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Recent Advances in Gas Hydrate Research Related to the Flow, Storage and Transport of Gases

A special issue of Energies (ISSN 1996-1073). This special issue belongs to the section "H: Geo-Energy".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (5 April 2024) | Viewed by 7937

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
GFZ German Research Centre for Geosciences, Telegrafenberg, 14473 Potsdam, Germany
Interests: kinetic aspects of gas hydrate formation and dissociation; molecular dynamics simulation of gas hydrate systems; interfacial behavior of gas/water systems; statistical optimization of hydrate formation conditions; kinetics modeling of gas hydrate processes
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Guest Editor
GFZ German Research Centre for Geosciences, Telegrafenberg, 14473 Potsdam, Germany
Interests: thermodynamic and kinetic aspects of natural gas hydrates; development and test of methods for the exploitation of natural gas hydrates; interactions between gas hydrates and microorganism; natural gas hydrate response to climate changes
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Due to their worldwide occurrence and ability to contain enormous amounts of gas, natural gas hydrates have been considered to be a novel energy source in recent decades. However, when extracting gas from natural hydrate reservoirs, as well as conventional natural gas and oil reservoirs, hydrate formation in production lines can pose serious flow assurance problems. Besides the transport of natural gas in pipelines or as a liquefied gas, the storage and transport of gases in the form of gas hydrates can also be an alternative, namely, in the case of hydrogen.

We are pleased to present this novel Special Issue concerning "Recent Advances in Gas Hydrate Research Related to the Flow, Storage and Transport of Gases". The purpose of this Special Issue is to compile recent experimental and field observation studies along with theories and numerical simulations for the advancement of our understanding of gas hydrate in flow assurance, gas storage and transportation technology. Possible topics include, but are not limited to, the following:

  • The risk management of flow assurance;
  • The dynamic behavior of gas hydrates in gas flowline;
  • Advanced analytical methods and modeling for gas hydrates in flowline;
  • The molecular simulation of gas hydrate in flowline and transport;
  • Advance computational approaches for gas hydrate in flowline and transport;
  • Technological development and technical challenges for storing and transporting gas hydrates;
  • The evaluation of the economic feasibility of storing and transporting gas hydrates;
  • Optimal methodologies for storing gas in hydrates.

Dr. Parisa Naeiji
Prof. Dr. Judith Schicks
Guest Editors

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Keywords

  • gas hydrates
  • gas storage
  • flow assurance
  • gas transportation

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Published Papers (5 papers)

