Kinetics of growth of gas hydrates in dilute solutions of nonelectrolyte inhibitors

New experimental data on hydrate formation of freon-12 and propane in dilute aqueous solutions of lower aliphatic alcohols are presented. The addition of alcohol was shown to affect the morphology of crystals of the gas hydrates and the character of their agglomeration at the stage of mass crystallization. This causes a two-phase open-porous liquid-hydrate structure to develop on the side walls of a reactor above the gas-liquid interface. The structure formed initiates capillary flow of the solution and movement of the front of mass crystallization of the hydrates along the reactor walls. A kinetic model was proposed for the growth of gas hydrates in dilute solutions of nonelectrolytes. The model permits us to qualitatively explain the formation of the two-phase solution-hydrate structure observed in the experiment, as well as the experimental data available on an increase in the hydrate formation intensity at low inhibitor concentrations in solution. The model analysis was carried out, and relations determining the dependence of kinetic parameters of hydrate formation on an inhibitor content in solution were obtained.