Heat and mass transfer during the growth and dissociation of gas hydrates in porous media

An experimental technique forming cores of methane and propane hydrate was developed. This technique involves the conversion of a compacted zone of ice frost to hydrates by pressurization with methane at temperatures slightly above the ice point. The cores so formed can be used for studying phenomena associated with the breakdown (dissociation) of hydrates in the Earth. It was found that the heat transfer coefficients between the hydrate and warm water varies between 400 and 1800 kcal/sq m-HR-degree C. The dissociation rate of methane hydrates is two to three times that of propane hydrates, but the heat transfer rates in case of methane are lower by about factor of 1.5 than that in case of propane hydrates.