Response to Comments on Effect of Salts on TBAB Semi Clathrate Hydrate Formation: Application to Produced Water Desalination

The focus of our original paper was mainly on the thermodynamic equilibrium of semiclathrate hydrate formation in the presence of salts that are common in produced water. We concluded that TBAB hydrate formation is highly favorable in comparison with ice, suggesting the thermodynamic effectiveness of using TBAB as a hydrate former for hydrate based desalination. Lee and Kang claim that the paper has some incorrect and missing points, which led to the wrong analysis. We disagree with the comments, because they are based on a misinterpretation of our objectives and analysis. However, we do agree that we should have provided more information on our analysis in the original paper. In our response, we focused on addressing these comments in detail.

Automated summary

The original paper mainly focused on the thermodynamic equilibrium of semiclathrate hydrate formation in the presence of salts common in produced water, finding that TBAB hydrate formation is highly favorable. While there were criticisms of some inaccuracies and omissions in the paper, we believe they were based on a misunderstanding of our objectives and analysis, and acknowledge the need for more information in the original paper.