Gas-rich countries, such as the U.S., see a growing world market for their resource. But exporting natural gas means investing in multi-billion-dollar ports where the stuff can be cooled and stored at around -260°F, then pumped aboard refrigerator tankers to sail off to foreign lands.
Even storing natural gas in your home’s tank for cooking or heating involves storing the explosive vapors under pressure.
But all that may be over. Researchers at the National University of Singapore have now devised a way to store natural gas as a solid at more reasonable temperatures.
The scientists found that blending a proprietary mix of ingredients, mainly the amino acid L-tryptophan, with the gas vapors sped up a naturally occurring process of capturing gas molecules inside “cages” made of water molecules.
While nature’s process takes millions of years, Shanghai’s version takes 15 minutes.
TRENDPOST: In addition to being fast, the new process shrinks gas volumes 90-fold and reduces stable storage temperature to around 23°F, which can be achieved in a conventional freezer.
The group is designing a pilot plant to test its process at a commercial scale.
TRENDPOST: The new technique could make transporting and exporting natural gas far cheaper and safer, not only allowing more of the world’s remaining gas to be captured instead of flared, but also eliminating the need for tens of thousands of miles of pipeline and the risk of periodic explosions.
