Formation Kinetics and Self-Preservation of CO2 Hydrates in the Presence of Carboxylated Multiwall Carbon Nanotubes

Abstract

Abstract Nanofluids are known of having the capability to increase heat and mass transfer and their suitability to be used as kinetic gas hydrate promoters have been recently investigated. They have favorable properties such as high thermal conductivity, large surface area, recyclable, ecofriendly, and relatively cheap that are favorable for kinetic gas hydrate promoters. However, the nanomaterials face challenges related to their stability in the base fluid. Therefore, it is crucial to investigate the impact of surfactant free nanofluid on hydrate formation and dissociation kinetics. In this work, COOH-MWCNT suspended in water is used to study the effect of surfactant free nanofluid on CO2 hydrates formation kinetic and stability. Kinetic study on CO2 hydrates formation as well as self-preservation are conducted in a stirred tank reactor. The kinetic experiments are carried out at 2.7 MPa and 274.15 K. The induction time, initial gas consumption rate, half-completion time t50, semi completion time t95 are measured to evaluate the effect of COOH-MWCNT. Furthermore, the dissociation rate was calculated to assess the impact of COOH-MWCNT on self-preservation at 271.15 K and atmospheric pressure. The results are compared with that of sodium dodecyl sulphate (SDS). The study of CO2 hydrates formation kinetic shows that the induction time is not affected by COOH-MWCNT. The impact of nanofluid is more pronounced during the hydrate growth. The initial formation rate is the highest at 0.01 wt% of COOH-MWCNT whereas 0.01 and 0.03 wt% shows the same and shortest t50. However, t95 found to be decreased with increasing the concentration. The effect of COOH-MWCNT is attributed to the strong functional group. Self-preservation results shows CO2 hydrates are less stable in the presence of COOH-MWCNT. The result of this work may provide significant finding that can be used to developed kinetic gas hydrate promoter based on nanofluid that work better than SDS to eliminate gas hydrate formation in oil and gas pipeline.