The Alliance for Collaborative Research in Alternative Fuel Technology
(ALL-CRAFT) is a partnership of the University
of Missouri-Columbia (MU, lead institution), the Midwest Research Institute
(MRI) in Kansas City, and other partners to develop low-pressure,
high-capacity storage technologies for natural gas (NG, methane) and
hydrogen as alternative fuels for advanced transportation.
Our immediate objective
is to
replace bulky cylindrical, heavy-walled compressed natural gas tanks
(CNG, 3600 psi) in
current NG vehicles by a
flat, light-weight
tank, with storage as adsorbed natural gas (ANG, 500 psi), fin
next-generation clean vehicles. NG vehicles produce no ozone
and smog,
and less greenhouse gases. NG is an abundant domestic fuel, can
be produced from renewable sources in significant amounts, and is
cheaper than gasoline or diesel at the pump. The flat tank design,
made
possible
by the low pressure in the ANG tank, is central to a tank that can
be mounted under the floor or in
other unused
space of a car,
making
NG vehicles a broadly attractive alternative to gasoline or diesel
vehicles.
Other targets of our adsorbent-based
storage technologies include:
- Recovery and shipping
of biomethane
from landfills, sewage treatment plants, and farms (anaerobic
digesters), turning a pollutant into
renewable energy ('green energy');
- Large-scale
shipping of NG to locations that are not served by NG pipelines (also
shipping from NG fields in Alaska and deep-sea methane hydrate fields,
replacing costly shipping of liquefied NG in cryogenic vessels);
- On-board storage of
hydrogen for hydrogen fuel-cell cars, the grand challenge for hydrogen
transportation;
- Multidisciplinary
training of students
in alternative energy technology.
The project is based on discoveries at MU by Pfeifer et al. (2002) and Atwood et al. (2002), of nanoporous
carbons criss-crossed by a nearly space-filling network of
channels a few molecular diameters wide, and of organic solids
(calixarenes) with interstitial voids, both of which
adsorb methane by strong van der Waals forces, like a sponge, as a
high-density fluid at low pressure and ambient temperature.
The NG work is funded by the program 'Partnerships
for Innovation' (PFI) of the National Science Foundation (NSF), MU, MRI, and
U.S. Department of
Education (Graduate
Assistance in Areas of National Need).
The hydrogen work is funded by the U.S. Department of Energy (Office of Basic Energy Sciences),
U.S. Department of Defense (Naval
Surface Warfare Center), MU, and MRI. Additional funding for
both programs comes from
Argonne National Laboratory (Advanced
Photon Source/U.S. Department of Energy).
ACCOMPLISHMENTS
Since
project begin in October 2004, we have developed monolithic
nanoporous
carbon from corncob with a storage capacity of 118 g methane/liter
carbon, or 180 times its own volume (180 V/V, 100%
of the DOE target for NG) and 238 g methane/kg carbon (140% of the
best carbon
in the
literature), at 500 psi and ambient temperature. We
use corncob as feedstock because it is an
abundant, renewable raw material native to the Midwest,
ensuring low tank costs and economic benefits for corn-producing
states. We
have manufactured over 300 monoliths, installed them in a prototype
tank and fuel delivery system constructed by MRI, and deployed the
complete ANG system on a NG vehicle on loan from the Kansas City Office
of Environmental Quality.
The tank is currently
being
road-tested in Kansas City.
It was showcased at a press conference in Kansas City, February 16,
2007 (MU
Press Release, MRI
Press Release, NSF
Press Release).
For hydrogen, our best storage capacity is 40 g hydrogen/liter carbon
and 80 g hydrogen/kg carbon (8 mass%) at 700 psi and liquid nitrogen
temperature, which is about 90% and 130% of the 2010 DOE volumetric and
gravimetric target for hydrogen (excluding cryogenic components),
respectively, and better than that of any
previous carbon in the literature.
For details, see pages Research
and Development and Publications.
IMAGES OF VARIOUS ASPECTS OF THE
PROJECT
RELATED LINKS AND DOCUMENTS OF INTEREST
NSF webpage for ALL-CRAFT
Homepage
of journal Fleets & Fuels
Natural Gas Vehicles for America
(NGVAmerica), Washington, DC
Clean Vehicle
Education Foundation (CVEF), Washington, DC
National Renewable
Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO
U.S.
Department of Energy, Hydrogen Program
U.S.
Department of Energy, Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE),
Hydrogen Economy
Natural
Gas Vehicles for America responds to the President's State of
the Union Address: New
York Times & Wall Street Journal,
February 8, 2006
Natural
Gas Vehicles for America responds to the President's State of
the Union Address: Fleets
& Fuels,
Vol. 13, No. 4, p. 5 & 9 (2006)
