Solubility of Aqueous Methane under Metastable Conditions: Implications for Gas Hydrate Nucleation

A Stable High-Performance Zn-Ion Batteries Enabled by Highly Compatible Polar Co-Solvent

Uncontrollable growth of Zn dendrites, irreversible dissolution of cathode material and solidification of aqueous electrolyte at low temperatures severely restrict the development of aqueous Zn-ion batteries. In this work, 2,2,2-trifluoroethanol (TFEA) with a volume fraction of 50% as a highly compatible polar-solvent is introduced to 1.3 M Zn(CF3SO3)2 aqueous electrolyte, achieving stable high-performance Zn-ion batteries. Massive theoretical calculations and characterization analysis demonstrate that TFEA weakens the tip effect of Zn anode and restrains the growth of Zn dendrites due to electrostatic adsorption and coordinate with H2O to disrupt the hydrogen bonding network in water. Furthermore, TFEA increases the wettability of the cathode and alleviates the dissolution of V2O5, thus improving the capacity of the full battery. Based on those positive effects of TFEA on Zn anode, V2O5 cathode, and aqueous electrolyte, the Zn//Zn symmetric cell delivers a long cycle-life of 782 h at 5 mA cm-2 and 2 mA h cm-2. The full battery still declares an initial capacity of 116.78 mA h g-1, and persists 87.73% capacity in 2000 cycles at -25 °C. This work presents an effective strategy for fully compatible co-solvent to promote the stability of Zn anode, V2O5 cathode and aqueous electrolyte for high-performance Zn-ion batteries.

Understanding why constant energy or constant temperature may affect nucleation behavior in MD simulations: A study of gas hydrate nucleation

Molecular dynamics simulations have been widely used in exploring the nucleation behavior of many systems, including gas hydrates. Gas hydrates are ice-like solids in which gas molecules are trapped in water cages. During hydrate formation, a considerable amount of heat is released, and previous work has reported that the choice of temperature control scheme may affect the behavior of hydrate formation. The origins of this effect have remained an open question. To address this question, extensive NVE simulations and thermostatted (NPT and NVT) simulations with different temperature coupling strengths have been performed and compared for systems where a water nanodroplet is immersed in a H2S liquid. Detailed analysis of the hydrate structures and their mechanisms of formation has been carried out. Slower nucleation rates in NVE simulations in comparison to NPT simulations have been observed in agreement with previous studies. Probability distributions for various temperature measures along with their spatial distributions have been examined. Interestingly, a comparison of these temperature distributions reveals a small yet noticeable difference in the widths of the distributions for water. The somewhat reduced fluctuations in the temperature for the water species in the NVE simulations appear to be responsible for reducing the hydrate nucleation rate. We further conjecture that the NVE-impeded nucleation rate may be the result of the finite size of the surroundings (here the liquid H2S portion of the system). Additionally, a local spatial temperature gradient arising from the heat released during hydrate formation could not be detected.

Molecular Dynamics Study of Clathrate-like Ordering of Water in Supersaturated Methane Solution at Low Pressure

Using molecular dynamics, the evolution of a metastable solution for "methane + water" was studied for concentrations of 3.36, 6.5, 9.45, 12.2, and 14.8 mol% methane at 270 K and 1 bar during 100 ns. We have found the intriguing behavior of the system containing over 10,000 water molecules: the formation of hydrate-like structures is observed at 6.5 and 9.45 mol% concentrations throughout the entire solution volume. This formation of "blobs" and the following amorphous hydrate were studied. The creation of a metastable methane solution through supersaturation is the key to triggering the collective process of hydrate formation under low pressure. Even the first stage (0-1 ns), before the first fluctuating cavities appear, is a collective process of H-bond network reorganization. The formation of fluctuation cavities appears before steady hydrate growth begins and is associated with a preceding uniform increase in the water molecule's tetrahedrality. Later, the constantly presented hydrate cavities become the foundation for a few independent hydrate nucleation centers, this evolution is consistent with the labile cluster and local structure hypotheses. This new mechanism of hydrogen-bond network reorganization depends on the entropy of the cavity arrangement of the guest molecules in the hydrate lattice and leads to hydrate growth.

