Experimental determination of methane hydrate dissociation curve up to 55 MPa by using a small amount of surfactant as hydrate promoter

Methane hydrate equilibrium has been studied upon continuous heating of the water-hydrate-gas system within the temperature range of 275-300 K. This temperature range corresponds to equilibrium pressures of 3.15-55 MPa. The hydrate formation/dissociation experiments were carried out in a high-pressure reactor under isochoric conditions and with no agitation. A small amount of surfactant (0.02 wt% sodium dodecyl sulfate, SDS) was added to water to promote hydrate formation. It was demonstrated that SDS did not have any influence on the gas hydrate equilibrium, but increased drastically both the hydrate formation rate and the amount of water converted into hydrate, when compared with the experiments without surfactant. To understand and clarify the influence of SDS on hydrate formation, macroscopic observations of hydrate growth were carried out using gas propane as hydrate former in a fully transparent reactor. We observed that 10^-3 wt% SDS (230 times less than the Critical Micellar Concentration of SDS) were sufficient to prevent hydrate particles from agglomerating and forming a rigid hydrate film at the liquid-gas interface. In the presence of SDS, hydrates grew mainly on the reactor walls as a porous structure, which sucked the solution due to capillary forces. Hydrates grew with a high rate until about 97 wt% of the water present in the reactor was transformed into hydrate.Our data on methane hydrate equilibrium both confirm already published literature data and complement them within the pressure range of 20-55 MPa.     

Study on the influence of SDS and THF on hydrate-based gas separation performance

Hydrate additives can be used to mitigate hydrate formation conditions, promote hydrate growth rate and improve separation efficiency. CO₂ + N₂ and CO₂ + CH₄ systems with presence of sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) or tetrahydrofuran (THF) are studied to analyze the effect of hydrate additives on gas separation performance. The experiment results show that CO₂ can be selectively enriched in the hydrate phase. SDS can speed up the hydrate growth rate by facilitating gas molecules solubilization. When SDS concentration increases, split and loss fraction increase initially and then decrease slightly, resulting in a decreased separation factor. The optimum concentration of SDS exists at the range of 100–300 ppm. As THF can be easily encaged in hydrate cavities, hydrate formation condition can be mitigated greatly with its existence. Additionally, THF can also strengthen hydrate formation. The THF effect on separation performance is related to feed gas components. CO₂ occupies the small cavities of type II hydrate prior to N₂. But the competitiveness of CO₂ and CH₄ to occupy cavities are quite fair. The variations of split fraction, loss fraction and separation factor depend on the concentration of THF added. The work in this paper has a positive role in flue gas CO₂ capture and natural gas de-acidification.     

Separation and capture of carbon dioxide from CO2/H2 syngas mixture using semi-clathrate hydrates

The relation between anthropogenic emissions of CO₂ and its increased levels in the atmosphere with global warming and climate change has been well established and accepted. Major portion of carbon dioxide released to the atmosphere, originates from combustion of fossil fuels. Integrated gasification combined cycle (IGCC) offers a promising fossil fuel technology considered as a clean coal-based process for power generation particularly if accompanied by precombustion capture. The latter includes separation of carbon dioxide from a synthesis gas mixture containing 40 mol% CO₂ and 60 mol% H₂.A novel approach for capturing CO₂ from the above gas mixture is to use gas hydrate formation. This process is based on selective partition of CO₂ between hydrate phase and gas phase and has already been studied with promising results. However high-pressure requirement for hydrate formation is a major problem.We have used semiclathrate formation from tetrabutylammonium bromide (TBAB) to experimentally investigate CO₂ capture from a mixture containing 40.2 mol% of CO₂ and 59.8 mol% of H₂. The results shows that in one stage of gas hydrate formation and dissociation, CO₂ can be enriched from 40 mol% to 86 mol% while the concentration of CO₂ in equilibrium gas phase is reduced to 18%. While separation efficiency of processes based on hydrates and semi-clathrates are comparable, the presence of TBAB improves the operating conditions significantly. Furthermore, CO₂ concentration could be increased to 96 mol% by separating CO₂ in two stages.     

