Equilibrium conditions for clathrate hydrates formed from methane and aqueous propanol solutions

Equilibrium conditions for clathrate hydrates formed from methane and different concentrations of 1-propanol or 2-propanol aqueous solutions were experimentally determined at temperatures of 274.0–287.1 K and pressures up to 11.0 MPa. Each propanol has an inhibiting and/or promoting effect on hydrate formation depending on the propanol concentration. A structural transition from a structure I to a different hydrate structure occurred at concentrations between 3 and 5 mass% for 1-propanol and between 2 and 3 mass% for 2-propanol.     

Tuning methane content in gas hydrates via thermodynamic modeling and molecular dynamics simulation

Storage and transportation of natural gas as gas hydrate (“gas-to-solids technology”) is a promising alternative to the established liquefied natural gas (LNG) or compressed natural gas (CNG) technologies. Gas hydrates offer a relatively high gas storage capacity and mild temperature and pressure conditions for formation. Simulations based on the van der Waals–Platteeuw model and molecular dynamics (MD) are employed in this study to relate the methane gas content/occupancy in different hydrate systems with the hydrate stability conditions including temperature, pressure, and secondary clathrate stabilizing guests. Methane is chosen as a model system for natural gas. It was found that the addition of about 1% propane suffices to increase the structure II (sII) methane hydrate stability without excessively compromising methane storage capacity in hydrate. When tetrahydrofuran (THF) is used as the stabilizing agent in sII hydrate at concentration between 1% and 3%, a reasonably high methane content in hydrate can be maintained (∼85–100, v/v) without dealing with pressures more than 5 MPa and close to room temperature.     

Clathrate hydrate formation in (methane + water + methylcyclohexanone) systems: the first phase equilibrium data

The present study experimentally demonstrated clathrate hydrate formation in the systems of (methane + water + each of the three methylcyclohexanone isomers, i.e., 2-methylcyclohexanone, 3-methylcyclohexanone, and 4-methylcyclohexanone) and measured the first data of the quadruple (water rich liquid + hydrate + methylcyclohexanone rich liquid + methane rich vapor) equilibrium pressure and temperature conditions in these systems over the temperatures from T=273 K to T=281 K. In the three systems with methylcyclohexanone, the measured equilibrium pressure at each given temperature is ∼1.3 MPa lower than that in a structure-I hydrate forming (methane + water) system without any methylcyclohexanone, which suggests the formation of structure-H hydrates with methylcyclohexanones as large-molecule guest substances. Among the three systems, 3-methylcyclohexanone provides the highest equilibrium pressure, and 2-methylcyclohexanone, the lowest.     

CO2 and CH4 mole fraction measurements during hydrate growth in a semi-batch stirred tank reactor and its significance to kinetic modeling

A new experimental technique has been developed to measure the mole fraction of the gas hydrate former in the bulk liquid phase, at the onset of hydrate growth and thereafter, in a semi-batch stirred tank reactor. The mole fraction of carbon dioxide and methane in the bulk liquid phase was obtained for the first 11 and 13 min of the growth stage, for the carbon dioxide–water and methane–water systems respectively. Experiments were conducted at temperatures ranging from 275.3 K to 281.4 K and at pressures ranging from 2017 kPa to 4000 kPa for the carbon dioxide–water system, while temperatures ranging from 275.1 K to 279.1 K and pressures ranging from 3858 kPa to 6992 kPa were investigated for the methane–water system. The mole fraction of carbon dioxide in the bulk liquid phase was found to be constant during the growth period, varying on average by 0.6% and 0.3% at 275.4 K and 279.5 K. Similarly, the mole fraction of methane in the bulk liquid phase was found to remain constant during the growth stage, varying on average by 2.0%, 0.8% and 0.2% at 275.1 K, 277.1 K and 279.1 K respectively. The mole fraction of the gas hydrate former in the bulk liquid phase was also found to increase with pressure and decrease with temperature, while remaining greater than its hydrate-liquid water equilibrium value. As a result, an alternate formulation of a hydrate growth model is proposed.     