Homogeneous nucleation rate of methane hydrate formation under experimental conditions from seeding simulations

In this work, we shall estimate via computer simulations the homogeneous nucleation rate for the methane hydrate at 400 bars for a supercooling of about 35 K. The TIP4P/ICE model and a Lennard-Jones center were used for water and methane, respectively. To estimate the nucleation rate, the seeding technique was employed. Clusters of the methane hydrate of different sizes were inserted into the aqueous phase of a two-phase gas-liquid equilibrium system at 260 K and 400 bars. Using these systems, we determined the size at which the cluster of the hydrate is critical (i.e., it has 50% probability of either growing or melting). Since nucleation rates estimated from the seeding technique are sensitive to the choice of the order parameter used to determine the size of the cluster of the solid, we considered several possibilities. We performed brute force simulations of an aqueous solution of methane in water in which the concentration of methane was several times higher than the equilibrium concentration (i.e., the solution was supersaturated). From brute force runs, we infer the value of the nucleation rate for this system rigorously. Subsequently, seeding runs were carried out for this system, and it was found that only two of the considered order parameters were able to reproduce the value of the nucleation rate obtained from brute force simulations. By using these two order parameters, we estimated the nucleation rate under experimental conditions (400 bars and 260 K) to be of the order of log₁₀ (J/(m³ s)) = -7(5).

Solubility of Methane in Water: Some Useful Results for Hydrate Nucleation

In this paper, the solubility of methane in water along the 400 bar isobar is determined by computer simulations using the TIP4P/Ice force field for water and a simple LJ model for methane. In particular, the solubility of methane in water when in contact with the gas phase and the solubility of methane in water when in contact with the hydrate has been determined. The solubility of methane in a gas-liquid system decreases as temperature increases. The solubility of methane in a hydrate-liquid system increases with temperature. The two curves intersect at a certain temperature that determines the triple point T3 at a certain pressure. We also determined T3 by the three-phase direct coexistence method. The results of both methods agree, and we suggest 295(2) K as the value of T3 for this system. We also analyzed the impact of curvature on the solubility of methane in water. We found that the presence of curvature increases the solubility in both the gas-liquid and hydrate-liquid systems. The change in chemical potential for the formation of hydrate is evaluated along the isobar using two different thermodynamic routes, obtaining good agreement between them. It is shown that the driving force for hydrate nucleation under experimental conditions is higher than that for the formation of pure ice when compared at the same supercooling. We also show that supersaturation (i.e., concentrations above those of the planar interface) increases the driving force for nucleation dramatically. The effect of bubbles can be equivalent to that of an additional supercooling of about 20 K. Having highly supersaturated homogeneous solutions makes possible the spontaneous formation of the hydrate at temperatures as high as 285 K (i.e., 10K below T3). The crucial role of the concentration of methane for hydrate formation is clearly revealed. Nucleation of the hydrate can be either impossible or easy and fast depending on the concentration of methane which seems to play the leading role in the understanding of the kinetics of hydrate formation.

Mixed Hydrate Nucleation: Molecular Mechanisms and Cage Structures

The molecular-level details of the formation of mixed gas hydrates remain elusive despite their significance for a variety of scientific and industrial applications. In this study, extensive molecular simulations have been performed to examine the behavior of CH₄/H₂S mixed hydrate nucleation utilizing two different simulation setups varying in compositions and temperatures. The observed behavior exhibits similar phenomenology across the various systems once differences in nucleation rates and guest uptake are accounted for. We find that CH₄ is always enriched in the hydrate phase while the aqueous phase is enriched in H₂S. Even with H₂S as a minor component (i.e., 10% mole fraction), the system can mirror the overall nucleation kinetics of pure H₂S hydrate systems with CH₄-dominant nuclei. Through analyses of cages and their transitions, nonstandard cages, particularly those with 12 faces (e.g., 5¹⁰6²), have been found to be key intermediate cage types in the early stage of nucleation. Additionally, we present previously unreported cage types comprising heptagonal faces (e.g., 5⁹6²7¹) as having a significant role in the early-stage gas hydrate structural transitions.

