Characterization of gas hydrates with PXRD, DSC, NMR, and Raman spectroscopy

Structure I (sI) and H (sH) hydrates containing methane were synthesized and characterized with PXRD, DSC, NMR, and Raman spectroscopy. Three well-known large molecule guest substances (LMGSs) were selected as sH hydrate formers: 2,2-dimetylbutane (NH), methylcyclohexane (MCH), and tert-butyl methyl ether (TBME). The solid phase analysis confirmed the presence of sH hydrate whenever a LMGS was present. The presence of a non-hydrate former (n-heptane) did not affect the methane hydrate structure or cage occupancies. Ice to hydrate conversion was limited when the LMGS amount was less than stoichiometric and synthesized at low methane pressure, but nearly complete conversion was achieved with temperature ramping and excess LMGS. The methane occupancies were found to depend on the type of LMGS and increased with pressure. The hydrate with TBME was found to have the smallest methane content followed by the hydrates with NH and MCH. Both NMR and Raman identified methane and LMGS signals from the hydrate phase, however, the cage occupancy values of sH hydrate can only be obtained from NMR spectroscopy. The hydrate structures, ice to hydrate conversion, gas content in hydrate and cage occupancy from the various measurements are consistent with each other.     

13C NMR analysis and gas uptake measurements of pure and mixed gas hydrates: Development of natural gas transport and storage method using gas hydrate

¹³C NMR spectra were obtained for pure CH₄, mixed CH₄+THF, and mixed CH₄+Neohexane hydrates in order to identify hydrate structure and cage occupancy of guest molecules. In contrast to the pure CH₄ hydrates, the NMR spectra of the mixed CH₄+THF hydrate verified that methane molecules could occupy only the small portion of 5¹² cages because the addition of THF, water-soluble guest component, to aqueous solution prevents the complete filling of methane molecules into small cages. Furthermore, from these NMR results one important conclusion can be made that methane molecules can’t be enclathrated at all in the large 5¹²6⁴ cages of structure II. In addition, gas uptake measurements were carried out to determine methane amount consumed during pure and mixed hydrate formation process. The moles of methane captured into pure CH₄ hydrate per mole of water were found to be similar to the full occupancy value, while the moles of methane captured into the mixed CH₄+THF hydrate per moles of water were much lower than the ideal value. The overall results drawn from this study can be usefully applied to storage and transportation of natural gas.     

Compositional and structural identification of natural gas hydrates collected at site 1249 on ocean drilling program leg 204

In contrast to the structural studies of laboratory-grown gas hydrate, this study has been performed on naturally grown clathrate hydrates from the sea floor. The PXRD pattern of natural gas hydrate shows that the sample had a structure I hydrate. The¹³C NMR spectrum was obtained for the natural gas hydrate sample in order to identify the cage occupancy of guest molecules and determine the hydration number. The NMR spectrum reveal that the natural gas hydrates used in this study contain only methane with no noticeable amount of other hydrocarbons. The existence of two peaks at different chemical shifts indicates that methane molecules are encapsulated in both large and small cages. In addition, Raman spectroscopic analysis is also carried out to identify natural hydrates and compared with the NMR results. Investigating the composition and structure of natural gas hydrates is essential for applying natural gas hydrates as a novel energy source.     

Spectroscopic observation of H<Subscript>2</Subscript> migration in structure-I clathrate hydrate

We demonstrate the spectroscopic observation of H₂ migration in the binary structure-I (sI) clathrate hydrate. The H₂ molecules captured into sI small cage (sI-S) at lower temperature migrate to sI large cage (sI-L) through shared pentagonal face of 5¹²6² cage. The hexagonal faces of 5¹²6² cage provide the windows essential for creating continuous diffusion paths for H₂ molecules. It is essential to realize that the vacant channels formed by the linkage of specific cages can play an important role in guest diffusion pathways and occupancy occurring in a complex clathrate hydrate matrix.     

Gas hydration of trans-1,2-dimethylcyclohexane with cooperative assistance of methane and cis-1,2-dimethylcyclohexane

It has been regarded that the limit of the largest cage occupancy for the structure-H hydrate is between the 1,2-dimethylcyclohexane stereo-isomers, because the cis-isomer is able to generate the structure-H hydrate in the presence of methane while the trans-isomer is not. In the present study, gas hydration of trans-1,2-dimethylcyclohexane in the presence of methane and cis-1,2-dimethylcyclohexane is found from stability boundaries for the structure-H hydrate system.     

