Transporting stranded gas as hydrates

When natural gas is discovered far from a pipeline and when the quantity of gas is insufficient to
justify a liquefaction facility, it may be possible to transport gas by conversion into hydrates. The
concept is that the hydrate concentrates gas by a factor of about 164, without the cost of
compressing and transporting gas at high pressure.
Using hydrates for shipping
In shipping, preservation of hydrated gas is vital to prevent losses. Recent measurements have
shown that only a mild amount of refrigeration (e.g., to 20F) will prevent rapid hydrate
dissociation, with rates that are several orders of magnitude less than values interpolated from
lower or higher temperatures. The cause for this anomalous hydrate self-preservation effect is
most likely uncertain because of an outer ice barrier that prevents inner-particle dissociation. The
ice protective shell happens because the water from the melted hydrate surface, caused by
endothermic hydrate melting, freezes.
Laboratory measurements and calculations indicated that hydrated-gas transportation is
economical for distances that are greater than approximately 400 km. British Gas Ltd. has a pilot
facility to convert gas to hydrate. The J apanese National Marine Research Institute began a
similar project, and there will be further investigation of transportation economics compared to
liquefied natural gas.
A schematic diagram of stranded-gas-hydrate formation, transportation, and dissociation system
is shown in Fig. 1. In the first block, gas and seawater are combined to form hydrates on a
floating production, storage, and offloading (FPSO) vessel. The second block is concerned with
transportation and storage, and the third deals with hydrate dissociation and integration into the
gas distribution system at a port. There are three factors to this approach becoming an economic
process:
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