Molecular Insights into the Heterogeneous Crystal Growth of sI Methane Hydrate

Methane hydrate phase equilibrium considering dissolved methane concentrations and interfacial geometries from molecular simulations

Natural gas hydrates, mainly existing in permafrost and on the seabed, are expected to be a new energy source with great potential. The exploitation technology of natural gas hydrates is one of the main focuses of hydrate-related studies. In this study, a large-size liquid aqueous solution wrapping a methane hydrate system was established and molecular dynamics simulations were used to investigate the phase equilibrium conditions of methane hydrate at different methane concentrations and interfacial geometries. It is found that the methane concentration of a solution significantly affects the phase equilibrium of methane hydrates. Different methane concentrations at the same temperature and pressure can lead to hydrate formation or decomposition. At the same temperature and pressure, in a system reaching equilibrium, the size of spherical hydrate clusters is coupled to the solution concentration, which is proportional to the Laplace pressure at the solid-liquid interface. Lower solution concentrations reduce the phase equilibrium temperature of methane hydrates at the same pressure; as the concentration increases, the phase equilibrium temperature gradually approaches the actual phase equilibrium temperature. In addition, the interfacial geometry of hydrates affects the thermodynamic stability of hydrates. The spherical hydrate particles have the highest stability for the same volume. Through this study, we provide a stronger foundation to understand the principles driving hydrate formation/dissociation relevant to the exploitation of methane hydrates.

A Clathrate Hydrate Structure Hidden in Plain Sight

Clathrate hydrates have diverse crystal structures, and among them, the three (sI, sII, and sH) most prevalent ones cover nearly all known structures, while the norm is to consider other structures only when specific guest molecules are present. Here we report the observation of a hidden clathrate structure: the tetragonal structure (TS-I) in commonly formed gas hydrates, as evidenced from molecular dynamics simulations. We show that when two (or more) sI crystal grains with different growth directions come into contact or when the growth of a sI crystal encounters geometrical frustration, the TS-I results as a cocrystal. We give evidence that TS-I may also play an important role in the combination and/or transition between sI and sII. These results imply that this previously neglected structure may be commonly present whenever sI or sII is formed. This hidden structure must be identified, experimentally and in simulations; confining the possible structures may hinder an in-depth understanding of clathrate hydrates.

Molecular Origins of Deformation in Amorphous Methane Hydrates

Water and methane can stay together under low temperature and high pressure in the forms of liquid solutions and crystalline solids. From liquid and gaseous states to crystalline solids or the contrary processes, amorphous methane hydrates can occur in these evolution scenarios. Herein, mechanical properties of amorphous methane hydrates are explored for the first time to bridge the gap between mechanical responses of monocrystalline and polycrystalline methane hydrates. Our results demonstrate that mechanical properties of amorphous methane hydrates are strongly governed by our original proposed order parameter, namely, normalized hydrogen-bond directional order parameter. Followed by this important achievement, a multistep deformation mechanism core is proposed to explain mechanical properties of amorphous methane hydrates. Through an extensive detailed analysis of amorphous methane hydrates, our simulation results not only greatly enlarge our fundamental understanding for mechanical responses of amorphous methane hydrates in geological systems but also offer a fresh perspective in structure-property topics of solid materials in future science and technology.

Microscopic Molecular Insights into Hydrate Formation and Growth in Pure and Saline Water Environments

