Experimental and computational study on clathrate hydrate formation of tetrahydrofuran on a subcooled cylinder

In the present work, formation of tetrahydrofuran (THF) hydrate on a subcooled cylinder is experimentally investigated and modeled using a heat transfer with phase change model. Formation and growth, of a layer of THF hydrate from a liquid solution having the same composition as that of the hydrate have been observed in a one-dimensional cylindrical heat-transfer system. A simple transient heat transfer model is proposed and validated with experimental results. Our model simplifies equations and corresponding solutions for a moving boundary phase change problem using two simple yet accurate assumptions and successfully alter a moving boundary phase change problem to a simple single phase transient heat transfer problem. This model endeavored to describe the hydrate formation process for different boundary and initial conditions. The effect of many operating conditions like subcooling temperature on hydrate formation rate and maximum hydrate width are simulated

Keywords:

Clathrate , Hydrate formation , Heat transfer , Phase change , THF