Intensification of Hydrate Formation by Microbubbles

Abstract

Іndustrial synthesis of gas hydrates is a promising area for storage, transportation and utilisation of natural gas. The aim of this work is to evaluate the factors that affect the efficiency of gas hydrate synthesis, in particular, the influence of gas microbubble generation. To achieve the goal, the following tasks were solved: the experimental unit was developed and assembled; the experimental research methodology was proposed; experimental data were obtained and their statistical analysis was performed; a mathematical model of hydrodynamic and heat and mass-exchange processes in the nozzle was developed; оn the basis of the mathematical model, a calculation program was created which allows analyzing the nozzle operation in different thermobaric conditions under different hydrodynamic regimes. The most important are the results of experiments, which allowed us to determine the factors that have the greatest influence on the intensification of propane hydrate synthesis: the presence of gas microbubbles, liquid temperature, gas temperature, gas pressure in the reactor and others. The influence of individual factors and the presence of gas mixture microbubbles on the intensity of mass transfer processes of hydrate formation in the reactor was determined. The influence of nozzle design features on the efficiency of hydrate formation was analyzed. The significance of the obtained results is to expand knowledge about the influence of various factors on the intensification of gas hydrate synthesis. The research results can be used for designing industrial plants for gas hydrate synthesis.

Keywords

• gas hydrates
• experimental setup
• microbubbles
• heat and mass transfer processes
• mathematical model
• nozzle.