Compressibility of Gas Hydrates

Experimental data on the pressure dependence of unit cell parameters for the gas hydrates of ethane (cubic structure I, pressure range 0-2 GPa), xenon (cubic structure I, pressure range 0-1.5 GPa) and the double hydrate of tetrahydrofuran+ xenon (cubic structure II, pressure range 0-3 GPa) are presented. Approximation of the data using the cubic Birch-Murnaghan equation, P = 1.5B(0)[(V(0)/V)(7/3) (V(0)/V)(5/3)], gave the following results: for ethane hydrate V(0) = 1781 angstrom(3), B(0) = 11.2 GPa; for xenon hydrate V(0) = 1726 angstrom(3), B(0) = 9.3 GPa; for the double hydrate of tetrahydrofuran+ xenon V(0) = 5323 angstrom(3), B(0) = 8.8 GPa. In the last case, the approximation was performed within the pressure range 0-1.5 GPa; it is impossible to describe the results within a broader pressure range using the cubic Birch-Murnaghan equation. At the maximum pressure of the existence of the double hydrate of tetrahydrofuran+ xenon (3.1 GPa), the unit cell volume was 86% of the unit cell volume at zero pressure. Analysis of the experimental data obtained by us and data available from the literature showed that 1) the bulk modulus of gas hydrates with classical polyhedral structures, in most cases, are close to each other and 2) the bulk modulus is mainly determined by the elasticity of the hydrogen-bonded water framework. Variable filling of the cavities with guest molecules also has a substantial effect on the bulk modulus. On the basis of the obtained results, we concluded that the bulk modulus of gas hydrates with classical polyhedral structures and existing at pressures up to 1.5 GPa was equal to (9 +/- 2) GPa. In cases when data on the equations of state for the hydrates were unavailable, the indicated values may be recommended as the most probable ones.