All-Atom Molecular Dynamics of Pure Water-Methane Gas Hydrate Systems under Pre-Nucleation Conditions: A Direct Comparison between Experiments and Simulations of Transport Properties for the Tip4p/Ice Water Model

(1) Background: New technologies involving gas hydrates under pre-nucleation conditions such as gas separations and storage have become more prominent. This has necessitated the characterization and modeling of the transport properties of such systems. (2) Methodology: This work explored methane hydrate systems under pre-nucleation conditions. All-atom molecular dynamics simulations were used to quantify the performance of the TIP4P/2005 and TIP4P/Ice water models to predict the viscosity, diffusivity, and thermal conductivity using various formulations. (3) Results: Molecular simulation equilibrium was robustly demonstrated using various measures. The Green–Kubo estimation of viscosity outperformed other formulations when combined with TIP4P/Ice, and the same combination outperformed all TIP4P/2005 formulations. The Green–Kubo TIP4P/Ice estimation of viscosity overestimates (by 84% on average) the viscosity of methane hydrate systems under pre-nucleation conditions across all pressures considered (0–5 MPag). The presence of methane was found to increase the average number of hydrogen bonds over time (6.7–7.8%). TIP4P/Ice methane systems were also found to have 16–19% longer hydrogen bond lifetimes over pure water systems. (4) Conclusion: An inherent limitation in the current water force field for its application in the context of transport properties estimations for methane gas hydrate systems. A re-parametrization of the current force field is suggested as a starting point. Until then, this work may serve as a characterization of the deviance in viscosity prediction.

Double Life of Methanol: Experimental Studies and Nonequilibrium Molecular-Dynamics Simulation of Methanol Effects on Methane-Hydrate Nucleation

We have investigated systematically and statistically methanol-concentration effects on methane-hydrate nucleation using both experiment and restrained molecular-dynamics simulation, employing simple observables to achieve an initially homogeneous methane-supersaturated solution particularly favorable for nucleation realization in reasonable simulation times. We observe the pronounced "bifurcated" character of the nucleation rate upon methanol concentration in both experiments and simulation, with promotion at low concentrations and switching to industrially familiar inhibition at higher concentrations. Higher methanol concentrations suppress hydrate growth by in-lattice methanol incorporation, resulting in the formation of "defects", increasing the energy of the nucleus. At low concentrations, on the contrary, the detrimental effect of defects is more than compensated for by the beneficial contribution of CH₃ in easing methane incorporation in the cages or replacing it altogether.

Molecular insight into carbon dioxide hydrate formation from saline solution

Carbon dioxide hydrate has been intensively investigated in recent years because of its potential use as gas and heat storage materials. To understand the hydrate formation mechanisms, the crystallization of CO₂ hydrate from NaCl solutions was simulated at a molecular level. The influence of temperature, pressure, salt concentration and CO₂ concentration on CO₂ hydrate formation was evaluated. Results showed that the amount of the newly formed hydrate cages pressure went through a fast linear growth period followed by a relatively stable period. Pressure had little effect on CO₂ hydrate formation and temperature had a significant influence. The linear growth rate was greatly reduced as the temperature dropped from 255 to 235 K. The salt ion pairs could inhibit CO₂ hydrate formation, suggesting that we should choose the lower salinity areas if we want to storage CO₂ as gas hydrates in the seabed sediments. The observations in this study can provide theoretical support for the micro mechanism of hydrate formation, and provide a theoretical reference for the technology of hydrate based CO₂ storage.

In the process of the carbon dioxide hydrate formation in NaCl solution, it could form 5¹², 5¹²6² and 5¹²6³ cages, and the 5¹²6² cage and 5¹² cage number ratio was slightly above 3 : 1.

Methane Clathrate Formation is Catalyzed and Kinetically Inhibited by the Same Molecule: Two Facets of Methanol

Here, we perform molecular dynamics simulations to provide atomic-level insights into the dual roles of methanol in enhancing and delaying the rate of methane clathrate hydrate nucleation. Consistent with experiments, we find that methanol slows clathrate hydrate nucleation above 250 K but promotes clathrate formation at temperatures below 250 K. We show that this behavior can be rationalized by the unusual temperature dependence of the methane-methanol interaction in an aqueous solution, which emerges due to the hydrophobic effect. In addition to its antifreeze properties at temperatures above 250 K, methanol competes with water to interact with methane prior to the formation of clathrate nuclei. Below 250 K, methanol encourages water to occupy the space between methane molecules favoring clathrate formation and it may additionally promote water mobility.

