On the Scale-up of Gas-Hydrate-Forming Reactors: The Case of Gas-Dispersion-Type Reactors

For establishing hydrate-based technologies for natural-gas storage/transport, CO2 capture from industrial flue gases, etc., we need appropriate guidelines for the scale-up of hydrate production/processing equipment from laboratory scales to industrial scales. This paper aims to provide technical remarks on the scale-up of hydrate-forming reactors, the central components of hydrate production/processing equipment, particularly focusing on such a reactor design that hydrate-forming gas is dispersed in an aqueous phase which is either stirred in a tank or forced to flow through a tube. Based on the principles of classical fluid mechanics and heat-transfer analysis, the paper derives semi-empirical formulas that show how the capacity for heat discharge from each reactor and the power for operating the reactor are required to change with an increase in its size. Consequently, it is concluded that the stirred-tank design is unfavorable for significant scale-up and that the scale-up of tubular reactors should be made without significantly increasing the in-tube flow velocity.