Measurement of Mass Transfer Coefficients of Natural Gas Mixture during Gas Hydrate Formation

In this study, mass transfer coefficients (MTC’s) of natural gas components during hydrate formation are reported. This work is based on the assumption that the transport of gas molecules from gas phase to aqueous phase is dominant among other resistances. Several experiments were conducted on a mixture of natural gas at different pressures and temperatures and the consumed gas was monitored and measured over time. The driving force is the difference between the solubility of hydrate former components at operating pressure and the corresponding equilibrium pressure. It was found that MTC is a function of pressure and temperature during hydrate growth stage. Consequently, an equation was proposed to calculate the mass transfer coefficient based on the experimental data.

Keywords:

Gas Hydrates , Kinetics , Mass Transfer , Natural Gas , Diffusion , Transport Processes