客体分子数对甲烷水合物导热性能影响的分子动力学模拟

本文通过采用EMD方法Green-Kubo理论计算263.15 K 晶穴占有率0-100% sI甲烷水合物导热系数,研究客体分子数对甲烷水合物导热性能的影响。模拟结果显示,甲烷水合物的低导热性能由主体分子构建的笼型结构决定。而在相同温压条件下,随着客体分子甲烷进入晶胞数目增多,晶穴占有率增大后,密度增大,同时客体分子对声子的散射也增强,二者均导致导热性能增强。     

Equilibrium and crystallographic measurements of the binary tetrahydrofuran and helium clathrate hydrates

Clathrate compounds are crystalline materials formed by a physical interaction between host and relatively light guest molecules. Various types of nano-sized cages surrounded by host frameworks exist in the highly unique crystalline structures and free guest molecules are entrapped in an open host-guest network. Recently, we reported two peculiar phenomena, swapping and tuning, naturally occurring in the hydrate cages. Helium, one of the smallest light guest molecules, must be the challengeable material in the sense of physics and moreover possesses versatile applications in the field of superconductivity technology and thermonuclear industry. In this regard, we attempted for the first time to synthesize helium hydrates at moderate temperature and pressure conditions. According to inclusion phenomena, helium itself normally cannot form clathrate hydrates due to being too small molecularly without the help of hydrate former molecules (sI, sII, and sH formers). In this study, the hydrate equilibria of the binary clathrate hydrate containing tetrahydrofuran, helium, and water were determined at 2, 3, 5.56 THF mol%. Direct volumetric measurements were also carried out to confirm the exact amount of helium captured in the hydrate cages. Finally, the crystalline structure of the formed mixed hydrates was identified by powder X-ray diffraction, resulting in structure II.     

Structural phase transitions of methane+ethane mixed-gas hydrate induced by 1,1-dimethylcyclohexane

Methane+ethane+1,1-dimethylcyclohexane+water system was investigated by using Raman spectroscopy and isothermal phase equilibrium measurements under four-phase (gas+aqueous+large guest species+hydrate phases) equilibrium conditions at 288.15 K. The results suggest that three kinds of hydrate structures emerge at 288.15 K in the methane+ethane+1,1-dimethylcyclohexane+water system. The hydrate structure for this system changed from structure-H to structure-I via structure-II with increase in the mole ratio of ethane to methane.     

Icosahedron cage occupancy of structure-H hydrate helped by Xe -1,1-, cis -1,2-, trans-1,2-, and cis-1,4-dimethylcyclohexanes

Four mixtures of 1,1-, cis-1,2-, trans-1,2-, and cis-1,4-dimethylcyclohexanes (hereafter abbreviated DMCH) including H₂O and Xe have been investigated in a temperature range over 274.5 K and a pressure range up to 2.7 MPa. The 1,1-DMCH and cis-1,2-DMCH generate the structure-H hydrate in the temperature range up to 295.2 and 280.2 K, respectively. Especially, very large depression of equilibrium pressure has been observed in the structure-H 1,1-DMCH hydrate system. On the other hand, neither trans-1,2-DMCH nor cis-1,4-DMCH generates the structure-H hydrate in the present temperature range. It is an important finding that the cis-1,4-DMCH does not generate the structure-H hydrate in the presence of Xe, while the mixture of cis-1,4-DMCH and methane generates the structure-H hydrate.     

Structure identification of binary 1-propanol+methane hydrate using neutron powder diffraction

Alcohols are frequently used in hydrate communities as thermodynamic hydrate inhibitors, but some alcohol molecules are also known to be hydrate formers with a help gas. In this study, the crystal structures of binary 1-propanol+methane hydrates at various temperatures were identified using neutron powder diffraction analysis with Rietveld refinement. Characteristic behaviors of the guest molecules in the hydrate structure were also analyzed to verify possible host-guest interactions from the refinement results. The results showed that the thermal factors of host water and guest methane increased continuously as the temperature increased. However, the isotropic thermal factors (B values) of 1-propanol were abnormally high compared to those of methane in the small cages of structure II (sII) hydrates, which could be because the 1-propanol molecules were off-centered in the large cages of sII hydrates. This implies that hydrogen bonding interactions between host and guest molecules can occur in the large cages of sII hydrates. The present findings may lead to a better understanding of the nature of guest-host interactions that occur in alcohol hydrates.     