Propane and Water: The Cooperativity of Unlikely Molecules to Form Clathrate Structures

Many unanswered questions still exist at the molecular level to understand the nucleation process and mechanism of clathrate hydrates, especially for larger guest molecules that would result in the structure II crystal. Here, we report on molecular dynamics simulations for propane and water to describe the molecular mechanism leading to a structure II system. Through a large number (30) of long (5 μs) and coupled annealing (20 μs) simulations, we detail the prenucleation, nucleation, growth, and annealing of propane clathrate hydrate structures at 250 K and 1800 bar. The results demonstrate the equal importance of the empty and occupied cages in the nucleation of propane hydrates. The critical nucleus size is identified to be eight cages. While separate distinct clusters may exist during the prenucleation period, only one survives to grow beyond the critical nucleus size, with the others remaining subcritical. From the annealing simulations, it is clear that solid rearrangement is a very slow process, and 20 μs is still not long enough to capture long-range ordering resembling the structure II crystal. These results, along with the developed analysis method, have a significant impact in advancing our understanding of the nucleation process for unlike molecules.

Effects of Layer-Charge Distribution of 2:1 Clay Minerals on Methane Hydrate Formation: A Molecular Dynamics Simulation Study

Molecular dynamics simulations were used to investigate the effects of the external surface of a 2:1 clay mineral with different charge amounts and charge locations on CH₄ hydrate formation. The results showed that 5¹², 5¹²6², 5¹²6³, and 5¹²6⁴ were formed away from the clay mineral surface. The surface of the clay mineral with high- and low-charge layers was occupied by Na⁺ to form various distributions of outer- and inner-sphere hydration structures, respectively. The adsorbed Na⁺ on the high-charge layer surface reduced the H₂O activity by disturbing the hydrogen bond network, resulting in low tetrahedral arrangement of H₂O molecules near the layer surface, which inhibited CH₄ hydrate formation. However, more CH₄ molecules were adsorbed onto the vacancy in the Si-O rings of a neutral-charge layer to form semicage structures. Thus, the order parameter of H₂O molecules near this surface indicated that the arrangement of H₂O molecules resulted in a more optimal tetrahedral structure for CH₄ hydrate formation than that near the negatively charged layer surface. Different nucleation mechanisms of the CH₄ hydrate on external surfaces of clay mineral models were observed. For clay minerals with negatively charged layers (i.e., high and low charge), the homogeneous nucleation of the CH₄ hydrate occurred away from the surface. For a clay mineral with a neutral-charge layer, the CH₄ hydrate could nucleate either in the bulk-like solution homogeneously or at the clay mineral-H₂O interface heterogeneously.

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.

Nucleation and dissociation of methane clathrate embryo at the gas-water interface

Among natural energy resources, methane clathrate has attracted tremendous attention because of its strong relevance to current energy and environment issues. Yet little is known about how the clathrate starts to nucleate and disintegrate at the molecular level, because such microscopic processes are difficult to probe experimentally. Using surface-specific sum-frequency vibrational spectroscopy, we have studied in situ the nucleation and disintegration of methane clathrate embryos at the methane-gas-water interface under high pressure and different temperatures. Before appearance of macroscopic methane clathrate, the interfacial structure undergoes 3 stages as temperature varies, namely, dissolution of methane molecules into water interface, formation of cage-like methane-water complexes, and appearance of microscopic methane clathrate, while the bulk water structure remains unchanged. We find spectral features associated with methane-water complexes emerging in the induction time. The complexes are present over a wide temperature window and act as nuclei for clathrate growth. Their existence in the melt of clathrates explains why melted clathrates can be more readily recrystallized at higher temperature, the so-called "memory effect." Our findings here on the nucleation mechanism of clathrates could provide guidance for rational control of formation and disintegration of clathrates.

