A group of scientists from the is conducting research on the creation of a new method for capturing carbon dioxide from gas mixtures of flue gasses and synthesis gas by converting it into a gas hydrate state. By developing a method for increasing the rate of hydrate formation and increasing the gas fraction that has passed into the hydrate phase, scientists contribute to the development of hydrate technology for the separation of gasses from gas mixtures. This is directly related to reducing anthropogenic carbon dioxide emissions into the atmosphere, effectively capturing carbon dioxide in the process of converting "brown" and "gray" hydrogen into "blue" hydrogen. This method also supports the development of energy-efficient hydrate technologies for natural gas transportation. In April 2022, scientists won a grant from the Russian Science Foundation (No. 22-19-00428) to conduct this research.
Vladimir Belosludov, Laboratory Head, research manager, Doctor of Physical and Mathematical Sciences, and Professor, discussed their work,
Gas hydrate is a special combination of water and gas, outwardly very similar to snow or crushed ice, that is formed at a certain combination of pressure and temperature. One volume of hydrate during formation absorbs up to 170 volumes of gas. Formation conditions are individual for each gas, which opens up the possibility of capturing some component from the gas mixture. For example, at a temperature of 0 掳C, hydrogen hydrate is formed at a pressure of more than 2000 atmospheres, and carbon dioxide is formed at 12 atmospheres. This makes it possible to extract, for example, greenhouse carbon dioxide from the hydrogen-carbon dioxide mixture. This can then be buried in a suitable place and the result is a 鈥済reen鈥� technology since it allows you to mitigate the effects of climate change.
As scientists note, creating the necessary conditions, pressure and temperature, is not enough to form a hydrate from a specific gas component. Time is needed for a primary hydrate nucleus to appear, from which the hydrate structure will begin to grow along the plane of contact of water and gas, and it is random. To stimulate this process, researchers apply international experience and use various water additives that accelerate the process of hydrate formation.
Belosludov added,
Our comprehensive research is aimed at understanding the fundamental principles of gas hydrate nucleation processes. We use molecular and lattice dynamic methods and study nucleation under both homogeneous (mixture of water and gas) and heterogeneous conditions. The latter includes a mixture of water, gasses (methane, carbon dioxide), and the presence of a surfactant under conditions of nanoscale spatial restrictions on the surface of Al2O3, SiO2, Ag nanoparticles.
Anton Meleshkin, one of the researchers of the laboratory.
