Abstract: Influence of pore-size distribution of super-high specific-surface-area activated carbon on desorption amount of natural gas was studied under the condition of equal specific surface area. The results indicated that the high percentage of mesoporous(2 nm<d<50 nm) pores was advantageous for storage of the adsorbed natural gas. Desorption amount of natural gas evidently depends on the pressure for activated carbon with high percentage of mesopores, while temperature has consistent effects on adsorption of natural gas for super-high specific-surface-area activated carbons with different pore size distribution. The desorption amount of natural gas under low pressure follows to the exponential equation:V=A·Pⁿ, or follows to the linear equation: V＝k·P＋b, under high pressure. Compared with compressed natural gas(CNG), follows the percentage of increment of natural gas desorption amount to the exponential equation:X=C·P^-n. At 273 K and 9.0 MPa, natural gas desorption amount increased 27.9% for the super-high specific-surface-area activated carbon with 2600 m²/g when the percent of mesopores increased 27 centiunits, while the natural gas desorption amount reached 1131.7 mL/g when the percentage of mesopores reached 79.06%.

Key words: super-high specific-surface-area activated carbon, adsorbent, natural gas, adsorption storage, pore-size distribution