Cage fusion from bi-cages to tri-cages during nucleation of methane hydrate: a DFT-D simulation

Water-cage clusters encapsulating guest molecules are the basic components of hydrate crystal structures. Herein, we investigated the fusion process from bi-cages to tri-cages to probe the nucleation mechanism at the initial stage of CH4 hydrate formation by employing dispersion-corrected density functional theory. We found that tri-cages possess high stability by sharing three, rather than two, polygonal faces. In addition, any mono-cage combined with a nonstandard 4151062 cage could achieve considerable stability regardless of which face is shared; this finding illustrates that 4151062 cages are more likely to appear at the early stages of CH4 hydrate nucleation than other nonstandard cages. We then simulated the Raman spectra of CH4 molecules in water-cage to characterize the spectral characteristics of the CH4 hydrate. The C-H symmetric stretching frequency of encapsulated CH4 molecules red-shifted with increasing mono-cage size, which follows the prediction of the "loose cage-tight cage" model. The symmetric stretching vibrational frequencies of trapped CH4 molecules in the tri-cage revealed a clear red-shift compared with those in the component mono- and bi-cages. The cage fusion process and spectroscopic properties described in this work are expected to provide new atomistic insights into CH4 hydrates at the initial nucleation stage.

Simulation Study on the Influence of Gas Mole Fraction and Aqueous Activity under Phase Equilibrium

This work explored the influence of gas mole fraction and activity in aqueous phase while predicting phase equilibrium conditions. In pure gas systems, such as CH4, CO2, N2 and O2, the gas mole fraction in aqueous phase as one of phase equilibrium conditions was proposed, and a simplified correlation of the gas mole fraction was established. The gas mole fraction threshold maintaining three-phase equilibrium was obtained by phase equilibrium data regression. The UNIFAC model, the predictive Soave-Redlich-Kwong equation and the Chen-Guo model were used to calculate aqueous phase activity, the fugacity of gas and hydrate phase, respectively. It showed that the predicted phase equilibrium pressures are in good agreement with published phase equilibrium experiment data, and the percentage of Absolute Average Deviation Pressures are given. The water activity, gas mole fraction in aqueous phase and the fugacity coefficient in vapor phase are discussed.

Bridging solution properties to gas hydrate nucleation through guest dynamics

By investigating the aqueous solution properties of several hydrate guests with molecular simulations, we find that with increasing guest concentration, the guest's hydration shell becomes more ordered and the system entropy decreases. A common critical value of the self-diffusion coefficient of different guest molecules is identified, below which hydrates will nucleate very readily.

Hydrophobic Hydration and the Effect of NaCl Salt in the Adsorption of Hydrocarbons and Surfactants on Clathrate Hydrates

Adsorption of functional molecules on the surface of hydrates is key in the understanding of hydrate inhibitors. We investigate the adsorption of a hydrocarbon chain, nonionic and ionic surfactants, and ions at the hydrate-aqueous interface. Our results suggest a strong connection between the water ordering around solutes in bulk and the affinity for the hydrates surface. We distinguish two types of water ordering around solutes: (i) hydrophobic hydration where water molecules form a hydrogen bond network similar to clathrate hydrates, and (ii) ionic hydration where water molecules align according to the polarity of an ionic group. The nonionic surfactant and the hydrocarbon chain induce hydrophobic hydration and are favorably adsorbed on the hydrate surface. Adsorption of ions and the ionic headgroups on the hydrate surface is not favorable because ionic hydration and the hydrogen bond structure of hydrates are incompatible. The nonionic surfactant is adsorbed by the headgroup and tail while adsorption of the ionic surfactants is not favorable through the head. Water ordering is analyzed using the hydrogen bond and tetrahedral density profiles as a function of the distance to the chemical groups. The adsorption of solutes is studied through the free energy profiles as a function of the distance to the hydrate surface. Salt lowers the melting temperature of hydrates, disrupts hydrophobic hydration, reduces the solubility of solutes in the aqueous solution, and increases the propensity of solutes to be adsorbed on hydrate surfaces. Our studies are performed by the unbiased and steered molecular dynamics simulations. The results are in line with experiments on the effect of salt and alkanes in hydrate antiagglomeration.