RESEARCH ON COUPLED RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN HYDRATION NUMBER WITH RAMAN SPECTRUM

As we know, there are three structures-sⅠ, sⅡ, and sH, with hydrocarbonate gas hydrate. Because of those special structures characteristics and potentail large fossil energy resource, gas hydrate play an important role in natural carbonate cycle system. In this paper, CH_4, CO_2, C_3H_8, and CH_4 CO_2 system have been experimental performed in order to model hydrate formation and discomposition and to obtain hydrate stability conditions of tempreature and pressure. The results from laboratory using Raman spectra show that Raman spectrascopy is a effective tool to identify hydrate structure. Raman spectra of clathrate hydrate guest molecules are presented for two structure (sⅠ and sⅡ) in the following systems: CH_4, CO_2, C_3H_8. Relatively occupancy of CH_4 in the large and small cavities of sⅠ were determined by deconvoluting the v_1 symmetric bands, resulting in hydration numbers of 6.04±0.03. The freqyuency of the v_1 bands for CH_4 in structures Ⅰ and Ⅱ differ statistically. The large cavities were measured to be almost fully occupied by CH_4 and CO_2, whereas only a small fraction of the small cavities are occupied by CH_4. No CO_2 was found in the small cavities.     

A theoretical prediction of cage occupancy and heat of dissociation of THF-CH4 hydrate

This work presents a theoretical prediction of the cage occupancy of CH₄ in small cages and the heat of dissociation for THF-CH₄ hydrate using the predictive Soave-Redlich-Kwong group contribution method combined with the UNIFAC model. The predicted cage occupancy of CH₄ gradually increases with increasing pressure, indicating that the CH₄ molecules could readily be encaged in the small 5¹² cages of the sII hydrate framework stabilized by THF molecules. The molar enthalpy of encagement of CH₄ in the small 5¹² cages of the sII clathrate hydrate is estimated to be 26.7±1.7 kJ mol^?1.     

Stability boundaries of gas hydrates helped by methane—structure-H hydrates of methylcyclohexane and cis-1,2-dimethylcyclohexane

The four-phase coexistence curves for the structure-H hydrates of methylcyclohexane and cis-1,2-dimethylcyclohexane in the presence of methane are measured in the temperature range 274.09- and pressure range 1.42-. Very large pressure reductions from the pure methane hydrate are observed by forming structure-H hydrates. The present investigation on the trans-1,2-dimethylcyclohexane system reveals that the limit of the largest-cage occupancy for the structure-H hydrate is laid between the 1,2-dimethylcyclohexane stereo-isomers.     

Quantitative analysis of gas hydrates using Raman spectroscopy

A calibration protocol to quantify the compositional information of gas hydrates using Raman spectroscopy is proposed. Structure I pure CH₄‐, CO₂‐ and C₂H₆‐hydrates in their deuterated and hydrogenated forms with known cage occupancies were investigated by Raman spectroscopy. Raman scattering cross sections of CH₄ in the large and small cages were found to be very similar, but not identical. Some C₂H₆ bands of C₂H₆‐hydrate were tentatively reassigned or newly reported and assigned. Our results show that the relative cross sections of guest vibrational modes in the deuterated hydrate are in agreement with those in the hydrogenated hydrate, whereas they are considerably different from those in fluid phase. Using our Raman quantification factors, the relative cage occupancies can now be determined more reliably in CH₄‐hydrates. Moreover, with additional assumptions, the absolute cage occupancies, the bulk guest composition and hydration number of pure or mixed gas hydrates become accessible by Raman spectroscopy. © 2013 American Institute of Chemical Engineers AIChE J, 59: 2155–2167, 2013     

NMR study of temperature-induced phase separation and polymer-solvent interactions in poly(vinyl methyl ether)/D2O/ethanol solutions

The changes in the dynamic structure during temperature-induced phase transition in D₂O/ethanol solutions of poly(vinyl methyl ether) (PVME) were studied using NMR methods. The effect of polymer concentration and ethanol (EtOH) content in D₂O/EtOH mixtures on the appearance and extent of the phase separation was determined. Measurements of ¹H and ¹³C spin-spin and spin-lattice relaxations showed the presence of two kinds of EtOH molecules: besides the free EtOH expelled from the PVME mesoglobules there are also EtOH molecules bound in PVME mesoglobules. The existence of two different types of EtOH molecules at temperatures above the phase transition was in solutions with polymer concentration 20 wt% manifested by two well-resolved NMR signals (corresponding to free and bound EtOH) in ¹³C and ¹H NMR spectra. With time the originally bound EtOH is slowly released from globular-like structures. From the point of view of polymer-solvent interactions in the phase-separated PVME solutions both EtOH and water (HDO) molecules show a similar behaviour so indicating that the decisive factor in this behaviour is a polar character of these molecules and hydrogen bonding.     

