Characteristics of methane hydrate formation in carbon nanofluids

When methane hydrate is formed artificially by simply reversing its process of natural generation, the amount of methane gas consumed by hydrate formation is fairly low, which is problematic for its large scale synthesis and application. Therefore, this study examined methods for increasing the amount of gas consumed by adding MWCNTs (multi-walled carbon nanotubes) and OMWCNTs (oxidized multi-walled carbon nanotubes). The surfaces of the MWCNTs were oxidized chemically, and dispersed uniformly in distilled water after a dispersion operation. The amount of methane gas consumed during the formation of methane hydrate in the oxidized carbon nanofluid was approximately 4.5 times higher than that in distilled water. The hydrate-nanocarbon fluid phase boundary line was shifted to the right side of the hydrate-pure water phase boundary line in the pressure-temperature phase diagram. The carbon nanofluid system accelerated the rate of methane hydrate formation at low subcooling temperatures (<8 K). (C) 2011 The Korean Society of Industrial and Engineering Chemistry. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.