A high-pressure cell for kinetic studies on gas hydrates by powder x-ray diffraction.

A new high-pressure-low-temperature cell was developed for in situ observations of gas hydrates by powder x-ray diffraction. The experimental setup allows investigating hydrate formation and dissociation as well as transformation processes between different hydrate crystal structures as a function of pressure, temperature, and feed gas composition. Due to a continuous gas flow, the composition of the gas phase is kept constant during the whole experiment.

Dissociation enthalpies of synthesized multicomponent gas hydrates with respect to the guest composition and cage occupancy.

This study presents the influences of additional guest molecules such as C2H6, C3H8, and CO2 on methane hydrates regarding their thermal behavior. For this purpose, the onset temperatures of decomposition as well as the enthalpies of dissociation were determined for synthesized multicomponent gas hydrates in the range of 173-290 K at atmospheric pressure using a Calvet heat-flow calorimeter. Furthermore, the structures and the compositions of the hydrates were obtained using X-ray diffraction and Raman spectroscopy as well as hydrate prediction program calculations.

Phase transitions in mixed gas hydrates: experimental observations versus calculated data.

This paper presents the phase behavior of multicomponent gas hydrate systems formed from primarily methane with small amounts of ethane and propane. Experimental conditions were typically in a pressure range between 1 and 6 MPa, and the temperature range was between 260 and 290 K. These multicomponent systems have been investigated using a variety of techniques including microscopic observations, Raman spectroscopy, and X-ray diffraction.