Experimental study and thermodynamic modelling of methane and mixed C1 + C2 + C3 clathrate hydrates in the presence of mesoporous silica gel

•Phase equilibria of hydrates of methane and synthetic natural gas hydrate in confined silicagel pores are reported.•Dissociation data in a synthetic porous media of silica gel with different pore radii of 10 and 15 nm are measured.•A thermodynamic model is developed for prediction of the obtained data.•Acceptable agreement is found between the obtained data and the predicted results.

In this communication, methane and synthetic gas mixture [CH4 (93.25 mol%) + C2H6 (4.8 mol%) + C3H8 (2 mol%)] hydrate dissociation conditions above the ice point of water were measured in a synthetic porous media of silica gel with different pore radii of 10 and 15 nm in the temperature and pressure ranges of (273.3–287.0) K and (3.30–6.22), respectively. The predictions of a thermodynamic model based on the solid solution theory of van der Waals and Platteuw (vdWP) considering the effects of interfacial tension and capillary forces are then compared with the obtained experimental data. It is shown that the model results are in good agreement with the corresponding data.