Microporous crystalline materials for methane hydrate growth

Abstract

Natural gas represents a high and constantly growing demand as an energy source, as it possesses a high heating value and burns cleaner than other conventional fossil fuels or coal. Effective strategies for natural gas storage are essential due to the fluctuations in demand, and are in need of improvement so as to not waste this energy source. Gas hydrates, also generally referred to as hydrates, exhibit the potential to efficiently storage methane, the primary component of natural gas, due to their large methane uptake capacity, non-explosive nature, and being environmentally begin. The barriers to commercialization of hydrates for methane storage arise from slow hydrate growth and low water-to-hydrate conversion. A proposed solution to these issues involves the addition of microporous crystals as hydrate promoters, as the properties of the materials can greatly influence hydrate formation. In this work, we investigated the effects of selected microporous crystals on methane hydrate formation to gain better insight as to what properties of porous materials lend to promoting hydrate growth. We focused on a range of microporous material compositions, studying organic-inorganic hybrids (metal organic frameworks), organic (porous organic cages), and inorganic (zeolites). These studies also elucidated the effects of metal ions (present in metal organic frameworks) and surface hydrophobicity on methane hydrate formation. This work may pave a new path towards the commercialization of hydrates for methane storage, and could improve the feasibility of implementing gas hydrates for other applications, such as carbon dioxide sequestration.