@article {43401, title = {Experimental investigation to elucidate why tetrahydrofuran rapidly promotes methane hydrate formation kinetics: applicable to energy storage}, journal = {Journal of Physical Chemistry C}, volume = {120}, year = {2016}, month = {DEC}, pages = {29062-29068}, abstract = {Methane storage as SNG (solidified natural gas) in the form of clathrate hydrates is an emerging, economically feasible and environmentally benign technology for large scale storage. Mixed tetrahydrofuran (THF)-methane (CH4) hydrates offer a paradigm shift to milder storage conditions and faster hydrate formation kinetics, providing a promising scenario to scale up the SNG technology. In this work, we synthesize mixed THF-CH4 hydrates in a high pressure microdifferential scanning calorimeter (HP mu-DSC) to elucidate the two-step hydrate formation mechanism of mixed THF-CH4 hydrate identifying the synergism between THF and CH4. Heat flow change during hydrate formation and dissociation of mixed THF-CH4 hydrates formed in the presence of 5.56 mol \% THF (stoichiometric composition) were monitored. The two step-mechanism of mixed THF-CH4 hydrate formation was further confirmed by the pressure-temperature profile and visual observations with a sample volume scale -up of about 350 times that of mu-DSC experiments.}, doi = {10.1021/acs.jpcc.6b11995}, author = {Kumar, Asheesh and Daraboina, Nagu and Kumar, Rajnish and Linga, Praveen} }