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Research

16 pages, 1391 KiB  
Article
On the Necessity of Including the Dissociation Kinetics When Modelling Gas Hydrate Pipeline Plug Dissociation
by Johnbosco Aguguo and Matthew Clarke
Energies 2024, 17(12), 3036; https://doi.org/10.3390/en17123036 - 20 Jun 2024
Viewed by 672
Abstract
Gas hydrate plugs in petroleum fluid pipelines are a major flow assurance problem and thus, it is important for industry to have reliable mathematical models for estimating the time required to dissociate a hydrate pipeline plug. The existing mathematical models for modelling hydrate [...] Read more.
Gas hydrate plugs in petroleum fluid pipelines are a major flow assurance problem and thus, it is important for industry to have reliable mathematical models for estimating the time required to dissociate a hydrate pipeline plug. The existing mathematical models for modelling hydrate plug dissociation treat the problem as a pure heat transfer problem. However, an early study by Jamaluddin et al. speculated that the kinetics of gas hydrate dissociation could become the rate-limiting factor under certain operating conditions. In this short communication, a rigorous 2D model couples the equations of heat transfer and fluid flow with Clarke and Bishnoi’s model for the kinetics of hydrate dissociation. A distinguishing feature of the current work is the ability to predict the shape of the dissociating hydrate–gas interface. The model is used to correlate experimental data for both sI and sII hydrate plug dissociation, via single-sided depressurization and double-sided depressurization. As a preliminary examination on the necessity of including dissociation kinetics, this work is limited to conditions for which hydrate dissociation rate constants are available; kinetic rate constants for hydrate dissociation are available at temperatures above 273.15 K. Over the range of conditions that were investigated, it was found that including the intrinsic kinetics of hydrate dissociation led to only a very small improvement in the accuracy of the predictions of the cumulative gas volumes collected during dissociation. By contrast, a sensitivity study showed that the predictions of hydrate plug dissociation are very sensitive to the value of the porosity. Thus, it is concluded that unless values of the thermophysical properties of a hydrate plug are known, accounting for the dissociation kinetics need not be a priority. Full article
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22 pages, 2989 KiB  
Article
Evaluation of a Simplified Model for Three-Phase Equilibrium Calculations of Mixed Gas Hydrates
by Panagiotis Kastanidis, George E. Romanos, Athanasios K. Stubos, Georgia Pappa, Epaminondas Voutsas and Ioannis N. Tsimpanogiannis
Energies 2024, 17(2), 440; https://doi.org/10.3390/en17020440 - 16 Jan 2024
Viewed by 1350
Abstract
In this study, we perform an extensive evaluation of a simple model for hydrate equilibrium calculations of binary, ternary, and limited quaternary gas hydrate systems that are of practical interest for separation of gas mixtures. We adopt the model developed by Lipenkov and [...] Read more.
In this study, we perform an extensive evaluation of a simple model for hydrate equilibrium calculations of binary, ternary, and limited quaternary gas hydrate systems that are of practical interest for separation of gas mixtures. We adopt the model developed by Lipenkov and Istomin and analyze its performance at temperature conditions higher than the lower quadruple point. The model of interest calculates the dissociation pressure of mixed gas hydrate systems using a simple combination rule that involves the hydrate dissociation pressures of the pure gases and the gas mixture composition, which is at equilibrium with the aqueous and hydrate phases. Such an approach has been used extensively and successfully in polar science, as well as research related to space science where the temperatures are very low. However, the particular method has not been examined for cases of higher temperatures (i.e., above the melting point of the pure water). Such temperatures are of interest to practical industrial applications. Gases of interest for this study include eleven chemical components that are related to industrial gas-mixture separations. Calculations using the examined methodology, along with the commercial simulator CSMGem, are compared against experimental measurements, and the range of applicability of the method is delineated. Reasonable agreement (particularly at lower hydrate equilibrium pressures) between experiments and calculations is obtained considering the simplicity of the methodology. Depending on the hydrate-forming mixture considered, the percentage of absolute average deviation in predicting the hydrate equilibrium pressure is found to be in the range 3–91%, with the majority of systems having deviations that are less than 30%. Full article
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16 pages, 4623 KiB  
Article
Hydrate Formation from Joule Thomson Expansion Using a Single Pass Flowloop
by Kwanghee Jeong, Bruce W. E. Norris, Eric F. May and Zachary M. Aman
Energies 2023, 16(22), 7594; https://doi.org/10.3390/en16227594 - 15 Nov 2023
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1832
Abstract
Hydrate risk management is critically important for an energy industry that continues to see increasing demand. Hydrate formation in production lines is a potential threat under low temperature and high-pressure conditions where water and light gas molecules are present. Here, we introduce a [...] Read more.
