In situ injection of THF to trigger gas hydrate crystallization: Application to the evaluation of a kinetic hydrate promoter

• In situ injection of THF efficiently triggers gas hydrate crystallization.
• The stochasticity of hydrate crystallization is “canceled out”.
• This method seems suitable to study hydrate formation at low subcoolings.

This paper investigates an original method to efficiently trigger gas hydrate crystallization. This method consists of an in situ injection of a small amount of THF into an aqueous phase in contact with a gas-hydrate-former phase at pressure and temperature conditions inside the hydrate metastable zone. In the presence of a CO2–CH4 gas mixture, our results show that the THF injection induces immediate crystallization of a first hydrate containing THF. This triggers the formation of the CO2–CH4 binary hydrate as proven by the pressure and temperature reached at equilibrium. This experimental method, which “cancels out” the stochasticity of the hydrate crystallization, was used to evaluate the effect of the anionic surfactant SDS at different concentrations, on the formation kinetics of the CO2–CH4 hydrate. The results are discussed and compared with those published in a recent article (Ricaurte et al., 2013), where THF was not injected but present in the aqueous phase from the beginning and at much higher concentrations.

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