(585i) Effective and Sustainable Fuel Gas Storage Via Hydrate Formation in a Melamine Sponge Media with a Low Amount of Promoter

Natural gas (NG) stands out as an efficient and environment-friendly fossil fuel owing to its abundant reserves and low carbon emission during combustion. To enhance its storage efficiency, technologies like LNG and CNG have been developed. Natural gas hydrates (NGH) are emerging as a promising alternative to LNG and CNG due to its high stability, high energy density, and favorable storage conditions. One of the typical methods of enhancing NG hydrate formation is intense mechanical stirring. However, this methodology demands high energy and frequent monitoring due to the high viscosity of the fluids involved. As a breakthrough, a melamine sponge, which is cost-effective, lightweight, and easily accessible was proposed as a supporting material in this study. To determine the optimal process conditions of sponge matrix system for synthesizing methane hydrates, various thermodynamic (e.g. CP, THF) and kinetic promoters (e.g. SDS, L-methionine) were introduced. These promoters were evaluated based on their methane storage capacity and kinetic properties over 20 cycles of formation and dissociation for sustainable methane hydrate formation. Combinations of low doses of thermodynamic and kinetic promoters facilitated immediate nucleation. Also, high methane uptake was achieved by inducing subsequent growth of methane hydrates. Finally, comparison between CNG technology and hydrate technology revealed that the proposed hydrate-based methane storage technology with small quantity of promoters was advantageous in terms of formation and storage conditions, safety, and environmental friendliness.