The growth dynamics of natural gas hydrates in saline water has been studied using copious experiments and spectroscopic observations; however, the microscopic evidences to the structural and molecular transformations that they have provided are poorly understood. In this view, we perform extensive molecular dynamics simulations to gain physical insights into the formation and growth mechanism of naturally occurring gas hydrates with a wide variation in the amount of methane (1:5 to 1:18 methane/water ratio) in pure and salt (0-5 wt %) water environments at 50 MPa and 260 K. A couple of new findings analyzed from the number of cages and F_4φ order parameter are as follows: (a) 1:6 (methane/water ratio) is an optimum ratio for the rapid growth of a properly ordered hydrate in pure water at which the hydrate growth retards with increasing salt concentration, (b) there is an inconsequential difference between methane hydrate dynamics in pure water and 0.8 and 1.5 wt % salt water at a ratio of 1:12 (methane/water), and (c) lower methane (1:18) and salt (0.8 wt %) concentrations promote hydrate growth. Besides, this study observes the structural coexistence of S-I and S-II methane hydrates as the large 5¹²6⁴ cages appear along with the small 5¹² and large 5¹²6² cages, in which the low methane concentration favors the S-II structure.

Unbiased atomistic insight in the competing nucleation mechanisms of methane hydrates

Mixtures of methane gas and water can form ice-like solid methane hydrates via homogeneous nucleation at natural, moderate conditions. Understanding the formation of the different hydrate polymorphs, required for improved control of crystallization, is hampered by limited experimental resolution. Direct molecular dynamics simulations could provide insight, but it would require computation times beyond the age of the Universe for a single nucleation event to take place. Yet, the nucleation event itself, while rare, occurs fast. Therefore, we sample and examine ensembles of rare unbiased nucleation trajectories. Detailed analysis shows how selection between competing amorphous and crystalline polymorph formation mechanisms takes place. The conclusions shed light onto the formation of clathrate hydrates.

Methane hydrates have important industrial and climate implications, yet their formation via homogeneous nucleation under natural, moderate conditions is poorly understood. Obtaining such understanding could lead to improved control of crystallization, as well as insight into polymorph selection in general, but is hampered by limited experimental resolution. Direct molecular dynamics simulations using atomistic force fields could provide such insight, but are not feasible for moderate undercooling, due to the rare event nature of nucleation. Instead, we harvest ensembles of the rare unbiased nucleation trajectories by employing transition path sampling. We find that with decreasing undercooling the mechanism shifts from amorphous to crystalline polymorph formation. At intermediate temperature the 2 mechanisms compete. Reaction coordinate analysis reveals the amount of a specific methane cage type is crucial for crystallization, while irrelevant for amorphous solids. Polymorph selection is thus governed by kinetic accessibility of the correct cage type and, moreover, occurs at precritical nucleus sizes, apparently against Ostwald’s step rule. We argue that these results are still in line with classical nucleation theory. Our findings illuminate how selection between competing methane hydrate polymorphs occurs and might generalize to other hydrates and molecular crystal formation.

Characterizing key features in the formation of ice and gas hydrate systems

Crystallization in liquids is critical to a range of important processes occurring in physics, chemistry and life sciences. In this article, we review our efforts towards understanding the crystallization mechanisms, where we focus on theoretical modelling and molecular simulations applied to ice and gas hydrate systems. We discuss the order parameters used to characterize molecular ordering processes and how different order parameters offer different perspectives of the underlying mechanisms of crystallization. With extensive simulations of water and gas hydrate systems, we have revealed unexpected defective structures and demonstrated their important roles in crystallization processes. Nucleation of gas hydrates can in most cases be characterized to take place in a two-step mechanism where the nucleation occurs via intermediate metastable precursors, which gradually reorganizes to a stable crystalline phase. We have examined the potential energy landscapes explored by systems during nucleation, and have shown that these landscapes are rugged and funnel-shaped. These insights provide a new framework for understanding nucleation phenomena that has not been addressed in classical nucleation theory. This article is part of the theme issue 'The physics and chemistry of ice: scaffolding across scales, from the viability of life to the formation of planets'.