Thermodynamic modeling of the dissociation conditions of hydrogen sulfide clathrate hydrate in the presence of aqueous solution of inhibitor (alcohol,salt or ethylene glycol)

Hydrate dissociation conditions of hydrogen sulfide in the presence of aqueous solution of thermodynamic inhibitor (methanol, ethanol, ethylene glycol, NaCl, KCl and CaCl₂) is modeled in this communication. A thermodynamic model is developed to correlate the hydrate dissociation conditions for the systems of H₂S + water + salt (single and mixed salts of NaCl, KCl and CaCl₂), H₂S + water + alcohol (methanol or ethanol), H₂S + water + ethylene glycol and H₂S + water + mixed salt, and methanol/ethylene glycol. Extended-UNIQUAC (e-UNIQUAC) approach is used for modeling of the activity coefficient of water in aqueous phase. The structural parameters of e-UNIQUAC model are extracted from literature but interaction parameters of this model are obtained by fitting the model with experimental data. The results of the present model are in satisfactory agreement with experimental data.     

Toward a CO2-free ethylene oxide process: Homogeneous ethylene oxide in gas-expanded liquids

Among industrial chemical processes, ethylene oxide manufacture emits the largest amount of CO₂ (∼2-3 million tons/yr), as byproduct from the burning of both the ethylene (feed) and ethylene oxide. Further, the conventional silver-based catalytic process presents safety challenges due to the formation of explosive ethylene oxide/O₂ mixtures in the gas phase. By judicious choice of the catalyst (methyltrioxorhenium), oxidant (H₂O₂) and reaction medium (methanol/water), a homogeneous liquid phase catalytic system has been demonstrated that eliminates CO₂ formation while producing ethylene oxide at >90% selectivity at near-ambient temperatures. Given its high volatility, the ethylene oxide is easily recovered from the reaction phase by distillation. The vicinity of the gaseous ethylene feed to its critical temperature (9 °C) is exploited to significantly increase its solubility in the liquid reaction phase by facile compression beyond the critical pressure of ethylene (∼50 bar). Since H₂O₂ is stable at typical reaction temperatures (40 °C or less), potentially explosive ethylene oxide/O₂ mixtures are avoided in the gas phase. In addition to the potential of arresting the carbon footprint of a large-scale industrial process, the demonstrated process concept shows how gas-expanded liquids can be generally exploited in homogeneous catalysis to enhance productivity.     

Evidence of liquid water formation during methane hydrates dissociation below the ice point

Dissociation of small methane hydrate samples formed from water droplets of size 0.25-2.5 mm has been investigated below the ice melting point in the temperature range of 240-273 K, where the self-preservation effect is observed for bulk hydrates. The experiments included optical microscopy observations combined with P-T measurements of the dissociation conditions for the methane hydrates. For the first time, the formation of supercooled liquid water during the hydrate dissociation was reliably detected in the temperature range of 253-273 K. The formation of the liquid phase was visually observed. The induction time of the ice nucleation for the metastable liquid water depended from the dissociation temperature and a size of water droplets formed during the hydrate dissociation. It was found that in the temperature range of 253-273 K values of the dissociation pressure for the small hydrate samples fall on the extension of the water-hydrate-gas equilibrium curve into the metastable region where supercooled water exist. The average molar enthalpy of 51.7 kJ/mol for the dissociation of the small methane hydrate samples in the temperature range of 253-273 K was calculated using Clausius-Clapeyron equation. This value agrees with the enthalpy of dissociation of bulk methane hydrates into water and gas at temperatures above 273 K.     

