Formation Kinetics Evaluation for Designing Sustainable Carbon Dioxide-Based Hydrate Desalination via Tryptophan as a Biodegradable Hydrate Promotor

Abstract

Desalination using hydrates is a developing field, and initial research promises a commercially feasible approach. The current study proposes the natural amino acid, namely tryptophan, as a biodegradable gas hydrate promotor for desalination applications to speed up the hydrate formation process. Its kinetic behavior and separation capabilities with CO2 hydrates were investigated. The studies were carried out with varying concentrations (0.5, 1, and 2 wt.%) of tryptophan at different experimental temperatures (274.15, 275.15, 276.15, and 277.15 K) at 3.5 and 4.0 MPa pressure and 1 wt.% brine concentration. The induction time, initial formation rates, gas uptake, and water recovery are characterized and reported in this work. Overall finding demonstrated that tryptophan efficiently acted as a kinetic hydrate promotor (KHP), and increased tryptophan quantities further supported the hydrate formation for almost all the studied conditions. The formation kinetics also demonstrated that it shortens the hydrate induction time by 50.61% and increases the 144.5% initial formation rate of CO2 hydrates for 1 wt.% addition of tryptophan at 274 K temperature and 4.0 MPa pressure condition. The study also discovered that at similar experimental conditions, 1 wt.% tryptophan addition improved gas uptake by 124% and water recovery moles by 121%. Furthermore, the increased concentrations of tryptophan (0.5–2 wt.%) further enhance the formation kinetics of CO2 hydrates due to the hydrophobic nature of tryptophan. Findings also revealed a meaningful link between hydrate formation and operating pressure observed for the exact temperature settings. High pressures facilitate the hydrate formation by reduced induction times with relatively higher formation rates, highlighting the subcooling effect on hydrate formation conditions. Overall, it can be concluded that using tryptophan as a biodegradable kinetic promotor considerably enhances the hydrate-based desalination process, making it more sustainable and cost-effective.