Gas Hydrate Equilibrium Conditions for Model Systems Containing Propane

Gas hydrates can be found as sediments on the floor of deep seas. Gas hydrates find application in energy sector when gases can be stored at low pressures and temperatures above freezing point. Desalination of sea-water, sewage treatment, carbon storage and sequestration, separation of close boiling-point components are further applications of gas hydrate. Clearly, optimizing hydrate formation conditions ? that is, higher temperature and lower pressure, would make gas hydrate processes effective and appealing. Propane easily forms structure II hydrate at rather low pressure. This property of propane hydrate makes it a potential hydrate promoter. As such, in the presence of propane, gas are believed to form gas hydrate at relatively low pressure. To find out the effect of propane on gas hydrate incipient, a constant-volume gas hydrate measurement device will be designed. A series of experiments will be performed with model gas systems comprising propane + methane, + ethane, + carbon dioxide. A thermodynamic model will also be developed to calculate gas hydrate formation conditions of the gases. The model will be compared to the measured experimental values. The percentage occupancy of gas hydrate by propane as a function of pressure will also be estimated.