Heat Transfer During Gas Hydrate Film Formation on Gas-Liquid Interface

Gas hydrates are solid, crystalline, ice-like compounds composed of water and guest molecules. The formation of gas hydrates is a complex process with heat and mass transfer in gas, liquid and solid. Increasing the hydrates formation rate and the storage capacity, reducing hydrate induction time are main technical barriers for the application of gas hydrate. A one-dimensional numerical model of heat transfer during gas hydrate film formation on gas-liquid interface is investigated by analyzing the process of static system. According to the rate of gas consumed, the relation between the thickness of hydrate film and time can be obtained. The temperature distribution of different phase in the system is analyzed and the effect of temperature distribution of water is confirmed. The result indicates that it is effective to accelerate the rate of hydrate formation by enhancing the heat transfer in water phase.