Melting of tetrahydrofuran hydrate in pores: An investigation by low-field NMR relaxation

Transverse relaxation times T2 spectra for models of thawing hydrate-bearing sediment have been studied in this work. The samples were prepared from aqueous THF solution and powders of quartz microspheres or their mixtures with kaolin. It was shown that individual bands in the spectra of T2 times are traced, they correspond to proton relaxation in solid hydrate, aqueous solution of THF and to a thin layer of liquid located at the boundary between hydrate and solid particles. It was experimentally established that the low-field NMR may be applied to study the formation/melting kinetics of THF hydrates in porous media and as a tool to investigate phase transformations in porous media.

Automated summary

In this study, T2 spectra for models of thawing hydrate-bearing sediment were investigated, showing that low-field NMR can be used to study the kinetics of THF hydrates formation/melting in porous media and to explore phase transformations in porous media. Individual bands in the T2 spectra were identified, corresponding to proton relaxation in solid hydrate, aqueous THF solution, and a thin layer of liquid at the hydrate-solid particle boundary.