Inhibition Effects of Glucose on Clathrate Hydrate (H-Lw-V) Equilibrium

The three phase (H-Lw-V) equilibrium conditions for methane clathrate hydrates and carbon dioxide clathrate hydrates in aqueous solution containing glucose were experimentally determined. The glucose aqueous solutions varied between 10-30 wt% glucose, with the pressure ranging from 3.4 to 7.8 MPa for the methane systems and 1.6 to 3.8 MPa for the carbon dioxide systems. The experimental temperature for both hydrate systems in question ranged from 275.15 to 281.25 K.;Experimental results showed that systems containing glucose did in fact exhibit an inhibiting effect on hydrate equilibrium conditions. This is shown by the equilibrium plots where equilibrium curves of the glucose containing systems reside above (at higher pressures for equal temperatures) the equilibrium curve of pure water. It was also found that as the glucose concentration increased in the aqueous solution present, so did the degree of inhibition. All systems containing glucose were also found to follow the same trend as the systems containing pure water in terms of the apparent curvature of the equilibrium line. When compared to other common thermodynamic hydrate inhibitors, only the 30 wt% glucose solution was able to exhibit a level of hydrate inhibition at par with the others.