CLATHRATE HYDRATES

Clathrate hydrates or gas hydrates are solid solutions. Water molecules are linked through hydrogen bonding and create cavities (host lattice) that can enclose a large variety of molecules (guests). There is no chemical bonding between the host water molecules and the enclosed guest molecule. The clathrate hydrate crystal may exist at temperatures below as well as above the normal freezing point of water. Clathrate hydrates have been a source of problems in the energy industry because the conditions at which oil and gas are produced, transported, and processed are frequently suitable for clathrate hydrate formation. Naturally occurring clathrate hydrates in the earth, containing mostly methane, are regarded as a future energy resource. These methane hydrates, however, are potentially threatening to the global environment if they decompose due to the greenhouse effect. Several innovative separations based on clathrate hydrate formation with applications in a variety of industrial sectors have been examined in the laboratory and pilot-plant stage. This paper reviews the status of our current knowledge on clathrate hydrates. The emphasis is on the aspects related to technological problems and opportunities that arise from the artificial or natural formation and decomposition of clathrate hydrates. However, a description of the fundamentals of formation, properties, and structure is also presented, and aspects related to the molecular simulation are discussed. Studies on calorimetric properties, orientational disorder, guest-guest interactions, and nuclear magnetic resonance are not reviewed, but literature references are made. Clathrate hydrates arouse great interest within chemical and petroleum engineering, chemistry, earth, and environmental sciences.