Effects of Different Surfactants on the Kinetics of Ethane-Hydrate Formation: Experimental and Modeling Studies

An experimental study of the ethane-hydrate-formation kinetics has been performed. First, the effects of stirring velocity and initial pressure on the hydrate-formation rate were investigated. Second, the effects of additives on the ethane-hydrate-formation rate were also studied. Three surfactants, namely sodium dodecylbenzenesulfonate (SDBS), dodecyl trimethyl ammonium bromide (DTAB), and TritonX-100 (TX-100) were tested. The results show that DTAB not only does not significantly promote the hydrate-formation rate at different concentrations, but actually inhibits the ethane-hydrate-formation rate, whereas SDBS does increase the hydrate-formation rate. Furthermore, TX-100 increases the ethane-hydrate-formation rate, but to a lesser degree than SDBS.