Nucleation Mechanisms of CO2 Hydrate Reflected by Gas Solubility

The concentration of gas has been confirmed as a key factor dominating hydrate nucleation. In this study, CO₂ hydrates were formed in pure water and a sodium dodecyl sulphate (SDS) solution using a temperature reduction method under constant pressure at different temperatures. The dissolving properties of CO₂ throughout the whole induction period were investigated in detail. The experimental results showed that the ‘memory effect’ of hydrate might not be attributed to residual water structures after hydrate dissociation. Instead, residual gas molecules in the aqueous phase should receive more attention. Hydrate nucleation was confirmed to be a type of chain reaction. Low temperature was a significant factor that promoted hydrate nucleation. As a result, these two factors enhanced the stochastic features of the CO₂ hydrate nucleation reaction. Even under the same conditions, critical gas concentrations beyond the threshold that hydrates can spontaneously nucleate were not fixed, but they still exhibited linear relations regarding a set temperature. Taking the significant influences of temperature into account, a new nucleation mechanism for CO₂ hydrates was established based on the potential of the reaction system. Therefore, this study sheds new light when explaining the reason for the formation of gas hydrates in natural reservoirs.

Antiagglomerants Affect Gas Hydrate Growth

In gas clathrate hydrates, inclusion gas molecules stabilize crystalline water structures. In addition to being fundamentally interesting, gas hydrates attract significant practical attention because of their possible application in various high-tech technologies. However, gas hydrates pose health, safety, and environmental risks when they form within oil and gas pipelines, as well as within hydrocarbon-producing and treatment facilities. Among available strategies to control and sometimes prevent hydrate plug formation is the use of surface-active low-molecular-weight compounds, known as antiagglomerants (AAs). AAs prevent the agglomeration of small hydrate particles into large plugs. It is not clear whether AAs promote or frustrate hydrate growth. We present two molecular mechanisms by which AAs promote and frustrate, respectively, hydrate growth. Our results could lead to innovative methodologies for managing hydrates in high-tech applications, as well as for securing the safety of oil and gas operations.

Overview: Nucleation of clathrate hydrates

Molecular level knowledge of nucleation and growth of clathrate hydrates is of importance for advancing fundamental understanding on the nature of water and hydrophobic hydrate formers, and their interactions that result in the formation of ice-like solids at temperatures higher than the ice-point. The stochastic nature and the inability to probe the small length and time scales associated with the nucleation process make it very difficult to experimentally determine the molecular level changes that lead to the nucleation event. Conversely, for this reason, there have been increasing efforts to obtain this information using molecular simulations. Accurate knowledge of how and when hydrate structures nucleate will be tremendously beneficial for the development of sustainable hydrate management strategies in oil and gas flowlines, as well as for their application in energy storage and recovery, gas separation, carbon sequestration, seawater desalination, and refrigeration. This article reviews various aspects of hydrate nucleation. First, properties of supercooled water and ice nucleation are reviewed briefly due to their apparent similarity to hydrates. Hydrate nucleation is then reviewed starting from macroscopic observations as obtained from experiments in laboratories and operations in industries, followed by various hydrate nucleation hypotheses and hydrate nucleation driving force calculations based on the classical nucleation theory. Finally, molecular simulations on hydrate nucleation are discussed in detail followed by potential future research directions.

Neglecting the fallow season can significantly underestimate annual methane emissions in Mediterranean rice fields

