(6iv) Gas Hydrates Research: From Fundamental Science to Engineering Applications

Clathrate hydrates (also known as gas hydrate or hydrates) are solid crystalline structures that trapped small gas molecules (methane, ethane, carbon dioxide, propane, etc). These solid structures form when water molecules create hydrogen bonds network around a gas molecule, thus entrapping the gas inside a cage. Hydrates typically form at high pressure and low temperature (typically higher than ice point temperature). These unique structures have significant impact on various fields including energy recovery, oil/gas transportation as well as separation technology. For example, in energy recovery, it was reported that the amount of energy as natural gas stored inside gas hydrates in nature is twice of that fossil fuels. Similarly, it was reported that separation cost using gas hydrates can be half of that membrane technology at similar capacity. However, gas hydrates technologies are not fully utilized since its nucleation and formation/dissociation kinetics are not well understood.

My research in the gas hydrate began in the area of flow assurance, specifically understanding the rheological properties as well as viscosity prediction of gas hydrate slurries. In the mid of 2000s, there was a paradigm shift in handling gas hydrates in flowlines. In order to reduce the production cost, the industry shifted from complete avoidance strategy where hydrate formation is prevented by injecting large quantities of thermodynamic inhibitors to hydrate management strategy where flowlines are being operated carefully in the presence of hydrate (avoiding hydrate plug). This shift has caused a momentum in research on gas hydrate rheological properties. In my doctoral work, I have proposed a new method in hydrate rheological measurements at high pressure. It was the first systematic measurements that decoupled various variable that affect viscosity measurements. In fact, the work on the relative viscosity model of hydrate slurries was then extended for multiscale modeling of pressure drop of multiphase flowlines. The results of this investigation showed outstanding improvement of pressure drop prediction. My research expertise has also extended to other field of gas hydrate research including the thermodynamic properties of gas hydrates systems and application of gas hydrates for engineering technology. I have performed investigatio of Vapor-Liquid-Solid-Equilibria (VLSE) of systems containing Petroleum Gas Systems. Furthermore, I have also conducted research in hydrate technology. In this project, I designed and evaluated the use of gas hydrates for desalination purpose.

As such, as a future faculty, I would to focus research in tackling the fundamentals science of hydrate nucleation, formation and kinetics. I would like to combine my knowledge and expertise in hydrate thermodynamics, kinetics and transport in promoting gas hydrate technology. An area that I would like to focus on is modeling of hydrate formation and kinetics using Raman spectroscopy and gas chromatography. The knowledge gained in this investigation can promote the hydrate drilling for energy recovery. Furthermore, I believe that gas hydrates have a lot of potential as well as impact in other fields including energy storage, transportation and separation. Therefore, another area that I would like to focus my research is using gas hydrates for water treatment as well as gas separation technology. Additionally, since I started my research in gas hydrates in the field of flow assurance and I have developed a relative viscosity model for hydrate slurries that has better prediction, I would like to continue my research in this area. In this area, I would like to focus my research on using rheological properties of gas hydrates in predicting and modeling the hydrate agglomeration phenomenon. I believe that this is the key in predicting hydrate plugging in flowlines and thus can be used by the industry as an early warning sign for hydrate plug.

Teaching Interests:

Currently, I am active in both courses and research mentorship teaching. For academic courses, I have experienced teaching both undergraduate (~150 students) and graduate (~20 students) level. Thus, I am comfortable teaching in both large and small group settings. From my teaching experience, I believe that it is necessary to use technology in teaching to promote student engagement in the class. Today’s generation is heavily influenced by the technology that is constantly changing. Additionally, I believe that understanding the course materials is more important that high grades. For this reason, as future faculty, I plan to use technology in the classroom every possible way. This helps me as a faculty to obtain real-time response whether the students have understood the materials. By doing this, if the response shows that my students do not understand certain materials or concepts, I can immediately shift my focus to that materials. This will ensure that students will have better understanding of the course materials.

I have experienced teaching in several courses in chemical engineering including Thermodynamics, Separation Processes, and Chemical Reaction Engineering. Based on my experience, I am comfortable in teaching any chemical engineering courses at both graduate and undergraduate levels. However, I prefer to teach course in Transport Phenomenon and Thermodynamics at any level (undergraduate and graduate). I would like to teach this course since it is in line with my field of research. Thus, I can incorporate typical issues occurred by the industry in my classroom. This technique will provide students with a little experience working in the industry. This can certainly promote the students’ interest in chemical engineering field.