Corncob technology can revolutionize natural gas vehicles
Researchers at the University of
Missouri-Columbia (MU) and Midwest Research Institute (MRI) are testing an
innovative alternative fuel technology which may revolutionize the capacity of
natural gas to power vehicles.
Researchers at the University of Missouri-Columbia
(MU) and Midwest Research Institute (MRI) are testing an innovative alternative fuel technology in a pickup truck
owned and operated by the Kansas City Office of Environmental Quality. This
technology may revolutionize the capacity of natural gas to power
vehicles.
Current natural gas vehicles are equipped with bulky, high-pressure tanks that take up premium cargo space, such as the trunk of a car. This new technology, however, enables natural gas to be stored in a smaller, low-pressure tank that can be shaped into a rectangular form and mounted under the floor of a car.
What makes this possible is an MU discovery that fractal pore spaces (spaces created by repetition of similar patterns at different levels of magnificent) are remarkably efficient at storing natural gas. The scientists found a way to “bake” corncobs into carbon briquettes that contain fractal pore spaces and then use the briquettes to store natural gas in a low-pressure tank. MU and MRI researchers are now testing a prototype of this tank in the Kansas City pickup. They hope this will lead to the design of low-pressure tanks that solve the cargo space problem posed by high-pressure tanks.
I live just outside a town where not only a few municipal vehicles are powered by natural gas; but, the public transit buses. They’re clean and cost-effective. The hangup is dispensing the fuel — and storing it in a vehicle. Something that can be changed for the better with this corncob tech.
Current natural gas vehicles are equipped with bulky, high-pressure tanks that take up premium cargo space, such as the trunk of a car. This new technology, however, enables natural gas to be stored in a smaller, low-pressure tank that can be shaped into a rectangular form and mounted under the floor of a car.
What makes this possible is an MU discovery that fractal pore spaces (spaces created by repetition of similar patterns at different levels of magnificent) are remarkably efficient at storing natural gas. The scientists found a way to “bake” corncobs into carbon briquettes that contain fractal pore spaces and then use the briquettes to store natural gas in a low-pressure tank. MU and MRI researchers are now testing a prototype of this tank in the Kansas City pickup. They hope this will lead to the design of low-pressure tanks that solve the cargo space problem posed by high-pressure tanks.
I live just outside a town where not only a few municipal vehicles are powered by natural gas; but, the public transit buses. They’re clean and cost-effective. The hangup is dispensing the fuel — and storing it in a vehicle. Something that can be changed for the better with this corncob tech.
Posted: Wed - February 21, 2007 at 06:38 AM