Measuring hydrate thermodynamics and kinetics

E. Dendy Sloan, Jr., Ph.D.
Center for Hydrate Research
Colorado School of Mines

Wednesday, July 7, 1999
3:00 p.m.—Pacific Forum

For the 200 years, mankind has studied hydrates by measuring every phase except the hydrate phase. Typically reductions in gas phase pressure in a closed system are attributed to hydrate concentration of formation; similarly increases in aqueous saline concentration are attributed to pure water’s removal into hydrates.

Three tools are readily available to measure the hydrate phase itself. The first tool (diffraction) has been available for some time but is constrained to time-independent power diffraction measurements and is therefore somewhat limited. The advent of the two newer tools (NMR and Raman spectroscopy) combined with lasers and fiber optics, has provided access to both the thermodynamic and kinetic regions of hydrate formation/dissociation.

This seminar will show the capability of NMR and Raman spectroscopy for hydrate measurements and discuss possibilities of instrument field use.

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