Development of a Gas Hydrate Absorption for Energy storage and Gas separation – Proof of Concept based on Natural Gas

Abstract

Due to economical and safety advantages in comparison to existing technologies, gas hydrates show a vast potential with regard to several technical applications, like gas separation and storage. Therefore, an increased interest in applied gas hydrate research can be recognized. This paper describes the development of an absorption process which allows the immediate storage of gas in form of hydrates by the example of simulated natural gas comprising methane, ethane and propane. Methane is removed and stored in gas hydrates while natural gas liquids remain in the gas phase. The experiments were conducted under moderate conditions, using the thermodynamic promoter tetrahydrofuran in a stoichiometric concentration of 5.56 mole%. High storage capacities, formation rates and separation efficiencies were achieved, showing the feasibility of this concept. An adapted McCabe-Thiele-diagram was created to determine necessary stage numbers for high purity requirements.