Hydrate risk management is critically important for an energy industry that continues to see increasing demand. Hydrate formation in production lines is a potential threat under low temperature and high-pressure conditions where water and light gas molecules are present. Here, we introduce a 1-inch OD single-pass flow loop and demonstrate the Joule-Thomson (JT) expansion of a methane-ethane mixture. Initially, dry gas flowed through the apparatus at a variable pressure-differential. Larger pressure differentials resulted in more cooling, as predicted by standard thermodynamic models. A systematic deviation noted at higher pressure differentials was partially rectified through corrections incorporating heat transfer, thermal mass and kinetic energy effects. A wet gas system was then investigated with varying degrees of water injection. At the lowest rate, hydrate plugging occurred close to the expansion point and faster than for higher injection rates. This immediate and severe hydrate plugging has important implications for the design of safety relief systems in particular. Furthermore, this rate of plugging could not be predicted by existing software tools, suggesting that the atomization of liquids over an expansion valve is a critical missing component that must be incorporated for accurate predictions of hydrate plug formation severity. Full article
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11 pages, 1583 KiB  
Article
Study of the Effect of Tetrabutylammonium Halide Aqueous Solutions on the Gas Storage of Methane and Carbon Dioxide
by Parisa Naeiji, Tom K. Woo, Ryo Ohmura and Saman Alavi
Energies 2023, 16(13), 5001; https://doi.org/10.3390/en16135001 - 28 Jun 2023
Viewed by 1292
Abstract
In this study, the effect of tetrabutylammonium halide aqueous solutions on the gas storage of CH4 and CO2 gases were studied with molecular dynamics (MD) simulations. The results show that the surface tension and the gas molecules adsorbed at the interface [...] Read more.
In this study, the effect of tetrabutylammonium halide aqueous solutions on the gas storage of CH4 and CO2 gases were studied with molecular dynamics (MD) simulations. The results show that the surface tension and the gas molecules adsorbed at the interface decreases and increases, respectively, in the presence of TBAX (X: Br, Cl, F) in the aqueous phase compared to pure water at similar gas pressures. Both of these factors may facilitate gas uptake into cages during semi-clathrate hydrate formation. CO2 showed a stronger intermolecular interaction with the water molecules since it was preferentially adsorbed at the interface, leading to a higher surface density as compared to CH4. Moreover, the relative increase in CH4 adsorption on the surface was because of the hydrophobic interactions between the CH4 molecules and the n-alkyl chains of the cation. The counter-ions of TBAXs can affect their surface activity. TBAX salts enhance the tetrahedral ordering of water molecules at the interface compared to the bulk, leading to a potential mechanism for forming semi-clathrate hydrates. Full article
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9 pages, 2041 KiB  
Article
Promising Hydrate Formation Promoters Based on Sodium Sulfosuccinates of Polyols
by Yulia F. Chirkova, Ulukbek Zh. Mirzakimov, Matvei E. Semenov, Roman S. Pavelyev and Mikhail A. Varfolomeev
Energies 2023, 16(1), 359; https://doi.org/10.3390/en16010359 - 28 Dec 2022
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1514
Abstract
The use of natural gas as an energy source is increasing significantly due to its low greenhouse gas emissions. However, the common methods of natural gas storage and transportation, such as liquefied or compressed natural gas, are limited in their applications because they [...] Read more.
The use of natural gas as an energy source is increasing significantly due to its low greenhouse gas emissions. However, the common methods of natural gas storage and transportation, such as liquefied or compressed natural gas, are limited in their applications because they require extreme conditions. Gas hydrate technology can be a promising alternative to conventional approaches, as artificially synthesized hydrates provide an economical, environmentally friendly, and safe medium to store energy. Nevertheless, the low rate of hydrate formation is a critical problem that hinders the industrial application of this technology. Therefore, chemical promoters are being developed to accelerate the kinetics of gas hydrate formation. In this paper, the effect of new sodium sulfosuccinate compounds, synthesized based on glycerol and pentaerythritol, on methane hydrate formation was studied. Experiments under dynamic conditions using high-pressure autoclaves demonstrated that the conversion of water-to-hydrate forms increased from 62 ± 5% in pure water to 86 ± 4% for the best promoter at concentration 500 ppm. In addition, the rate of hydrate formation increases 2–4 times for different concentrations. Moreover, none of the synthesized reagents formed foam, compared to sodium dodecyl sulfate, in which the foam rate was 3.7 ± 0.2. The obtained reagents showed good promotional properties and did not form foam, which makes them promising promoters for gas hydrate technology. Full article
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