Hydrate Dissociation in Pipelines by Two‐Sided Depressurization: Experiment and Model

A bstract : Experimental data were obtained on the dissociation of short methane hydrate plugs in a simulated pipeline. The hydrate plugs were dissociated by the method of two‐sided depressurization. Results indicated that plug dissociation occurred radially and not axially. This results in extreme...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Published in:Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences
Main Authors: PETERS, DAVID, SELIM, M. SAMI, SLOAN, E. DENDY
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: Wiley 2000
Subjects:
Online Access:http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1749-6632.2000.tb06784.x
https://api.wiley.com/onlinelibrary/tdm/v1/articles/10.1111%2Fj.1749-6632.2000.tb06784.x
https://nyaspubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/j.1749-6632.2000.tb06784.x
Description
Summary:A bstract : Experimental data were obtained on the dissociation of short methane hydrate plugs in a simulated pipeline. The hydrate plugs were dissociated by the method of two‐sided depressurization. Results indicated that plug dissociation occurred radially and not axially. This results in extreme safety concerns, listed herein. When the system was depressurized to atmospheric pressure, ice was formed from the dissociating hydrate plug, which aided in the dissociation process. A model describing hydrate dissociation assumes that heat is conducted radially into the plug from the surroundings. The model is in quantitative agreement with the data using no fitted parameters. A rapid pressure reduction to atmospheric pressure on both ends of the hydrate plug leads to the optimal dissociation rate.