Facilities
Facilities
Facility with 25 experimental rigs used to study gas hydrates (hydrate inhibitors, hydrate stability, hydrate monitoring, application in hydrocarbon fluids including CO2, their role in subsurface storage)
Autoclave Reactors: 11 rigs for measuring hydrate phase equilibria, kinetics of hydrate formation/dissociation, and evaluation of kinetic hydrate inhibitors/anti-agglomerants
Rocking cells: 2 rigs for investigating hydrate phase equilibria and kinetics for various fluid systems
Glass micromodel set-ups: 2 rigs with pressure ratings of 1200 and 6000 psia, for visual observation of gas hydrate formation, dissociation and distribution at the microscale.
Porous media rig: investigate effect of pore size, saturation and wettability on gas hydrate phase boundary and the kinetics of gas hydrate formation in sediments
Ultrasonic rigs: 3 rigs for investigating hydrate formation in various natural and synthetic sediments
Wax-hydrate cell: 4 rigs pressure rated to a maximum of 7500 psia for investigating wax and hydrate phase boundaries as well as effect of wax on hydrates and vice versa.
Multiple (10) cell rocking set-up for investigating the performance of kinetic hydrate inhibitors
- Autoclave Reactors – 11 rigs capable of working over a wide range of temperature and pressure conditions (-60 C to +70 C, up to 10,000 psia)
- Rocking cells – 2 rigs with pressure ratings of 10,000 and 30,000 psia
- Glass micromodel set-ups – 2 rigs with pressure ratings of 1200 and 6000 psia
- Porous media rig – pressure rated to 6000 psia
- Ultrasonic rigs – 3 rigs pressure rated to 6000 psia
- Wax-hydrate cell – 4 rigs pressure rated to a maximum of 7500 psia
- Multiple (10) cell high pressure (6000 psia) rocking set-up – pressure rated to 6000 psia
- Gas Hydrates and Flow Assurance Joint Industry Project
Researching mainly thermodynamic issues associated with gas hydrates - CO₂ hydrate formation as a safety factor for subsurface storage of CO₂ JIP
Research into potential role of hydrate formation providing additional seal & safety factor against any CO₂ leakage in offshore environment - Hydrate Monitoring and Early Warning Systems JIP
Project looking into developing methods for determining the hydrate safety margin, and techniques for detecting initial hydrate formation in pipelines
