Clathrate nucleation and inhibition from a molecular perspective
Identifying the molecular processes that lead to clathrate-hydrate nucleation has been an active area of research for more than a decade. The question has a number of important ramifications, spanning applications in geology (formation and stability of natural methane-hydrate deposits), environmenta...
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crcansciencepubl:10.1139/p03-035 2024-09-30T14:38:29+00:00 Clathrate nucleation and inhibition from a molecular perspective Moon, C Taylor, P C Rodger, P M 2003 http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/p03-035 http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/pdf/10.1139/p03-035 en eng Canadian Science Publishing http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/page/about/CorporateTextAndDataMining Canadian Journal of Physics volume 81, issue 1-2, page 451-457 ISSN 0008-4204 1208-6045 journal-article 2003 crcansciencepubl https://doi.org/10.1139/p03-035 2024-09-19T04:09:50Z Identifying the molecular processes that lead to clathrate-hydrate nucleation has been an active area of research for more than a decade. The question has a number of important ramifications, spanning applications in geology (formation and stability of natural methane-hydrate deposits), environmental science (CO 2 sequestration), and industry (prevention of hydrate blockages). The drive to develop more active and robust hydrate inhibitors for the oil industry that work at very low dosages, in particular, has been slowed down because our understanding of the molecular mechanisms by which such inhibitors work is still largely conjectural. In this paper, we present results from the first direct molecular-dynamics simulations of the inhibition of nucleation in methane hydrate. Molecular-dynamics simulations have been used to simulate the behaviour of a thin film of water under a methane atmosphere with and without poly(vinylpyrrolidone) (PVP). Simulations in the absence of PVP show clear evidence of the nucleation and growth of methane hydrate; this behaviour is completely suppressed, however, when PVP is included in the simulation. We conclude that these simulations provide an excellent basis for understanding the way in which PVP inhibits hydrate nucleation. PACS Nos.: 81.10Aj, 81.10Dn, 81.10Fq Article in Journal/Newspaper Methane hydrate Canadian Science Publishing Canadian Journal of Physics 81 1-2 451 457 |
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Canadian Science Publishing |
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Identifying the molecular processes that lead to clathrate-hydrate nucleation has been an active area of research for more than a decade. The question has a number of important ramifications, spanning applications in geology (formation and stability of natural methane-hydrate deposits), environmental science (CO 2 sequestration), and industry (prevention of hydrate blockages). The drive to develop more active and robust hydrate inhibitors for the oil industry that work at very low dosages, in particular, has been slowed down because our understanding of the molecular mechanisms by which such inhibitors work is still largely conjectural. In this paper, we present results from the first direct molecular-dynamics simulations of the inhibition of nucleation in methane hydrate. Molecular-dynamics simulations have been used to simulate the behaviour of a thin film of water under a methane atmosphere with and without poly(vinylpyrrolidone) (PVP). Simulations in the absence of PVP show clear evidence of the nucleation and growth of methane hydrate; this behaviour is completely suppressed, however, when PVP is included in the simulation. We conclude that these simulations provide an excellent basis for understanding the way in which PVP inhibits hydrate nucleation. PACS Nos.: 81.10Aj, 81.10Dn, 81.10Fq |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Moon, C Taylor, P C Rodger, P M |
spellingShingle |
Moon, C Taylor, P C Rodger, P M Clathrate nucleation and inhibition from a molecular perspective |
author_facet |
Moon, C Taylor, P C Rodger, P M |
author_sort |
Moon, C |
title |
Clathrate nucleation and inhibition from a molecular perspective |
title_short |
Clathrate nucleation and inhibition from a molecular perspective |
title_full |
Clathrate nucleation and inhibition from a molecular perspective |
title_fullStr |
Clathrate nucleation and inhibition from a molecular perspective |
title_full_unstemmed |
Clathrate nucleation and inhibition from a molecular perspective |
title_sort |
clathrate nucleation and inhibition from a molecular perspective |
publisher |
Canadian Science Publishing |
publishDate |
2003 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/p03-035 http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/pdf/10.1139/p03-035 |
genre |
Methane hydrate |
genre_facet |
Methane hydrate |
op_source |
Canadian Journal of Physics volume 81, issue 1-2, page 451-457 ISSN 0008-4204 1208-6045 |
op_rights |
http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/page/about/CorporateTextAndDataMining |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1139/p03-035 |
container_title |
Canadian Journal of Physics |
container_volume |
81 |
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1-2 |
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451 |
op_container_end_page |
457 |
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1811641124316512256 |