Experimental Measurement of Methane and Ethane Mole Fractions during Gas Hydrate Formation

The super-saturation condition has to be provided to form gas hydrates. Consequently, the prediction of the guest molecule fraction in the aqueous phase is crucial in the study of the gas hydrate kinetics. In the present work, several experiments were carried out in a semi-batch reactor in order to determine the mole fraction of methane and ethane during gas hydrates formation (growth stage). The temperature ranged from 274.15 to 284.15 K. The experiment pressure ranges were 3100 to 7765 kPa and 950 to 2635 kPa for methane and ethane, respectively. The mole fraction is proportional to pressure while it is not affected by temperature to a great extent. Furthermore, the amount of guest dissolved in the liquid water was observed in the aqueous phase which was fairly constant during hydrates formation.