Thermodynamic model for predicting phase equilibria of simple clathrate hydrates of refrigerants

Investigation of theoretical maximum water yield and efficiency-optimized temperature for cyclopentane hydrate-based desalination

Hydrate-based desalination (HBD) shows promise as a freshwater production technology for saline water. Liquid-phase hydrate formers, with their ability to facilitate hydrate formation at atmospheric pressure, have gained attention for their high energy efficiency in HBD. This study explored cyclopentane (CP) HBD by experimentally measuring the thermodynamic properties of CP hydrate in saline solutions and developing a theoretical framework to estimate the water yield of CP HBD under various operating conditions. The measured dissociation enthalpy of CP hydrate was found to be 12 % and 22 % lower compared to those of propane and R134a hydrates, respectively. The equilibrium dissociation temperatures of CP hydrate at different NaCl concentrations under atmospheric pressure were experimentally measured and then predicted using the Hu-Lee-Sum correlation. The theoretically achievable maximum salinity and water yield for CP HBD were calculated in the temperature range of 268-280 K and the initial salinity range of 0-8 wt.%. Additionally, the concept of HBD heat efficiency, representing the maximum amount of pure water producible per unit of heat, was introduced to identify an optimal operating condition for the HBD process. Efficiency-maximized temperatures, where the HBD heat efficiency reached its peaks, were determined for various initial salinities in the process, for example, 273.4 K for NaCl 3.5 wt.% solution. This novel approach provides invaluable guidance for determining the most energy-efficient operating conditions in the HBD process and establishes a solid foundation for further advancements in this field.

Applicability research of thermodynamic models of gas hydrate phase equilibrium based on different equations of state

Choosing an appropriate equation of state and thermodynamic model is very important for predicting the phase equilibrium of a gas hydrate. This study is based on statistical thermodynamics, considering the changes in water activity caused by gas dissolution, and deriving and summarizing four thermodynamic models. Based on the 150 collected experimental data points, the accuracy of the four thermodynamic models in predicting the phase equilibrium of methane hydrate, ethane hydrate, and carbon dioxide hydrate were compared. In addition, the influence of five equations of state on each thermodynamic model's phase equilibrium prediction accuracy is compared. The analysis results show that in the temperature range of 273.40–290.15 K, the Chen–Guo model is better than other thermodynamic models in predicting the phase equilibrium of methane hydrate by using the Patel–Teja equation of state. However, in the temperature range of 290.15–303.48 K, the John–Holder model predicts that the phase equilibrium of methane hydrate will perform better. In the temperature range of 273.44–283.09 K, the John–Holder model uses the Peng–Robinson state to predict the phase equilibrium of carbon dioxide hydrate with the highest accuracy. In the temperature range of 273.68 K to 287.6 K, the Chen–Guo model is selected to predict the phase equilibrium of ethane hydrate with the highest accuracy. However, as the temperature increases, the predicted values of the vdW–P model and the Parrish–Prausnitz model deviate further from the experimental values.

Based on the 150 collected experimental data points, the accuracy of the four thermodynamic models in predicting the phase equilibrium of the gas hydrate was compared.

Evaluation of kinetic salt-enrichment behavior and separation performance of HFC-152a hydrate-based desalination using an experimental measurement and a thermodynamic correlation

Hydrate-based desalination (HBD), a type of freezing-based desalination, can concentrate salts of saline water and produce fresh water via hydrate crystal formation. In this study, the thermodynamic stability, crystallographic information, and kinetic growth behavior of HFC-152a hydrate were investigated to estimate the desalination efficiency of HBD. The phase equilibria revealed that the HFC-152a hydrate could be formed at a higher temperature in the presence of NaCl (0 wt%, 3.5 wt%, and 8.0 wt%) than the HFC-134a hydrate at 0.3 MPa. The hydration number of the HFC-152a hydrate (sI) was found to be 7.74 through the Rietveld refinement of the powder X-ray diffraction patterns, and it was also used to determine the dissociation enthalpy of the HFC-152a hydrate. The Hu-Lee-Sum correlation was employed to predict the equilibrium shift and hydrate depression temperature of both HFC-152a and HFC-134a hydrates in the presence of NaCl. Faster hydrate growth kinetics and higher hydrate conversion were observed for the HFC-152a hydrate in saline solutions despite the smaller initial driving force at 0.3 MPa and the subcooling temperature of 3 K. Additionally, to quantify the desalination efficiency of the HFC-152a HBD, the maximum achievable salinity and maximum water yield were examined using the HLS correlation. The salt-enrichment efficiency decreased with an increase in the initial salinity and increased with increasing the subcooling. The overall results indicate that HFC-152a is, potentially, a superior candidate for HBD. The novel approach examined in this study will be useful for assessing the desalination efficiency of the HBD process.

Thermodynamic investigation of hydrate-based CO2 capture from simulated flue gas with new mixed promoters

CO2 hydrate-based desalination (CHBD) has been developing for decades to meet the global demands of decreasing carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. In this work, the CO2 was captured from the simulated flue gas which consists of 18.30 mol% carbon dioxide and 81.70 mol% nitrogen in the presence of tetra-n-butyl ammonium bromide (TBAB) + cyclopentane (CP) + glucoamylase. Then the phase equilibrium data of CO2 hydrate were measured by the method of isochoric pressure-search. Among the seven cases with same concentration of TBAB (0.29 mol%) and CP (5.00 vol%) and different glucoamylase proportions (ranging from 0.00 to 20.00 wt%), the optimum concentration of glucoamylase in the mixed promoters was 3.00 wt%. The phase equilibrium data was calculated by the modified van der Waals–Platteeuw (vdW–P) model with a modification of vapor pressure of water in the empty hydrate lattice. The Peng–Robinson equation of state was used to calculate the fugacity of gas. The maximum average absolute deviation was 4.09% between the calculated results and the experimental results. It revealed that the calculated results were in good agreement with the experimental results.

Promoting and Inhibitory Effects of Hydrophilic/Hydrophobic Modified Aluminum Oxide Nanoparticles on Carbon Dioxide Hydrate Formation

Hydrate-based CO2 capture from large emission sources is considered a promising process for greenhouse gas mitigation. The addition of nanoparticles may promote or inhibit the formation of hydrates. In this work, CO2 hydrate formation experiments were performed in a dual-cell high-pressure reactor. Non-modified, hydrophilic modified and hydrophobic modified aluminum oxide (Al2O3) nanoparticles at different concentrations were added to assess their promoting or inhibitory effects on CO2 hydrate formation. The equilibrium temperature and pressure, induction time, and total gas consumption during CO2 hydrate formation were measured. The results show that the presence of Al2O3 nanoparticles exerts little effect on the phase equilibrium of CO2 hydrates. Under the experimental conditions, the addition of all Al2O3 nanoparticles imposes an inhibitory effect on the final gas consumption except for the 0.01 wt% addition of hydrophilic modified Al2O3 nanoparticles. The induction time required for the nucleation of CO2 hydrates mainly ranges from 70 to 90 min in the presence of Al2O3 nanoparticles. Compared to the absence of nanoparticles, the addition of non-modified and hydrophilic modified Al2O3 nanoparticle reduces the induction time. However, the hydrophobic modified Al2O3 nanoparticles extend the induction time.

Gas hydrates in sustainable chemistry

This review includes the current state of the art understanding and advances in technical developments about various fields of gas hydrates, which are combined with expert perspectives and analyses.