Contribution to the evaluation of density of methane adsorbed on activated carbon.

The adsorption isotherms of N(2) at -196 degrees C, CO(2) at 0 degrees C, and CH(4) at 25 degrees C on 35 activated carbons with a wide range of micropore volumes and pore size distributions have been compared to evaluate the density of adsorbed methane. Results indicate that methane is adsorbed in the micropores of the activated carbon with a density that is a function of the carbon porosity because methane is packed more compactly in narrow than in wide micropores. An experimental procedure is proposed to evaluate the density in both types of micropores as a function of pressure. Its application to these porous carbons indicates that density of adsorbed methane increases rapidly with pressure on narrow micropores, the increase becoming slower above 1.5 MPa. The value reached at 3 MPa is 0.21 g/cm(3), near that estimated as the limiting value, 0.23 g/cm(3). Density in wide micropores is low, 0.09 g/cm(3) at 3 MPa, but it continuously increases with pressure.