Paddy rice fields are one of the most important sources of anthropogenic methane. Improving the accuracy in the CH₄ budget is fundamental to identify strategies to mitigate climate change. Such improvement requires a mechanistic understanding of the complex interactions between environmental and agronomic factors determining CH₄ emissions, and also the characterization of the annual temporal CH₄ emissions pattern in the whole crop cycle. Hence, both the growing and fallow seasons must be included. However, most of the previous research has been based on single-factor analyses that are focused on the growing season. In order to fill this gap, a study was conducted in a Mediterranean rice agrosystem (Ebre Delta, Catalonia) following a farm-to-farm approach with the purpose of 1) evaluating the cumulative and temporal pattern of CH₄ emission, and 2) conducting a multi-variate analyses to assess the associative pattern, relative contribution and temporal variation of the main explanatory variables concerning the observed CH₄ emissions. Measurements of CH₄ emissions and agronomic and environmental parameters in 15 commercial rice fields were monitored monthly, during a whole crop field cycle. The temporal pattern of CH₄ emission followed a bi-modal distribution peaking in August and October. The cumulative annual CH₄ emissions from rice fields amounted 314 kg CH₄ kg ha^-1, of which ca. 70% were emitted during the fallow season. The main controlling factors of the CH₄ emission rate in the growing season were positive related to water level and plant cover, while soil redox was negatively related. The main controlling factors in the fallow season were water level (negatively related, conversely to the growing season), as well as straw incorporation and soil temperature (positively related). The results of this study highlight the importance of the often neglected fallow season in the accurate estimation of CH₄ emissions and, thus, the necessity of measurement programs that cover the whole crop field cycle. This information is the first step for setting effective mitigation strategies based on straw and water management.

Correlation of Solubility with the Metastable Limit of Nucleation Using Gauge-Cell Monte Carlo Simulations

We present a novel simulation-based investigation of the nucleation of nanodroplets from solution and from vapor. Nucleation is difficult to measure or model accurately, and predicting when nucleation should occur remains an open problem. Of specific interest is the "metastable limit", the observed concentration at which nucleation occurs spontaneously, which cannot currently be estimated a priori. To investigate the nucleation process, we employ gauge-cell Monte Carlo simulations to target spontaneous nucleation and measure thermodynamic properties of the system at nucleation. Our results reveal a widespread correlation over 5 orders of magnitude of solubilities, in which the metastable limit depends exclusively on solubility and the number density of generated nuclei. This three-way correlation is independent of other parameters, including intermolecular interactions, temperature, molecular structure, system composition, and the structure of the formed nuclei. Our results have great potential to further the prediction of nucleation events using easily measurable solute properties alone and to open new doors for further investigation.

Influence of temperature on methane hydrate formation

During gas hydrate formation process, a phase transition of liquid water exists naturally, implying that temperature has an important influence on hydrate formation. In this study, methane hydrate was formed within the same media. The experimental system was kept at 1.45, 6.49, and 12.91 °C respectively, and then different pressurization modes were applied in steps. We proposed a new indicator, namely the slope of the gas flow rates against time (dν g /dt), to represent the intrinsic driving force for hydrate formation. The driving force was calculated as a fixed value at the different stages of formation, including initial nucleation/growth, secondary nucleation/growth, and decay. The amounts of gas consumed at each stage were also calculated. The results show that the driving force during each stage follows an inverse relation with temperature, whereas the amount of consumed gas is proportional to temperature. This opposite trend indicates that the influences of temperature on the specific formation processes and final amounts of gas contained in hydrate should be considered separately. Our results also suggest that the specific ambient temperature under which hydrate is formed should be taken into consideration, when explaining the formation of different configurations and saturations of gas hydrates in natural reservoirs.

The effects of ice on methane hydrate nucleation: a microcanonical molecular dynamics study

The NVE simulations realize the ice shrinking when methane hydrate nucleates both heterogeneously and homogeneously.

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.

Effects of ensembles on methane hydrate nucleation kinetics

By performing molecular dynamics simulations to form a hydrate with a methane nano-bubble in liquid water at 250 K and 50 MPa, we report how different ensembles, such as the NPT, NVT, and NVE ensembles, affect the nucleation kinetics of the methane hydrate. The nucleation trajectories are monitored using the face-saturated incomplete cage analysis (FSICA) and the mutually coordinated guest (MCG) order parameter (OP). The nucleation rate and the critical nucleus are obtained using the mean first-passage time (MFPT) method based on the FS cages and the MCG-1 OPs, respectively. The fitting results of MFPT show that hydrate nucleation and growth are coupled together, consistent with the cage adsorption hypothesis which emphasizes that the cage adsorption of methane is a mechanism for both hydrate nucleation and growth. For the three different ensembles, the hydrate nucleation rate is quantitatively ordered as follows: NPT > NVT > NVE, while the sequence of hydrate crystallinity is exactly reversed. However, the largest size of the critical nucleus appears in the NVT ensemble, rather than in the NVE ensemble. These results are helpful for choosing a suitable ensemble when to study hydrate formation via computer simulations, and emphasize the importance of the order degree of the critical nucleus.