Non-equilibrium molecular-dynamics study of electromagnetic-field-induced propane-hydrate dissociation

Non-equilibrium molecular-dynamics simulations have been performed for dissolution of planar propane-hydrate/water interfaces in externally-applied electromagnetic (e/m) fields in the microwave to far infrared range (∼2.45-200 GHz) at electric-field intensities up to 2.0 V/nm and at roughly 20 K over/under temperatures vis-à-vis the zero-field propane-hydrate melting point. Upon e/m-field application, there is a field-frequency threshold above which the dissociation rate drops significantly, with a plateau therein for larger-frequencies. It was found that higher intensity and lower frequency facilitates dissociation. Except in the presence of a thermal driving-force, the 10 GHz frequency shows more substantial rate-enhancement effect vis-à-vis static electric fields or, indeed, lower-frequency e/m fields.

Emergent Properties of Antiagglomerant Films Control Methane Transport: Implications for Hydrate Management

The relationship between collective properties and performance of antiagglomerants (AAs) used in hydrate management is handled using molecular dynamics simulations and enhanced sampling techniques. A thin film of AAs adsorbed at the interface between one flat sII methane hydrate substrate and a fluid hydrocarbon mixture containing methane and n-dodecane is studied. The AA considered is a surface-active compound with a complex hydrophilic head that contains both amide and tertiary ammonium cation groups and hydrophobic tails. At a sufficiently high AA density, the interplay between the surfactant layer and the liquid hydrocarbon excludes methane from the interfacial region. In this scenario, we combine metadynamics and umbrella sampling frameworks to study accurately the free-energy landscape and the equilibrium rates associated with the transport of one methane molecule across the AA film. We observe that the local configurational changes of the liquid hydrocarbon packed within the AA film are associated with high free-energy barriers for methane transport. The time scales estimated for the transport of methane across the AA film can be, in some cases, comparable to those reported in the literature for the growth of hydrates, suggesting that one possible mechanism by which AAs delay the formation of hydrate plugs could be providing a barrier to methane transport. Considering the interplay between the structural design and collective properties of AAs might be of relevance to improve their performance in flow assurance.

Effect of Sodium Dodecyl Sulfate Surfactant on Methane Hydrate Formation: A Molecular Dynamics Study

In experimental studies, it has been observed that the presence of sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) significantly increases the kinetics of hydrate formation and the final water-to-hydrate conversion ratio. In this study, we intend to understand the molecular mechanism behind the effect of SDS on the formation of methane hydrate through molecular dynamics simulation. Hydrate formation conditions similar to that of laboratory experiments were chosen to study hydrate growth kinetics in 1 wt % SDS solution. We also investigate the effect of interactions with isolated SDS molecules on methane hydrate growth. It was observed that the hydrophobic tail part of the SDS molecule favorably interacts with the growing hydrate surface and may occupy the partial hydrate cages while the head groups remain exposed to water.

Adsorption of Kinetic Hydrate Inhibitors on Growing Surfaces: A Molecular Dynamics Study

We investigate the mechanism of a typical kinetic hydrate inhibitor (KHI), polyvinylcaprolactam (PVCap), which has been applied to prevent hydrate plugs from forming in gas pipe lines, using molecular dynamics simulations of crystal growth of ethylene oxide hydrate. Water-soluble ethylene oxide is chosen as a guest species to avoid problems associated with the presence of the gas phase in the simulation cell such as slow crystal growth. A PVCap dodecamer adsorbs irreversibly on the hydrate surface which grows at supercooling of 3 K when the hydrophobic part of two pendent groups are trapped in open cages at the surface. The amide hydrogen bonds make no contribution to the adsorption. PVCap can adsorb on various crystallographic planes of sI hydrate. This is in contrast to antifreeze proteins, each of which prefers a specific plane of ice. The trapped PVCap gives rise to necessarily the concave surface of the hydrate. The crystal growth rate decreases with increasing surface curvature, indicating that the inhibition by PVCap is explained by the Gibbs-Thomson effect.