Raman spectroscopic studies on methane + tetrafluoromethane mixed-gas hydrate system

Raman spectra of intramolecular vibration mode for each guest species in the methane + tetrafluoromethane (CF₄) mixed-gas hydrate crystal have been measured at 291.1 K. Both of pure guest species generate the structure-I hydrate in the present pressure ranges. Isothermal phase-equilibrium curve exhibits two discontinuous points around the equilibrium methane compositions (water-free) in the gas phase of 0.3 and 0.8. At the above points, the Raman spectra of both guest molecules have been drastically changed. One of the most important findings is that the crystal of methane + tetrafluoromethane mixed-gas hydrate shows the structural phase-transition (from the structure-I to the structure-II and back to the structure-I) caused by composition changes.     

Equilibrium conditions of clathrate hydrates formed from carbon dioxide and aqueous acetone solutions

Equilibrium conditions of clathrate hydrates formed from carbon dioxide and aqueous acetone solutions were experimentally measured at temperatures between 269.2 and 281.4 K and pressures up to 3.98 MPa. The acetone concentrations in solutions were investigated from 0.04 to 0.40 mass fractions. The experimental results suggested a transition in hydrate structure from structure I to another structure for acetone solutions between 0.04 and 0.12 mass fractions of acetone. The hydrate structure was suggested to be structure II which was the most stable with a 0.16 mass fraction acetone solution. For more than 0.16 mass fraction of acetone, the equilibrium conditions of the hydrate were shifted to lower temperatures as acetone concentrations increased.     

R12 hydrate formation kinetics based on laser light scattering technique

Gas hydrates are non-stoichiometric crystalline compounds of water with gas at a certain temperature and pressure. Compared to the thermodynamics of hydrate formation, our knowledge on the kinetics aspect is rather immature. It is well known that the kinetics of hydrate formation/dissociation plays an important role in many industrial cases, such as the exploitation of methane hydrate underground, the storage and transportation of natural gas in solid hydrate state, the inhibition of hydrate i…     

Temperature change from isenthalpic expansion of aqueous triethylene glycol mixtures for natural gas dehydration

In natural gas dehydration units, rich TEG solutions are decompressed before the TEG regeneration stage and the direction of the temperature change during the decompression has been debated. The temperature change from an isenthalpic expansion from (7000 kPa to 440 kPa was measured for the following aqueous mixtures: pure water, 99% pure triethylene glycol (TEG), aqueous TEG (99 wt% TEG + 1% water), aqueous TEG saturated with methane, aqueous TEG saturated with n-pentane, and aqueous TEG saturated with n-heptane. In all cases, the temperature increased upon expansion with the magnitude of the temperature change ranging from 1.4 K for pure water to 2.4 K for TEG. A simple equation of state model predicted the correct direction for the temperature change and the predicted values were within ±1 K of the experimental data.     

Measurements of methane hydrate equilibrium in systems inhibited with NaCl and methanol

Natural gas hydrates are ice-like inclusion compounds that form at high pressures and low temperatures in the presence of water and light hydrocarbons. Hydrate formation conditions are favorable in gas and oil pipelines, and their formation threatens gas and oil production. Thermodynamic hydrate inhibitors (THIs) are chemicals (e.g., methanol, monoethylene glycol) deployed in gas pipelines to depress the equilibrium temperature required for hydrate formation. This work presents a novel application of a stepwise differential scanning calorimeter (DSC) measurement to accurately determine the methane hydrate phase boundary in the presence of THIs. The scheme is first validated on a model (ice + salt water) system, and then generalized to measure hydrate equilibrium temperatures for pure systems and 0.035 mass fraction NaCl solutions diluted to 0, 0.05, 0.10, and 0.20 mass fraction methanol. The hydrate equilibrium temperatures are measured at methane pressures from (7.0 to 20.0) MPa. The measured equilibrium temperatures are compared to values computed by the predictive hydrate equilibrium tool CSMGem.     