Carbon dioxide induced bubble formation in a CH4–CO2–H2O ternary system: a molecular dynamics simulation study

The role of carbon dioxide in the formation of gas bubbles in a CH₄–CO₂–H₂O ternary system is studied using molecular dynamics simulations.

Effect of guests on the adsorption interaction between a hydrate cage and guests

A criterion is proposed to judge which guest can enter the cage through which face.

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.

Energy benchmarks for methane-water systems from quantum Monte Carlo and second-order Møller-Plesset calculations

The quantum Monte Carlo (QMC) technique is used to generate accurate energy benchmarks for methane-water clusters containing a single methane monomer and up to 20 water monomers. The benchmarks for each type of cluster are computed for a set of geometries drawn from molecular dynamics simulations. The accuracy of QMC is expected to be comparable with that of coupled-cluster calculations, and this is confirmed by comparisons for the CH4-H2O dimer. The benchmarks are used to assess the accuracy of the second-order Møller-Plesset (MP2) approximation close to the complete basis-set limit. A recently developed embedded many-body technique is shown to give an efficient procedure for computing basis-set converged MP2 energies for the large clusters. It is found that MP2 values for the methane binding energies and the cohesive energies of the water clusters without methane are in close agreement with the QMC benchmarks, but the agreement is aided by partial cancelation between 2-body and beyond-2-body errors of MP2. The embedding approach allows MP2 to be applied without loss of accuracy to the methane hydrate crystal, and it is shown that the resulting methane binding energy and the cohesive energy of the water lattice agree almost exactly with recently reported QMC values.

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.

Enhanced Hydrate Nucleation Near the Limit of Stability

Clathrate hydrates are crystalline structures composed of small guest molecules trapped into cages formed by hydrogen-bonded water molecules. In hydrate nucleation, water and the guest molecules may stay in a metastable fluid mixture for a long period. Metastability is broken if the concentration of the guest is above certain limit. We perform molecular dynamics (MD) simulations of supersaturated water-propane solutions close to the limit of stability. We show that hydrate nucleation can be very fast in a very narrow range of composition at moderate temperatures. Propane density fluctuations near the fluid-fluid demixing are coupled with crystallization producing en- hanced nucleation rates. This is the first report of propane-hydrate nucleation by MD simulations. We observe motifs of the crystalline structure II in line with experiments and new hydrate cages not reported in the literature. Our study relates nucleation to the fluid-fluid spinodal decomposition and demonstration that the enhanced nucleation phenomenon is more general than short range attractive interactions as suggested in nucleation of proteins.

Probing methane hydrate nucleation through the forward flux sampling method

Understanding the nucleation of hydrate is the key to developing effective strategies for controlling methane hydrate formation. Here we present a computational study of methane hydrate nucleation, by combining the forward flux sampling (FFS) method and the coarse-grained water model mW. To facilitate the application of FFS in studying the formation of methane hydrate, we developed an effective order parameter λ on the basis of the topological analysis of the tetrahedral network. The order parameter capitalizes the signature of hydrate structure, i.e., polyhedral cages, and is capable of efficiently distinguishing hydrate from ice and liquid water while allowing the formation of different hydrate phases, i.e., sI, sII, and amorphous. Integration of the order parameter λ with FFS allows explicitly computing hydrate nucleation rates and obtaining an ensemble of nucleation trajectories under conditions where spontaneous hydrate nucleation becomes too slow to occur in direct simulation. The convergence of the obtained hydrate nucleation rate was found to depend crucially on the convergence of the spatial distribution for the spontaneously formed hydrate seeds obtained from the initial sampling of FFS. The validity of the approach is also verified by the agreement between the calculated nucleation rate and that inferred from the direct simulation. Analyzing the obtained large ensemble of hydrate nucleation trajectories, we show hydrate formation at 220 K and 500 bar is initiated by the nucleation events occurring in the vicinity of water-methane interface, and facilitated by a gradual transition from amorphous to crystalline structure. The latter provides the direct support to the proposed two-step nucleation mechanism of methane hydrate.