Measurements of methane hydrate heat of dissociation using high pressure differential scanning calorimetry

The methane hydrate heat of decomposition was directly measured up to 20 MPa and 292 K using a high pressure differential scanning calorimeter (DSC). The methane hydrate sample was formed ex-situ using granular ice particles and subsequently transferred into the DSC cell under liquid nitrogen. The ice and water impurities in the hydrate sample were reduced by converting any dissociated hydrate into methane hydrate inside the DSC cell before performing the thermal properties measurements. The methane hydrate sample was dissociated by raising the temperature (0.5-1.0 K/min) above the hydrate equilibrium temperature at a constant pressure. The measured methane hydrate heat of dissociation (H→W+G), ΔH_d, remained constant at 54.44±1.45 kJ/mol gas (504.07±13.48 J/gm water or 438.54± 13.78 J/gm hydrate) for pressures up to 20 MPa. The measured ΔH_d is in agreement with the Clapeyron equation predictions at high pressures; however, the Clausius-Clapeyron equation predictions do not agree with the heat of dissociation data at high pressures. In conclusion, it is recommended that the Clapeyron equation should be used for hydrate heat of dissociation estimations at high pressures.     

Methane-ethane and methane-propane hydrate formation and decomposition on water droplets

Gas hydrate formation and decomposition on water droplets using an 89.4% methane—10.6% ethane mixture, and a 90.1% methane—9.9% propane mixture were carried out in a new apparatus suitable for morphology studies. As expected the induction time was found to be much shorter when the water had hydrate memory. All droplets nucleated simultaneously and the droplet size and shape had no noticeable effect on induction time and macroscopic crystal growth morphology for hydrates from the methane-ethane mixture. However, the surface of the hydrate crystals from methane-propane had a “hairy-like” appearance which changed to a smooth surface over time. Moreover, the smaller droplets during hydrate reformation showed an extensive hydrate growth and looked like snow-flakes. Sequential pictures generated by time-lapse videos showed that the time required for hydrate to cover the water droplet surface ranged from 10 to 23 s and was shorter when there was gas-phase agitation (mixing). The growth is postulated to occur in two stages. The first stage lasts about 10-23 s and growth takes place laterally. Growth takes place at the hydrate/gas and the hydrate/water interfaces during the second stage. The implication of the findings for process design of hydrate formation vessels is also discussed.     

Direct measurement of formation and dissociation rate and storage capacity of dry water methane hydrates

Dry water (DW) has been recently demonstrated to be an effective medium for methane storage in a hydrated form. Here, a series of experiments have been carried out on dry water methane hydrates (DW-MH) to investigate their formation and dissociation rates, storage capacity and structural characteristics. The result shows that the storage capacity of MH increases at least 10% by using DW relative to using surfactants like sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) solution. Also, it is found that controls on pressure-temperature (P-T) condition have influences on the induction and reaction time of DW-MH formation, i. e. the induction and reaction time are much shorter when the reaction cell is cooled to ~ 3 °C first. On the basis of Raman spectra, the hydration number is calculated as 5.934 ± 0.06 at different positions of the DW-MH, which suggests that the sample is very homogeneous. The dissociation process of the DW-MH sample exhibits a rapid release of methane gas at the first stage of dissociation. Although hydrate dissociation is prevented by the effect of self preservation, most methane gas has released from the hydrate, however, before the self preservation occur.     

Induction time,storage capacity,and rate of methane hydrate formation in the presence of SDS and silver nanoparticles

In this communication, the kinetic parameters of methane hydrate formation (induction time, quantity and rate of gas uptake, storage capacity (SC), and apparent rate constant) in the presence of sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS), synthetized silver nanoparticles (SNPs), and mixture of SDS?+?SNPs have been studied. Experimental measurements were performed at temperature of 273.65?K and initial pressure of 7?MPa in a 460?cm³ stirred batch reactor. Our results show that adding SDS, SNPs and their mixture increases the quantity of gas uptake, water to hydrate conversion, and SC of methane hydrate formation, noticeably. Using 300?ppm SDS increases the SC and the quantity of methane uptake 615, and 770%, respectively, compared with pure water. Investigating the hydrate growth rate at the start of hydrate formation process shows that, using SNPs, SDS, and their mixture increases the initial apparent rate constant of hydrate rate, considerably. Our results show that the system of methane?+?water?+?SDS 500?ppm?+?SNPs 45?µM represents the maximum value of initial apparent rate constant, compared with other tested systems.     