Phase equilibria of clathrate hydrates of methane + carbon dioxide: New experimental data and predictions

In this communication, we report experimental dissociation conditions for region clathrate hydrates of methane + carbon dioxide in gas–liquid water–hydrate (G–Lw–H) equilibrium. The temperature and pressure conditions are in the range of (279.1–289.9) K and (2.96–13.06) MPa, respectively. Concentrations of carbon dioxide in the feed gas are also varied. An isochoric pressure-search method was used to perform the measurements. The dissociation data generated in this work along with the literature data are compared with the predictions of a thermodynamic model and a previously reported empirical equation. A discussion is made on the deviations between the experimental and predicted data.     

Assessment of hydrate kinetic inhibitors with visual observations

The hydrate inhibition effect of three kinetic inhibitors (inhibex 301, 501, and 713) was assessed from (CH₄ + C₂H₆ + C₃H₈) gas mixture + brine systems using a high pressure sapphire cell. The onset time of hydrate formation was determined by visual observation method and pressure drop profile method, respectively. The experimental results demonstrated that the onset time was able to be determined by the visual observation method all the time while the pressure drop profile method failed to detect the onset time clearly and correctly at lower temperatures. In some cases, the initial appearance of hydrate crystals cannot induce a clear break in the pressure–time relationship curve. The onset time measured by the visual observation method is usually shorter than or at least the same as that determined by the pressure drop profile method. The inhibiting effect on the growth of hydrate crystals can be shown by the difference of the onset time obtained by the two methods. The maximum tolerated subcooling of each inhibitor was also investigated based on the onset time. It was found that inhibex 301 behaves as the best inhibitor that can tolerate the maximum subcooling of 8.3 K at 0.5 wt% and 10.6 K at 1.0 wt%, respectively. The maximum subcooling for inhibex 501 is 6.8 K at 0.5 wt% and 6.6 K at 1.0 wt%, respectively. Inhibex 713 has relatively poor inhibiting effect among the three inhibitors with the maximum subcooling of less than 3.5 K at 0.5 wt% and 5.1 K at 1.0 wt%, respectively.     

Hydrate temperature depression of MEG solutions at concentrations up to 60 wt%. Experimental data and simulation results

Literature data for the hydrate temperature depression by mono-ethylene glycol (MEG) show some scattering and no thermodynamic model has been able to match all of the available data found in the open literature. This paper presents hydrate equilibrium data for a mixture of 88.13 mol% methane and 11.87 mol% propane with MEG added to the water phase in concentrations from 0 to 60 wt%. That particular hydrocarbon mixture was chosen because it with pure water at pressures above 60 bar shows hydrate dissociation temperatures above 20 °C and because hydrate dissociation temperatures above the freezing point of water are still seen when the aqueous phase contains 50 wt% MEG. This range of inhibitor dosage is typical in North Sea pipelines, and for optimal hydrate control it is vital to have high quality experimental data of hydrate equilibrium. Previously published data for the same hydrocarbon mixture as used in this study show a lower hydrate depression by MEG compared to other available data. The new data from this work show that MEG is more efficient as a hydrate inhibitor than the previously published data for the same system has suggested. The new data and earlier MEG inhibition data for other systems can all be modeled within experimental uncertainty using the hydrate model of Munck et al. and a conventional cubic equation of state for the H₂O-MEG component pair.     

Gas hydrates in low water content gases: Experimental measurements and modelling using the CPA equation of state

In this communication, new experimental data are reported for the water content of methane and two synthetic gas mixtures in equilibrium with hydrates at pressures range from 5 to 40 MPa and temperature down to 251.65 K. The measurements have been made on equilibrated samples taken from a high-pressure variable volume hydrate cell using a new analyser based upon tuneable diode laser absorption spectroscopy (TDLAS) technology. A statistical thermodynamic approach, with the Cubic-Plus-Association equation of state, is employed to model the phase equilibria. The hydrate-forming conditions are modelled by the solid solution theory of van der Waals and Platteeuw. The thermodynamic model was used to predict the water content of methane and synthetic gases in equilibrium with gas hydrates.     

