Methane Adsorption on the Metal–Organic Framework Structure Al-BTC

Abstract

Adsorption of natural gas (methane) on the synthesized metal–organic framework (MOF) Al-BTC with specific surface area S_BET = 1422 m²/g was studied at pressures up to 40 MPa and temperatures of 303, 313, 323, and 333 K. The maximum adsorption of methane on Al-BTC reaches 10.36 mmol/g at 303 K and 40 MPa, and the initial heat of adsorption is ~14 kJ/mol. The amount of methane accumulated in a system with Al-BTC attains a value of 120–130 m³(NTP)/m³ in a range of pressures from 3.5 to 10.0 MPa, which is the most relevant for methane accumulation. The volumes of methane stored in the systems with Al-BTC and without an adsorbent differ by a factor of about 2 at 3.5 MPa, there is almost no distinction between these options of methane storage at 7.0 and 20.0 MPa, and the amount of gas in the system without an adsorbent exceeds by 25% that in Al-BTC. The pressure range from 3.5 to 6.0 MPa is most efficient for the methane adsorption accumulation in the MOF structure Al-BTC. The absolute efficiency of methane adsorption accumulation increases with lowering of temperature.