Experimental investigation on TBAB clathrate hydrate slurry flows in a horizontal tube: Forced convective heat transfer behaviors

Tetra-n-butyl-ammonium bromide (TBAB) clathrate hydrate slurry (CHS) is one kind of secondary refrigerants, which is promising to be applied into air-conditioning or latent-heat transportation systems as a thermal storage or cold carrying medium for energy saving. It is a solid-liquid two phase mixture which is easy to produce and has high latent heat and good fluidity. In this paper, the heat transfer characteristics of TBAB slurry were investigated in a horizontal stainless steel tube under different solid mass fractions and flow velocities with constant heat flux. One velocity region of weakened heat transfer was found. Moreover, TBAB CHS was treated as a kind of Bingham fluids, and the influences of the solid particles, flow velocity and types of flow on the forced convective heat transfer coefficients of TBAB CHS were investigated. At last, criterial correlations of Nusselt number for laminar and turbulent flows in the form of power function were summarized, and the error with experimental results was within 20%.

Clathrate Dissociation Conditions for Methane + Tetra-n-butyl Ammonium Bromide (TBAB) + Water

Hydrate equilibrium data of the CH4 + tetra-n-butyl ammonium bromide (TBAB) + water have been measured by using the isothermal pressure search method for four components of TBAB aqueous solutions. The three-phase equilibrium lines obtained in the present study are shifted to the low-temperature or high-pressure side from that of the stoichiometric TBAB solution. Moreover, methane uptake into semi-clathrates is confirmed by a shift in the clathrate regions when methane is present. The experiments are carried out in the pressure range of (0.5 to 11) MPa and in the temperature range of (281.15 to 295.15) K.

用分子动力学模拟甲烷水合物热激法分解

用分子动力学模拟方法研究甲烷水合物热激法分解，系统地研究注入340 K液态水的结构Ⅰ型甲烷水合物的分解机理.模拟显示水合物表层水分子与高温液态水分子接触获得热能，分子运动激烈，摆脱水分子间的氢键束缚，笼状结构被破坏.甲烷分子获得热能从笼中挣脱，向外体系扩散.热能通过分子碰撞从外层传递给内层水分子，水合物逐层分解.对比注入277K液态水体系模拟结果，得出热激法促进水合物分解.

Influence of 3A molecular sieve to tetrahydrofuran(THF) hydrate formation

Visual observation of the THF hydrate formation process in the presence of a 3A molecular sieve has been made at normal atmosphere and below a temperature of zero by microscopy. The results indicate that a 3A molecular sieve can induce the nucleation of the THF hydrate and promote the THF hydrate growth. With the existence of a 3A molecular sieve, the growth rate of THF hydrate is between 0.01 and 0.05 mu m/s. In comparison with the system without any 3A molecular sieve, the growth rate increases about 4 nm/s. After the THF hydrate grows into megacryst, the crystals will recombine and partially change under the same condition.

Study on the kinetics of hydrate formation in a bubble column

Gas hydrate formation experiments were performed using methane in the presence of tetrahydrofuran (THF) in aqueous solution in a transparent bubble column in which a single pipe or a sintered plate was used to produce bubbles. The mole fraction of THF in aqueous solution was fixed at 6%. The hydrate formation kinetic behaviors on the surface of the rising bubble, the mechanical stability of hydrate shell formed on the surface of the bubble, the interactions among the bubbles with hydrate shell were observed and investigated morphologically. The rise velocities of individual bubbles with hydrate shells of different thickness and the consumption rates of methane gas were measured. A kinetic model was developed to correlate the experimentally measured gas consumption rate data. It was found that the hydrate formation rate on the surface of the moving bubble was high, but the formed hydrate shell was not very easy to be broken up. The bubbles with hydrate shells tended to agglomerate rather than merge into bigger bubble. This kind of characteristic of hydrate shell hindered the further formation of hydrate and led to the lower consumption rate of methane. The consumption rate of methane was found to increase with the decrease of temperature or increase of pressure. The increase of gas flux led to a linear increase in consumption rate of methane. It was demonstrated that the developed kinetic model could be used to correlate the consumption rate satisfyingly.