Isothermal phase equilibria and structural phase transition in the carbon dioxide + cyclopropane mixed-gas hydrate system

The isothermal phase equilibria of the carbon dioxide + cyclopropane mixed-gas hydrate system were investigated by means of static temperature measurement and Raman spectroscopic analysis. Raman spectra indicated that the crystal structure of the carbon dioxide + cyclopropane mixed-gas hydrate changes from structure-I to structure-II and back to structure-I with an increase of the equilibrium carbon dioxide composition at 279.15 K, while each simple gas hydrate belongs to structure-I at the temperature. Whereas, unlike 279.15 K, no structural phase transition occurs along the isothermal stability boundary at 284.15 K.     

Prediction of gas collection efficiency and particle collection artifact for atmospheric semivolatile organic compounds in multicapillary denuders

A modeling approach is presented to predict the sorptive sampling collection efficiency of gaseous semivolatile organic compounds (SOCs) and the artifact caused by collection of particle-associated SOCs in multicapillary diffusion denuders containing polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) stationary phase. Approaches are presented to estimate the equilibrium PDMS–gas partition coefficient (K_pdms) from a solvation parameter model for any compound, and, for nonpolar compounds, from the octanol–air partition coefficient (K_oa) if measured K_pdms values are not available. These estimated K_pdms values are compared with K_pdms measured by gas chromatography. Breakthrough fraction was measured for SOCs collected from ambient air using high-flow (300 L min⁻¹) and low-flow (13 L min⁻¹) denuders under a range of sampling conditions (−10 to 25 °C; 11–100% relative humidity). Measured breakthrough fraction agreed with predictions based on frontal chromatography theory using K_pdms and equations of Golay, Lövkvist and Jönsson within measurement precision. Analytes included hexachlorobenzene, 144 polychlorinated biphenyl congeners, and polybrominated diphenyl ethers 47 and 99. Atmospheric particle transmission efficiency was measured for the high-flow denuder (0.037–6.3 μm diameter), and low-flow denuder (0.015–3.1 μm diameter). Particle transmission predicted using equations of Gormley and Kennedy, Pich, and a modified filter model, agreed within measurement precision (high-flow denuder) or were slightly greater than (low-flow denuder) measured particle transmission. As an example application of the model, breakthrough volume and particle collection artifact for the two denuder designs were predicted as a function of K_oa for nonpolar SOCs. The modeling approach is a necessary tool for the design and use of denuders for sorptive sampling with PDMS stationary phase.     

Experimental and modeling study on hydrate formation in wet activated carbon

The formation of methane hydrate in wet activated carbon was studied. The experimental results demonstrated that the formation of methane hydrate could be enhanced by immersing activated carbon in water. A maximum actual storage capacity of 212 standard volumes of gas per volume of water was achieved. The apparent storage capacity of the activated carbon + hydrate bed increased with the increasing of mass ratio of water to carbon until reaching a maximum, then decreased drastically as the bulk water phase emerged above the wet carbon bed. The highest apparent storage capacity achieved was 140 v/v. A hydrate formation mechanism in the wet activated carbon was proposed and a mathematical model was developed. It has been shown that the proposed model is adequate for describing the hydrate formation kinetics in wet activated carbon. The kinetic model and the measured kinetic data were used to determine the formation conditions of methane hydrate in wet carbon, which are in good agreement with literature values and demonstrate that hydrate formation in wet carbon requires lower temperature or higher pressure than in the free water system.     

