REVIEW ARTICLE

Research on the theory and application of adsorbed natural gas used in new energy vehicles: A review

  • Zhengwei NIE 1 ,
  • Yuyi LIN , 1 ,
  • Xiaoyi JIN 2
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  • 1. Department of Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO 65211, USA
  • 2. College of Mechanical Engineering, Shanghai University of Engineering Science, Shanghai 201620, China

Received date: 03 Nov 2015

Accepted date: 29 Dec 2015

Published date: 31 Aug 2016

Copyright

2016 Higher Education Press and Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

Abstract

Natural gas, whose primary constituent is methane, has been considered a convincing alternative for the growth of the energy supply worldwide. Adsorbed natural gas (ANG), the most promising methane storage method, has been an active field of study in the past two decades. ANG constitutes a safe and low-cost way to store methane for natural gas vehicles at an acceptable energy density while working at substantially low pressures (3.5–4.0 MPa), allowing for conformable store tank. This work serves to review the state-of-the-art development reported in the scientific literature on adsorbents, adsorption theories, ANG conformable tanks, and related technologies on ANG vehicles. Patent literature has also been searched and discussed. The review aims at illustrating both achievements and problems of the ANG technologies-based vehicles, as well as forecasting the development trends and critical issues to be resolved of these technologies.

Cite this article

Zhengwei NIE , Yuyi LIN , Xiaoyi JIN . Research on the theory and application of adsorbed natural gas used in new energy vehicles: A review[J]. Frontiers of Mechanical Engineering, 2016 , 11(3) : 258 -274 . DOI: 10.1007/s11465-016-0381-2

Acknowledgments

The authors wish to thank Southern California Gas Company for funding the project that is related to this study. The authors also thank Professor Peter Pfeifer, Chairman of the Department of Physics and Astronomy of University of Missouri, for permitting to use some data generated from the ANG research project.
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