Kinetics of formation of carbon dioxide clathrate hydrates

Abstract

The new experimental apparatus capable of observing the clathrate hydrate formation kinetics was developed in this study. Experimental data on the kinetics of carbon dioxide hydrate formation were carefully measured. The experiments were carried out in a semi-batch stirred tank reactor with stirring rate of 500 rpm at three different temperatures between 275.2 and 279.2 K and at pressures ranging from 2.0 to 3.5 MPa. The kinetic model was adopted to predict the growth of hydrates with only one adjustable parameter which represented the rate constant for the hydrate particle growth. The model was based an the crystallization theory coupled with the two-film theory for gas absorption into the liquid phase. The model predictions matched the experimental data very well with the largest deviation of 7.18%, which is within experimental error range. This study is the first for the kinetic data of carbon dioxide hydrate formation and important in developing carbon dioxide fixation process using clathrate hydrate phenomenon.