Phase equilibrium of methane hydrate in silica sand containing chloride salt solution

Hydrate equilibrium is the most important foundation for other hydrate issues, especially for marine environment condition. In this work, the silica sand containing NaCl/MgCl2/CaCl2 aqueous solution were used to simulate marine sediment for investigating methane hydrate equilibrium using isochoric multi-step heating dissociation method. All measurements were performed in a temperature and pressure range of (279.5 to 289.7) K and (8.32 to 17.52) MPa, respectively. The results suggest that the equilibrium of methane hydrate in fine-grained silica sand containing chloride salt solution shifts more greatly to the left relative to that in single silica sand or solution. This is because water molecules reduce more chances to combine with gas molecules that is caused by the capillary force and the electrostatic attractions from the surface and electrolyte ions. However, hydrate equilibrium in coarse-grained silica sand containing chloride salt solution is in rough agreement with that in ionic solution of the corresponding concentration that indicates that hydrate equilibrium is mainly influenced by ions while the impact of solid particles is negligible.