Molecular-dynamics study of propane-hydrate dissociation: Fluctuation-dissipation and non-equilibrium analysis

Equilibrium and non-equilibrium molecular-dynamics (MD) simulations have been performed to investigate thermal-driven break-up of planar propane-hydrate interfaces in contact with liquid water over the 260-320 K range. Two types of hydrate-surface water-lattice molecular termination were adopted, at the hydrate edge with water, for comparison: a 001-direct surface cleavage and one with completed cages. Statistically significant differences in melting temperatures and initial break-up rates were observed between both interface types. Dissociation rates were observed to be strongly dependent on temperature, with higher rates at larger over-temperatures vis-à-vis melting. A simple coupled mass and heat transfer model, developed previously, was applied to fit the observed dissociation profiles, and this helps us to identify clearly two distinct hydrate-decomposition régimes; following a highly temperature-dependent break-up phase, a second well-defined stage is essentially independent of temperature, in which the remaining nanoscale, de facto two-dimensional system's lattice framework is intrinsically unstable. Further equilibrium MD-analysis of the two-phase systems at their melting point, with consideration of the relaxation times gleaned from the auto-correlation functions of fluctuations in a number of enclathrated guest molecules, led to statistically significant differences between the two surface-termination cases; a consistent correlation emerged in both cases between the underlying, non-equilibrium, thermal-driven dissociation rates sampled directly from melting with that from an equilibrium-MD fluctuation-dissipation approach.

Confinement of hydrogen and hydroxyl radicals in water cages: a density functional theory study

Radicals can be confined in water cages and exhibit similar structures and properties to their corresponding free forms.

Molecular Dynamics Simulation of the Crystal Nucleation and Growth Behavior of Methane Hydrate in the Presence of the Surface and Nanopores of Porous Sediment

The behavior of hydrate formation in porous sediment has been widely studied because of its importance in the investigation of reservoirs and in the drilling of natural gas hydrate. However, it is difficult to understand the hydrate nucleation and growth mechanism on the surface and in the nanopores of porous media by experimental and numerical simulation methods. In this work, molecular dynamics simulations of the nucleation and growth of CH4 hydrate in the presence of the surface and nanopores of clay are carried out. The molecular configurations and microstructure properties are analyzed for systems containing one H2O hydrate layer (System A), three H2O hydrate layers (System B), and six H2O hydrate layers (System C) in both clay and the bulk solution. It is found that hydrate formation is more complex in porous media than in the pure bulk solution and that there is cooperativity between hydrate growth and molecular diffusion in clay nanopores. The hydroxylated edge sites of the clay surface could serve as a source of CH4 molecules to facilitate hydrate nucleation. The diffusion velocity of molecules is influenced by the growth of the hydrate that forms a block in the throats of the clay nanopore. Comparing hydrate growth in different clay pore sizes reveals that the pore size plays an important role in hydrate growth and molecular diffusion in clay. This simulation study provides the microscopic mechanism of hydrate nucleation and growth in porous media, which can be favorable for the investigation of the formation of natural gas hydrate in sediments.

Structural Basis for the Inhibition of Gas Hydrates by α-Helical Antifreeze Proteins

Kinetic hydrate inhibitors (KHIs) are used commercially to inhibit gas hydrate formation and growth in pipelines. However, improvement of these polymers has been constrained by the lack of verified molecular models. Since antifreeze proteins (AFPs) act as KHIs, we have used their solved x-ray crystallographic structures in molecular modeling to explore gas hydrate inhibition. The internal clathrate water network of the fish AFP Maxi, which extends to the protein's outer surface, is remarkably similar to the {100} planes of structure type II (sII) gas hydrate. The crystal structure of this water web has facilitated the construction of in silico models for Maxi and type I AFP binding to sII hydrates. Here, we have substantiated our models with experimental evidence of Maxi binding to the tetrahydrofuran sII model hydrate. Both in silico and experimental evidence support the absorbance-inhibition mechanism proposed for KHI binding to gas hydrates. Based on the Maxi crystal structure we suggest that the inhibitor adsorbs to the gas hydrate lattice through the same anchored clathrate water mechanism used to bind ice. These results will facilitate the rational design of a next generation of effective green KHIs for the petroleum industry to ensure safe and efficient hydrocarbon flow.