The Process of Aerosol Formation in a Highly Concentrated Gas Passing over a Solid Reagent in a Flow-Type Reactor

A mathematical model is proposed for the process of conversion of a highly concentrated gas into an aerosol over the surface of a solid reagent. On the basis of this model, the process of aerosol formation by the interaction between ammonia and a crystal hydrate of ferric nitrate in a flow-type reactor is studied. Recommendations for choosing the operating conditions required for ensuring proportional concentrations of the aerosol and reacting gas at high latter concentrations (1.2 × 10^–6kmol m^–3and higher) are given. The results obtained are compared with experimental data.     

Solubility of selected dibasic carboxylic acids in water,in ionic liquid of [Bmim][BF4], and in aqueous [Bmim][BF4] solutions

The solubilities of three dibasic carboxylic acids (adipic acid, glutaric acid, and succinic acid) in water, in the ionic liquid of 1-butyl-3-methyl-imidazolim tetrafluoroborate ([Bmim][BF₄]), and in the aqueous [Bmim][BF₄] solutions have been measured by a solid-disapperance method. The binodal curve of water + [Bmim][BF₄] was also determined experimentally from solid–liquid–liquid coexistence temperature up to near the upper critical solution temperature. Experimental results showed that each acid-containing binary behaved as a simple eutectic system. The solid–liquid equilibrium (SLE) data were correlated with the NRTL model for each binary system. The NRTL model with these determined binary parameters predicted the solid-disappearance temperatures of the aqueous ternary mixtures containing [Bmim][BF₄] and the dibasic acids to within an average absolute deviation of 2.0%.     

Experimental study on geochemical characteristic of methane hydrate formed in porous media

The natural occurrence of methane hydrates in marine sediments has been intensively studied over the past decades, and geochemical charac-teristic of hydrate is one of the most attractive research fields. In this paper, we discussed the geochemical anomaly during hydrate formation in porous media. By doing so, we also investigated the temperature influence on hydrate formation under isobaric condition. It turns out that sub-cooling is an important factor to dominate hydrate formation. Larger subcooling provides more powerful driving force for hydrate formation. During the geochemical anomaly research, six kinds of ions and the total dissolved salt (TDS) were measured before and after the experiment in different porous media. The result is that all kinds of ionic concentration increased after hydrate formation which can be defined as salting out effect mainly affected by gas consumption. But the variation ratio of different ions is not equal. Ca2+ seems to be the most significantly influenced one, and its variation ratio is up to 80%. Finally, we theoretically made a model to calculate the TDS variation, the result is in good accordance with measured one, especially when gas consumption is large.     

Phase equilibria of mixed carbon dioxide and tetrahydrofuran hydrates in sodium chloride aqueous solutions

In this work, the competing effects of sodium chloride (NaCl) and tetrahydrofuran (THF) on carbon dioxide hydrate formation are investigated through phase equilibrium measurements. The phase behaviour in the hydrate forming region for the binary system carbon dioxide–water, the ternary systems carbon dioxide–tetrahydrofuran–water and ternary carbon dioxide–sodium chloride–water and, in addition, the quaternary system carbon dioxide–tetrahydrofuran–water–sodium chloride are determined experimentally, using a Cailletet apparatus. All measurements are made in a temperature and pressure region of 275–290 K and 0.5–7.0 MPa, respectively. In these ranges, three different hydrate equilibrium curves are measured namely: H-L_W-V, H-L_W-L_V-V and H-L_W-L_V. The formation of an organic-rich liquid phase in the systems due to a liquid–liquid two-phase split between water and tetrahydrofuran when pressurized with carbon dioxide causes the occurrence of an upper quadruple point (Q₂) to evolve into a four-phase H-L_W-L_V-V equilibrium line. The presence of sodium chloride in the quaternary system enhances the split between the two liquids due to the salting-out effect. It was found that the hydrate promoting effect of tetrahydrofuran is able to suppress the inhibiting effect of sodium chloride especially at lower concentration of sodium chloride.