Project Overview

Clathrate hydrate is promising in permanent storage of CO₂. Formation of clathrate hydrates is a first–order phase transition that starts with nucleation. A primary difficulty in the investigation of clathrate hydrate nucleation has been the inability of researchers to compare nucleation rates of clathrate hydrates across various systems of different scales and complexity, which in turn has been limiting the ability of researchers to study the nucleation process itself. We will adopt a statistical approach to (1) determine the nucleation rate of CO₂ hydrate in brine that simulate the medium near seabed, (2) assess the efficacy of various ions and chemicals on CO₂ hydrate nucleation that are compatible with brine, (3) establish reliable scaling methods of laboratory – derived nucleation rates to larger systems. We will develop experimental capabilities that enable these objectives and apply the same capabilities for the investigation of heterogeneous nucleation of ice.