Interest of in situ turbidimetry for the characterization of methane hydrate crystallization: Application to the study of kinetic inhibitors

• Published in: Chemical Engineering Science
• Main Authors: Herri, Jean-Michel, Gruy, Frédéric, Pic, Jean-Stéphane, Cournil, Michel, Cingotti, Béatrice, Sinquin, Anne
• Other Authors: Centre Sciences des Processus Industriels et Naturels (SPIN-ENSMSE), École des Mines de Saint-Étienne (Mines Saint-Étienne MSE), Institut Mines-Télécom Paris (IMT)-Institut Mines-Télécom Paris (IMT), Laboratoire des Procédés en Milieux Granulaires (LPMG-EMSE), Institut Mines-Télécom Paris (IMT)-Institut Mines-Télécom Paris (IMT)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Département Géochimie, environnement, écoulement, réacteurs industriels et cristallisation (GENERIC-ENSMSE), Institut Mines-Télécom Paris (IMT)-Institut Mines-Télécom Paris (IMT)-SPIN, IFP Energies nouvelles (IFPEN), IFP (Institut Français du Pétrole)
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: HAL CCSD 1999
• Subjects: Methane hydrate; Crystallization; Inhibitor; Turbidimetry; [SPI.GPROC]Engineering Sciences [physics]/Chemical and Process Engineering; Etienne
• Online Access: https://hal-emse.ccsd.cnrs.fr/emse-00497096; https://doi.org/10.1016/S0009-2509(98)00433-3

International audience In this paper we describe a new experimental set-up which makes possible the in situ determination of the particle size distribution of methane hydrate during its formation in a pressurized reactor. It has been installed on two research sites: one at the Institut Français du Pétrole (IFP) and the other at the Ecole des Mines de Saint-Etienne (EMSE). Thanks to this apparatus, new data can be obtained, in particular concerning the granular aspects of the crystallization processes and the reproducibility of the results. Particularly, we propose a new experimental procedure which allows us two important improvements: • a better reproducibility of the induction time, • the possibility of doing a large number of experiments in a day (around fifteen). Using this protocol, the effect of some kinetic inhibitors of the crystallization processes are shown: increase of the induction time and/or decrease of the quantity of hydrate formed.