Methane storage in mixed hydrates with tetrahydrofuran

Abstract

A systematic study on the methane hydrate formation and dissociation with aqueous tetrahydrofuran (~ 6.03 mol %) has been carried out in a stirred reactor. Experiments are conducted with initial methane pressure in the range 0.88 – 8.21 MPa. Encaging of methane molecules in vacant cages (5) in mixed hydrate is found to be significantly faster compared to pure methane hydrates. The hydrate formation temperature and methane consumption depend on the initial gas pressure (0.88 – 8.21 MPa) in the reactor and the consumed methane varies from 22.0 (± 1.4) m.mol to 88.0 (± 2.6) m.mol. The nucleation and dissociation temperature of the mixed hydrates is always higher than ice melting temperature.