An electrical resistivity-based method for measuring semi-clathrate hydrate formation kinetics: Application for cold storage and transport

Hyunho Kim, Junjie Zheng, Zhenyuan Yin, Sreekala Kumar, Jackson Tee, Yutaek Seo and Praveen Linga

Applied Energy, 2022, vol. 308, issue C, No S0306261921016330

Abstract: Tetra-n-butylammonium bromide (TBAB) semi-clathrate hydrate has a large latent heat and suitable phase transition temperatures to be used as a phase change material for cold energy storage and transport. The mass fraction of hydrates in the semi-clathrate hydrate slurry is a key parameter determining the cold carrying capacity and flow properties. We developed a new experimental methodology based on electrical resistivity to quantify the hydrate fraction in semi-clathrate hydrate slurry during hydrate formation. Relationship between electrical resistivity and hydrate fraction of semi-clathrate hydrate slurry was established based on Bruggeman’s effective-medium approximation. After validation, this method was employed to quantitatively investigate the effect of temperature on TBAB hydrate formation from 20 wt% TBAB/water system. As the temperature was lowered from 278.2 K to 274.2 K, the induction time was reduced by 97.8% and the hydrate growth rate was enhanced by over 2.5 times. At 274.2 K and 276.2 K, type A hydrates were preferentially formed followed by a structural transition to type B. At 278.2 K, only type A hydrates were observed. Furthermore, given an appropriate concentration, amino acid L-tryptophan was identified to be a good kinetic promoter for TBAB hydrate formation. The presence of 500 ppm L-tryptophan reduced the induction time by 60% and boost the hydrate growth rate by more than 32%. The electrical resistivity-based method developed in this work has shown simplicity, low cost, high accuracy, and repeatability. It would enable precise investigation of semi-clathrate hydrate kinetics in the future for cold energy applications and beyond.

Keywords: Tetra-n-butylammonium bromide; Semi-clathrate hydrate; Cold energy storage; Formation kinetics; Electrical resistivity; Raman spectroscopy (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (5)

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DOI: 10.1016/j.apenergy.2021.118397

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