Experimental and Modeling Study on Methane Hydrate Equilibrium Conditions in the Presence of Inorganic Salts

• Published in: Molecules
• Main Authors: Qiang Fu, Mingqiang Chen, Weixin Pang, Zhen Xu, Zengqi Liu, Huiyun Wen, Xin Lei
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2024
• Subjects: inorganic salts; methane hydrate; inhibition; thermodynamics model; Organic chemistry; QD241-441; Methane hydrate
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules29153702; https://doaj.org/article/5a6c1607b7484b5a8e58613b42bcfc14

The aim of this study was to determine the influence of four inorganic salts, KCl, NaCl, KBr and NaBr, on the thermodynamic conditions of methane hydrate formation. In order to achieve this, the vapor–liquid water-hydrate (VL W H) equilibrium conditions of methane (CH 4 ) hydrate were measured in the temperature range of 274.15 K–282.15 K by the isothermal pressure search method. The results demonstrated that, in comparison with deionized water, the four inorganic salts exhibited a significant thermodynamic inhibition on CH 4 hydrate. Furthermore, the inhibitory effect of Na + on methane hydrate is more pronounced than that of K + , where there is no discernible difference between Cl − and Br − . The dissociation enthalpy ( <semantics> ∆ H d i s s </semantics> ) of CH 4 hydrate in the four inorganic salt solutions is comparable to that of deionized water, indicating that the inorganic salt does not participate in the formation of hydrate crystals. The Chen–Guo hydrate model and N–NRTL–NRF activity model were employed to forecast the equilibrium conditions of CH 4 hydrate in electrolyte solution. The absolute relative deviation (AARD) between the predicted and experimental values were 1.24%, 1.08%, 1.18% and 1.21%, respectively. The model demonstrated satisfactory universality and accuracy. This study presents a novel approach to elucidating the mechanism and model prediction of inorganic salt inhibition of hydrate.