)

W o :

the limiting volumetric adsorbate uptake (m3/kg)

Z :

compressibility factor

Greek symbols

\( \tau \) :

time (s)

\( \Delta H_{ads} \) :

isosteric heat of adsorption (kJ/kg)

\( \alpha \) :

thermal expansion coefficient (K−1)

\( \rho \) :

density (kg/m3)

Subscripts

a:

adsorbed

b:

boiling

cr:

critical

He:

Helium

Me:

Methane

exp:

experimental

pre:

predicted

rea:

reactor

sat:

saturation

st:

storage

t:

total

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Sahoo, S., Ramgopal, M. Experimental studies on an indigenous coconut shell based activated carbon suitable for natural gas storage. Sādhanā 41, 459–468 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12046-016-0483-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12046-016-0483-x

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