(181s) Equilibrium Conditions of Hydrate-Forming Pickering Emulsions

Cyclopentane (CP), water, and hydrophobicized silica nanoparticles, when homogenized, form stable water-in-oil (W/O) emulsions. However, there are no available data regarding the phase equilibrium conditions of CP + H₂O hydrates in the presence of nano-particles, which is crucial to developing models with which to accurately predict the formation of hydrates in deep-sea oil pipelines if combined with high-pressure gas hydrate formers (methane, ethane, propane, etc.) such as what occurred during the BP oil spill. In this presentation, the dissociation temperatures of CP + H₂O hydrates at atmospheric pressure (101.325 kPa) will be determined for particle concentrations ranging from (0.5 to 7.5) weight percent of cyclopentane using a Micro-DSC. Emulsion droplet size distribution analyses were performed using an optical microscope. Also, the combined surface-active agent and particle system will be used to understand the equilibrium change from the bulk phase CP hydrates as a model system for hydrate formation in crude oil and gas pipelines.