1. Control of methane hydrate formation at the molecular level
Tadanori Koga, Department of Materials Science and Engineering,
Stony Brook University
Natural gas hydrates owe their existence to the ability of water molecules to assemble via hydrogen bonding and form polyhedral cavities in which trapped methane molecules reside. Though initial interest in understanding gas hydrate formation focused on flow assurance to avoid gas pipeline plugging, it is now being considered for applications such as an alternative to desalination technology, potentially a huge natural gas reserve, and natural gas transport alternative to liquefied natural gas (LNG) due to high energy density. A recognizable problem in utilizing the versatility of gas hydrate route is the uncertainty in the hydrate formation process that can take from few minutes to several days. This proposal seeks to undertake a fundamental study to help understand the hydrate nucleation process at the interface. We have custom built a cell to study the natural gas hydrate interfacial phenomenon. A major focus of the study would be to measure hydrate nucleation using neutron reflectivity at NIST, where the neutron wavelength, 0.4nm, allows detection of nanoscale processes required for studying factors that affect nucleation at the earliest stages.
Another goal would be to facilitate natural gas hydrate formation with surfactant systems that are close to those found in nature. These results will be compared with experiments with hydrate-depleted host sediments, from known hydrate sites in the recent Gulf of Mexico and India cruises, which are known to contain organic matter that can serve as nucleation sites.
2d-detector
High-pressure cell
Neutrons
Diffuse scattering
(surface structure)
Methane
Specular component
(layer structure)
Detector
NG7, NIST
Water