Effect of different surfactants on methane hydrate formation rate, stability and storage capacity

The effects of anionic surfactants sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) and linear alkyl benzene sulfonate (LABS), cationic surfactant cetyl trimethyl ammonium bromide (CTAB) and non-ionic surfactant ethoxylated nonylphenol (ENP) on the formation, dissociation and storage capacity of methane hydrate have been investigated. Each surfactant was tested with 3 concentrations 300, 500 and 1000 ppm and it has been found that SDS, when prepared with these three concentrations speeds up the hydrate formation rate effectively. LABS increases the hydrate formation rate at 500 and 1000 ppm but decreases it at 300 ppm. CTAB and ENP have promotion effect on hydrate formation rate at 1000 ppm but decrease it at 300 and 500 ppm. Hydrate stability tests have been performed at three temperatures 268.2, 270.2 and 272.2 K with and without surfactant promoters. The results show that all tested additives increase the dissociation rate of methane hydrate below the ice point. CTAB has the minimum and LABS the maximum effect on the methane hydrate dissociation rate. Experimental results on hydrate gas content revealed that maximum storage capacity of 165 V/V is obtained with 1000 ppm of CTAB in water.     

PEG-based hydrogel membrane coatings

As a first step towards preparing fouling-resistant coatings for water purification membranes, three series of copolymer hydrogel networks were synthesized using poly(ethylene glycol) diacrylate (PEGDA) as the crosslinker and acrylic acid (AA), 2-hydroxyethyl acrylate (HEA), or poly(ethylene glycol) acrylate (PEGA) as comonomers. Copolymers containing varying amounts of PEGDA with each of these comonomers were prepared. Glass transition temperatures obeyed the Fox equation. Crosslink density strongly influenced water uptake and water permeability for materials of constant chemical composition. For example, the volume fraction of water sorbed by a 100 mol% PEGDA hydrogel was 0.61. However, introducing comonomers into the network reduced hydrogel crosslink density, and in hydrogels having the same ethylene oxide content, water sorption increased as crosslink density decreased. The highest water volume fraction observed was 0.72, obtained in a copolymer containing 80 mol% PEGA and 20 mol% PEGDA. Water permeability increased systematically with increasing water sorption, and water permeability coefficients ranged from 10 to 26 L μm/(m² h bar). NaCl partition coefficients ranged from 0.36 to 0.53 (g NaCl/cm³ hydrogel)/(g NaCl/cm³ solution). NaCl diffusion coefficients varied little with polymer composition; in this regard, diffusion coefficient values ranged from 4.3 × 10⁻⁶ to 7.4 × 10⁻⁶ cm²/s. Based on contact angle measurements using n-decane in water, oil exhibited a low affinity for the surfaces of these polymers, suggesting that coatings prepared from such materials might improve the fouling resistance of membranes towards oily wastewater.     

Structure and mobility in water plasticized poly(ethylene oxide)

The change in structure and mobility of poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO) containing 2 wt% of fumed silica and the water self-diffusion coefficient in concentrated PEO-water systems have been investigated at room temperature in the water weight fraction, w_w, range 0-0.50 w/w. Pulsed field gradient nuclear magnetic resonance was used to measure the self-diffusion coefficients. Structure and mobility properties of PEO were measured with differential scanning calorimetry as well as with positron annihilation lifetime spectroscopy. The largest reduction of the degree of crystallinity of PEO was observed when w_w was increased from 0.13 w/w to 0.50 w/w. Moreover, water induced relaxation of the PEO segments in the amorphous phase, which seemed to have been strained by the crystals during compression molding. The water self-diffusion coefficient increased logarithmically with increased water content below water weight fractions in the amorphous phase of 0.30 w/w and the water molecules were obstructed by the crystalline phase.     