Effects of thermodynamic inhibitors on the dissociation of methane hydrate: a molecular dynamics study

We investigate the effects of methanol and NaCl, which are known as thermodynamic hydrate inhibitors, on the dissociation kinetics of methane hydrate in aqueous solutions by using molecular dynamics simulations. It is shown that the dissociation rate is not constant but changes with time. The dissociation rate in the initial stage is increased by methanol whereas it is decreased by NaCl. This difference arises from the opposite effects of the two thermodynamic inhibitors on the hydration free energy of methane. The dissociation rate of methane hydrate is increased by the formation of methane bubbles in the aqueous phase because the bubbles absorb surrounding methane molecules. It is found that both methanol and NaCl facilitate the bubble formation. However, their mechanisms are completely different from each other. The presence of ions enhances the hydrophobic interactions between methane molecules. In addition, the ions in the solution cause a highly non-uniform distribution of dissolved methane molecules. These two effects result in the easy formation of bubbles in the NaCl solution. In contrast, methanol assists the bubble formation because of its amphiphilic character.

The nucleation of gas hydrates near silica surfaces

Understanding the nucleation and crystal growth of gas hydrates near mineral surfaces and in confinement are critical to the methane recovery from gas hydrate reservoirs. In this work, through molecular dynamics simulation studies, we present an exploration of the nucleation behavior of methane hydrates near model hydroxylated silica surfaces. Our simulation results indicate that the nucleation of methane hydrates can initiate from the silica surfaces despite of the structural mismatch of the two solid phases. A layer of intermediate half-cage structures was observed between the gas hydrate and silica surfaces, apparently helping to minimize the free energy penalty. These results have important implications to our understanding of the effects of solid surfaces on hydrate nucleation processes.

A molecular dynamics study of model SI clathrate hydrates: the effect of guest size and guest–water interaction on decomposition kinetics

One of the options suggested for methane recovery from natural gas hydrates is molecular replacement of methane by suitable guests like CO₂ and N₂.

Density based visualization for molecular simulation

Molecular visualization of structural information obtained from computer simulations is an important part of research work flow. A good visualization technique should be capable of eliminating redundant information and highlight important effects clarifying the key phenomena in the system. Current methods of presenting structural data are mostly limited to variants of the traditional ball-and-stick representation. This approach becomes less attractive when very large biological systems are simulated at microsecond timescales, and is less effective when coarse-grained models are used. Real time rendering of such large systems becomes a difficult task; the amount of information in one single frame of a simulation trajectory is enormous given the large number of particles; at the same time, each structure contains information about one configurational point of the system and no information about statistical weight of this specific configuration. In this paper we report a novel visualization technique based on spatial particle densities. The atomic densities are sampled on a high resolution 3-dimensional grid along a relatively short molecular dynamics trajectory using hundreds of configurations. The density information is then analyzed and visualized using the open-source ParaView software. The performance and capability of the method are demonstrated on two large systems simulated with the MARTINI coarse-grained force field: a lipid nanoparticle for delivering siRNA molecules and monolayers with a complex composition under conditions that induce monolayer collapse.

Nucleation of gas hydrates within constant energy systems

The early stage of formation of gas hydrates has recently attracted attention as amorphous intermediate gas hydrate structures have been observed, apparently contrary to a classical model of nucleation and some experimental observations. To date, essentially all reported molecular simulations of the nucleation of gas hydrates have been under constant temperature conditions, which does not consider the possible impacts of heat transfer on the nucleation processes. Here we show, using constant energy molecular simulations, that the nuclei at an early stage of the hydrate formation have relatively more crystalline order in comparison with those observed in previous isothermal (NPT or NVT) work. The current work suggests a more transient role for intermediate amorphous structures during hydrate nucleation, thereby providing a stronger link between molecular simulation and experimental observations. Our NVE results nevertheless support the two-step nucleation mechanism proposed in previous simulation studies under constant temperature conditions which features the initial formation of amorphous hydrate-like structures.