Scientists find method to store natural gas as a solidScientists 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.
On Christmas Eve 1968 three Americans became the first humans to visit another world. What they did to celebrate was unexpected and profound, and will be remembered throughout all human history. Genesis: the Story of Apollo 8, Robert Zimmerman's classic history of humanity's first journey to another world, tells that story, and it is now available as both an ebook and an audiobook, both with a foreword by Valerie Anders and a new introduction by Robert Zimmerman.
The print edition can be purchased at Amazon or from any other book seller. If you want an autographed copy the price is $60 for the hardback and $45 for the paperback, plus $8 shipping for each. Go here for purchasing details. The ebook is available everywhere for $5.99 (before discount) at amazon, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit. If you buy it from ebookit you don't support the big tech companies and the author gets a bigger cut much sooner.
The audiobook is also available at all these vendors, and is also free with a 30-day trial membership to Audible.
"Not simply about one mission, [Genesis] is also the history of America's quest for the moon... Zimmerman has done a masterful job of tying disparate events together into a solid account of one of America's greatest human triumphs."--San Antonio Express-News
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.
On Christmas Eve 1968 three Americans became the first humans to visit another world. What they did to celebrate was unexpected and profound, and will be remembered throughout all human history. Genesis: the Story of Apollo 8, Robert Zimmerman's classic history of humanity's first journey to another world, tells that story, and it is now available as both an ebook and an audiobook, both with a foreword by Valerie Anders and a new introduction by Robert Zimmerman.
The print edition can be purchased at Amazon or from any other book seller. If you want an autographed copy the price is $60 for the hardback and $45 for the paperback, plus $8 shipping for each. Go here for purchasing details. The ebook is available everywhere for $5.99 (before discount) at amazon, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit. If you buy it from ebookit you don't support the big tech companies and the author gets a bigger cut much sooner.
The audiobook is also available at all these vendors, and is also free with a 30-day trial membership to Audible.
"Not simply about one mission, [Genesis] is also the history of America's quest for the moon... Zimmerman has done a masterful job of tying disparate events together into a solid account of one of America's greatest human triumphs."--San Antonio Express-News
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.