Scientists find method to store natural gas as a solid
Scientists at the National University in Singapore have found a way to quickly convert natural gas into a solid that is much safer to store while using far less space.
The end product is much more convenient and safer to store and transport. As a block of ice it’s shrunk in volume by 90 times, and is non-explosive and stable enough to be stored in a regular freezer at -5 °C (23 °F). The new method also apparently requires less toxic additives than usual.
It also takes only 15 minutes to convert. Essentially, the natural gas is chemically contained within a block of ice. The video at the link explains the entire concept nicely.
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Scientists at the National University in Singapore have found a way to quickly convert natural gas into a solid that is much safer to store while using far less space.
The end product is much more convenient and safer to store and transport. As a block of ice it’s shrunk in volume by 90 times, and is non-explosive and stable enough to be stored in a regular freezer at -5 °C (23 °F). The new method also apparently requires less toxic additives than usual.
It also takes only 15 minutes to convert. Essentially, the natural gas is chemically contained within a block of ice. The video at the link explains the entire concept nicely.
The support of my readers through the years has given me the freedom and ability to analyze objectively the ongoing renaissance in space, as well as the cultural changes -- for good or ill -- that are happening across America. Four years ago, just before the 2020 election I wrote that Joe Biden's mental health was suspect. Only in this year has the propaganda mainstream media decided to recognize that basic fact.
Fourteen years ago I wrote that SLS and Orion were a bad ideas, a waste of money, would be years behind schedule, and better replaced by commercial private enterprise. Even today NASA and Congress refuse to recognize this reality.
In 2020 when the world panicked over COVID I wrote that the panic was unnecessary, that the virus was apparently simply a variation of the flu, that masks were not simply pointless but if worn incorrectly were a health threat, that the lockdowns were a disaster and did nothing to stop the spread of COVID. Only in the past year have some of our so-called experts in the health field have begun to recognize these facts.
Your help allows me to do this kind of intelligent analysis. I take no advertising or sponsors, so my reporting isn't influenced by donations by established space or drug companies. Instead, I rely entirely on donations and subscriptions from my readers, which gives me the freedom to write what I think, unencumbered by outside influences.
Please consider supporting my work here at Behind the Black.
You can support me either by giving a one-time contribution or a regular subscription. There are five ways of doing so:
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I wonder if this would be useful as rocket fuel? Not so much for the intense burn required for launch from earth, but rather the slow burn required for interplanetary travel. Perhaps the water could be repurposed for other uses as well.
This could wind up being a very useful technology for spaceflight, but not as a direct replacement for liquid methane as a rocket fuel. According to the video at the link, this substance is only a fraction as methane dense as is LNG, with the balance being water.
But the characteristics of this stuff make it look ideal for use in the SH-Starship “ecology.” To start with, it’s a better and less energy-intensive way to store large quantities of methane on the ground here on Earth than is cryogenic tankage.
The same will apply to an even greater extent on Mars. Many parts of Mars never get above -5 degrees C even in daylight. The places that do exceed this temperature during at least part of a martian day don’t get any warmer than 20 degrees C. Rather modest energy expenditure, supplied by PV solar panels, could keep this stuff solid on Mars during the middle of even the “hottest” martian day.
SpaceX plans to go to Mars in flotilla/armada strength with more of the ships being freighters than passenger carriers. If the cargo bays of the freighters are built as refrigerator space, then, once unloaded, they could be used to store this substance once ISRU methalox production is up and running.
The linked article and video provided no complete recipe of what is needed to produce this new substance, but tryptophan was mentioned. Tryptophan can be produced from elements readily available on Mars – carbon, hydrogen, oxygen and nitrogen. It would be interesting to know if the constituent elements of the unnamed parts of the recipe are also easily sourced on Mars.
Dick Eagleson,
You are right about storage of fuel, more of it could be made and stored easily in this methane hydrate form on Mars. Convert it back to liquid form when needed.
It would take a lot of photovoltaics on Mars to power up the equipment. I believe the amount of light energy that hits Mars is about 600 watts/m^2. I think the high efficiency PVs are at best in the 40% range, so about 240w produced. A lot of panels would be needed.
I would opt for the RTG for power. Yes, I know I am parroting Zubrin’s “Direct/Semi-Direct” papers for his use of an RTG for power in making methane.