Xenon recovery from natural gas by multiple gas hydrate crystallization: a theory and simulation

ABSTRACT

For efficient xenon (Xe) recovery from natural gas (NG), multiple gas hydrate crystallization was considered. The optimal stages’ number for effective Xe recovery from model gas mixtures with close composition to NG one was determined. Gas hydrate distribution’s coefficients are defined for these gases at each stage, and each iterations of the multiple gas hydrate crystallization. In CH₄+ H₂S+CO₂+ Xe gas mixture that is closest to NG composition, the maximum average Xe concentration in the gas hydrate phase was observed at the second stage of the multiple gas hydrate crystallization.     

Induction time studies of calcium carbonate in ethylene glycol and water

Induction time for precipitation of calcium carbonate precipitated in mono ethylene glycol and water has been studied by conductivity measurements at ethylene glycol concentrations of 0–90 wt% and temperatures from 25 to 80 °C. The supersaturation ratios, S, were in the range of 3–10. The effect of the solvent was separated from the effect of the supersaturation and temperature. Increasing the concentration of ethylene glycol prolongs the induction times for precipitation of CaCO₃ considerably although the supersaturation actually increases, especially at lower temperatures. It was shown that this effect cannot be explained by the change in the interfacial tension. Induction time studies in seeded and unseeded experiments were performed in order to separate changes in the nucleation rate from the impact of the growth time in the varying solvent compositions. The results show that crystal growth is retarded, causing the increased induction time in ethylene glycol containing solutions, and hence that the nucleation rate is actually promoted by ethylene glycol. The nucleation rates determined by measured particle numbers and induction times from unseeded experiments were underestimated for the same reason, thereby illustrating the complexity of nucleation rate investigations in mixed solvents.     

Equilibrium conditions for the hydrogen sulfide hydrate formation in the presence of electrolytes and methanol

Natural gas industry encounters systems that consist of gases like CO₂ and H₂S, and aqueous solutions of methanol and mixed electrolytes. A knowledge of the phase behavior of such systems, including hydrate formation, is essential in gas production and the design of facilities for gas transportation and processing. Recently, Dholabhai et al. (1997, 1996) and Bishnoi and Dholabhai (1998) described equilibrium conditions for CO₂ and gas mixtures containing CO₂ in the presence of methanol, electrolytes and ethylene glycol. In the present work aqueous three phase (aqueous liquid solution, vapor and incipient hydrate) equilibrium conditions of H₂S hydrate formation in aqueous solutions of electrolytes and methanol are measured in the temperature range of 272 to 294 K and pressure range of 0.3 to 1.0 MPa. A ‘full view’ sapphire variable volume cell with a movable piston is used to obtain the experimental data.     

Reactive separation of ethylene from the effluent gas of methane oxidative coupling via alkylation of benzene to ethylbenzene on ZSM-5

Separation of ethylene from the effluent gas of oxidative coupling has been a challenging issue for several years. In a combined process of oxidative coupling and reforming of methane, reactive separation of ethylene via alkylation of benzene to ethylbenzene (EB) is a promising option. Ethylene was successfully converted to the useful chemical intermediate EB using ZSM-5. Yields of EB up to 90% were found at more than 95% conversion and more than 90% selectivity at 360 °C. Methane and ethane present in the feed were not converted and can be used for steam reforming in the proposed reaction concept. None of the additional components present in the effluent gas of oxidative coupling (CO, CO₂, CH₄, C₂H₆ and H₂O) influences activity or selectivity of the alkylation catalyst. Stability of ZSM-5 is also not influenced by the added components, with the exception of water, which even increases stability.     

