Experimental study of methane hydrate formation kinetics with or without additives and modeling based on chemical affinity

Abstract

In this work, methane hydrate formation process (as a process for energy conversion and cool-energy storage) with or without additives was investigated. First, the effects of initial pressure and three surfactants (sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS), dodecyltrimethyl ammonium bromide (DTAB) and Triton X-100 (TX-100)) and two thermodynamic additives (tetrahydrofuran (THF) and tetra butyl ammonium bromide (TBAB)) on methane hydrate formation kinetics were experimentally studied. Then the macroscopic modeling of methane hydrate formation kinetics with and without additives based on chemical affinity was done. The kinetic parameters of the chemical affinity model were determined for methane hydrate formation with and without additives. The effects of initial pressure and additives on the chemical affinity model parameters were also investigated. In addition, the results of the model were in a good agreement with experimental data.