Rapid and high capacity methane storage in clathrate hydrates using surfactant dry solution

• SDS dry solution (SDS-DS) combines dispersion of dry water and activity of surfactant solution.
• SDS-DS can enhance storage rate and capacity of methane hydrate.
• SDS-DS has similar storage rate as SDS solution and similar storage capacity as dry water.
• SDS-DS stores methane faster than dry water and has higher storage capacity than SDS solution.

Surfactant dry solution (DS) was prepared by mixing sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) solution, hydrophobic silica nanoparticles and air in a high speed blender. Flour-like SDS-DS combines the advantages of dispersed dry water and active SDS solution. Methane storage in clathrate hydrates using SDS-DS was investigated in a stainless steel vessel without stirring under the condition of 5.0 MPa and 273.2 K. The results demonstrated that highly dispersed SDS-DS could significantly enhance formation kinetics and storage capacity of methane hydrate. SDS-DS exhibited about the same methane storage capacity (172.96 m3 m−3) as dry water, but faster storage rates than dry water. Compared to SDS solution, SDS-DS had similar storage rates (7.44 m3 m−3 min−1) and higher methane storage capacity under the relative low pressure. However, the aggregation of partial SDS-DS powders destroyed its original dispersive property after hydrate dissociation.