Zur Stereochemie acyclischer Verbindungen. III [4] Bestimmung der Vorzugskonformation unterschiedlich substituierter γ-Chlorpropyl-methylether mittels NMR Spektroskopie und Molecular Modelling

Acyclic Stereochemical Analysis. III. Estimation of the Preferred Conformers of Substituted γ-Chloropropyl-methyl Ethers by NMR Spectroscopy and Molecular Modelling The conformers of the various stereoisomers of a series of γ-chloropropyl methyl ethers 1–4 with 1, 2 and 3 chiral centres have been estimated by Molecular Modelling (MOBY) and the results compared with the data of previous ¹H and ¹³C NMR studies. The calculations corroborate former NMR results and the remarkable potential of both NMR spectroscopy and Molecular Modelling to assign even four diastereomers of acyclic molecules with three chiral centres.     

Structure and composition of CO2/H2 and CO2/H2/C3H8 hydrate in relation to simultaneous CO2 capture and H2 production

Gas hydrates from a (40/60 mol %) CO₂/H₂ mixture, and from a (38.2/59.2/2.6 mol %) CO₂/H₂/C₃H₈ mixture, were synthesized using ice powder. The gas uptake curves were determined from pressure drop measurements and samples were analyzed using spectroscopic techniques to identify the structure and determine the cage occupancies. Powder X‐ray diffraction (PXRD) analysis at ?110°C was used to determine the crystal structure. From the PXRD measurement it was found that the CO₂/H₂ hydrate is structure I and shows a self‐preservation behavior similar to that of CO₂ hydrate. The ternary gas mixture was found to form pure structure II hydrate at 3.8 MPa. We have applied attenuated total reflection infrared spectroscopic analysis to measure the CO₂ distribution over the large and small cavities. ¹H MAS NMR and Raman were used to follow H₂ enclathration in the small cages of structure I, as well as structure II hydrate. © 2009 American Institute of Chemical Engineers AIChE J, 2009     

基于TDTR技术水合物热导率测量方法

四氢呋喃水合物（THF）是典形的笼形水合物,目前有关其热导率的报道较少,且都存在测量样品不是单一相、测量过程水合物发生分解等问题。采用基于飞秒脉冲激光的时域热反射法（TDTR）测量THF热导率。根据样品常温下是流体的特点,设计了可同时适用样品制备及TDTR测量的温控台,实现THF热导率非接触原位测量。获得THF热导率为0.6 W/(m?K),Al/THF界面热导为90.3 MW/(m²?K)。该实验结果有助于理解并完善固体水合物微观导热机理,明晰水分子笼子和客体分子的耦合关系。     

Role of Guest Molecules on the Hydrate Growth at Vapor‐Liquid Interfaces

Systematic molecular dynamics simulations have been performed to illustrate the roles of guest molecules played in the process of hydrate growth at vapor‐liquid interfaces. In our simulations, guest molecules are represented by a commonly used single‐site Lennard–Jones model, and the roles of guest molecules on hydrate growth have been investigated separately from the effect of water–guest molecule attractive interaction ε and that of molecular size σ, respectively. Our simulation results demonstrate that the water‐guest molecule attraction regulates the pathway and rate of nucleus growth, whereas the size of guest molecules determines the dynamically preferable structure. © 2013 American Institute of Chemical Engineers AIChE J, 59: 2621–2629, 2013     

油藏流体中H型水合物生成条件的计算

1 INTRODUCTION Gas hydrates are serious problems in the petroleum and petrochemical industries since it may cause the plugging of production facilities and trans- portation pipelines during gas and oil production. It is known to all that gas hydrates have three poten- tial hydrate formation structures: structure- structure- and structure-H (SH). The two for- mer structures have been studied extensively and their phase equilibrium conditions are well characterized. For a long time, molecu…