Poly(ethylene isophthalate)s: effect of the tert-butyl substituent on structure and properties

A comparative study of the two isophthalic acid deriving homopolyesters poly(ethylene isophthalate) (PEI) and poly(ethylene 5-tert-butyl isophthalate) (PE^tBI), including synthesis, crystal structure, and thermal and permeability properties, was carried out. The two polyesters were prepared by condensation polymerization in the melt. In both cases, minor amounts of cyclic dimers were observed to form, which were characterized by nuclear magnetic resonance and mass spectroscopy. PEI and PE^tBI were thermally stable up to 400 °C and they appeared to be semicrystalline polyesters, having their melting temperatures between 130 and 135 °C. Their glass-transition temperatures were 62 and 94 °C, respectively. The crystal structure adopted by the two polyesters seemed to consist of a regularly folded conformation, clearly different from the almost extended conformation characteristic of poly(ethylene terephthalate). Gas permeability measurements for N₂, O₂, and CO₂ revealed that PE^tBI is more permeable to these gases than PEI, in spite of having a higher T_g. Furthermore, water vapor diffusion was found to be increased by the insertion of the tert-butyl group, whereas water absorption diminished. The differences in gas and water vapor transport properties observed for these two polyesters were discussed on the basis of their respective molecular structures.     

Molecular dynamics study on growth of carbon dioxide and methane hydrate from a seed crystal

In the current work, molecular dynamics simulation is employed to understand the intrinsic growth of carbon dioxide and methane hydrate starting from a seed crystal of methane and carbon dioxide respectively. This comparison was carried out because it has relevance to the recovery of methane gas from natural gas hydrate reservoirs by simultaneously sequestering a greenhouse gas like CO₂. The seed crystal of carbon dioxide and methane hydrate was allowed to grow from a super-saturated mixture of carbon dioxide or methane molecules in water respectively. Two different concentrations (1:6 and 1:8.5) of CO₂/CH₄ molecules per water molecule were chosen based on gas–water composition in hydrate phase. The molecular level growth as a function of time was investigated by all atomistic molecular dynamics simulation under suitable temperature and pressure range which was well above the hydrate stability zone to ensure significantly faster growth kinetics. The concentration of CO₂ molecules in water played a significant role in growth kinetics, and it was observed that maximizing the CO₂ concentration in the aqueous phase may not result in faster growth of CO₂ hydrate. On the contrary, methane hydrate growth was independent of methane molecule concentration in the aqueous phase. We have validated our results by performing experimental work on carbon dioxide hydrate where it was seen that under conditions appropriate for liquid CO₂, the growth for carbon dioxide hydrate was very slow in the beginning.     

Measurement and thermodynamic modeling of partition coefficients in N,N-dimethylacetamide-water-carbon dioxide system

The partition coefficients of N,N-dimethylacetamide (N,N-DMA) between the water and the supercritical and near-critical carbon dioxide (CO₂) phases were measured in the temperature range of 298.15-328.15 K and the pressure range of 8.3-24.1 MPa. The measurements were carried out in a 56 ml vessel by contacting the carbon dioxide and the aqueous phases. The partition coefficients of N,N-DMA increased from 0.05 to 0.150 with increasing pressure at a constant temperature and increased with temperature at a constant density. The bubble point pressures of N,N-DMA-CO₂ mixtures were measured at 298.15 K, 308.15 K and 318.15 K and were found to increase with increasing mole fraction of CO₂. The partition coefficients were modeled using the Peng-Robinson Equation of State (PREOS) combined with modified van der Waals mixing rule. The binary interaction parameters for the CO₂-H₂O pair were taken from the literature and were regressed for CO₂-N,N-DMA and H₂O-N,N-DMA pairs by fitting partition coefficients data. The binary interaction parameter for CO₂-N,N-DMA pair was found to depend linearly on temperature. The bubble point pressures of N,N-DMA and CO₂ were also measured and could be predicted fairly well using the regressed binary interaction parameters.