Enhanced hydrate formation under mild conditions using a novel spiral‐agitated reactor

Abstract

AbstractHydrate‐based solidified natural gas (SNG) technology provides a promising approach to store and transport natural gas, but demanding formation conditions and low methane storage capacity limit its application. Here, we presented a novel spiral‐agitated reactor, and hydrate formation in pure water and amino acid systems was evaluated. It is worth to highlight that spiral agitation significantly enhances initial hydrate grow kinetics, and satisfied methane uptake of 134.9 V/V was obtained under a mild condition (4.3 MPa, 275.15 K, and 30 rpm). Impressively, when amino acids were introduced, late hydrate growth was greatly improved because of secondary uptake, and a large methane uptake (145.97 V/V) was obtained under a milder condition (3.8 MPa, 275.15 K, and 60 rpm), which increases by 82.97% comparing to that in pure water systems. These findings provide a new insight (synergistic effect of spiral agitation and amino acids) on enhanced hydrate production under extremely mild conditions.