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Article Dans Une Revue Chemical Engineering Science Année : 2015

Droplet-based millifluidics as a new tool to investigate hydrate crystallization: Insights into the memory effect

Résumé

A simple millifluidic method is used for studying hydrate crystallization. Regularly-spaced water drops of equal volume in the μl range separated by the guest (hydrate-former) phase are placed in transparent plastic tubing. Temperature and/or pressure are controlled. In one experiment several tens of water drops behaving as independent reactors are video-monitored for hydrate formation and melting events. This method is used here to gain insights into the 'memory effect'. The hydrate-former chosen is cyclopentane (CP), which forms hydrates at ambient pressure and temperatures below Teq=7.2°C, the three-phase (CP, water, hydrate) equilibrium temperature. The statistics of hydrate nucleation events when chilling the water drops below Teq is observed to depend strongly on the thermal history, e.g., prior CP hydrate formation and subsequent melting at various prescribed temperatures (above 7.2°C) and durations. When one or two of these parameters (melting temperature and duration) increase, the 'memory' of the hydrate previously formed fades: the subcoolings required for hydrate formation increase and are more scattered, i.e., they differ more from one drop to the other. The method also allows the visualization of single-drop events such as hydrate birth and growth. The results complement those obtained from more conventional methods and show the promises of using this method for investigating the kinetics of hydrate crystallization and melting.
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Dates et versions

hal-01279563 , version 1 (26-02-2016)

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Maria Lourdes Martinez de Banos, Odile Carrier, Patrick Bouriat, Daniel Broseta. Droplet-based millifluidics as a new tool to investigate hydrate crystallization: Insights into the memory effect. Chemical Engineering Science, 2015, 123, pp.564-572. ⟨10.1016/j.ces.2014.11.018⟩. ⟨hal-01279563⟩

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