ESTUDIO DE LA INFLUENCIA DE TENSOACTIVOS EN LA FORMACIÓN DE HIDRATOS

Abstract

In this work a research about the influence of a surfactant on hydrate formation was performed. The study has been divided into two stages. The first one studies hydrate formation into emulsion by Differential Scanning Calorimetry technique (DSC). The second studies the influence of two surfactants have on the induction time during hydrate formation through rheometry. With the first technique the pure compounds which were used to form emulsions were initially characterized. After this, the formulation of stable emulsions was searched with dichloromethane and cyclopentane, so, unstable and stable emulsion thermograms are presented. Furthermore different protocols were designed to detect hydrate formation at atmospheric pressure. The optimal protocol uses temperature ramps and ice presence in the system to accelerate hydrate formation. W/O and O/W testings were done with different surfactants. Results demonstrate that W/O emulsions are more efficient than O/W emulsions because in the first ones most of the water in the feed sample tends to form hydrate and a little amount or nothing forms ice, whereas in O/W emulsions, most of the water tends to form ice. In the second experimental part, rheometry is used to determine tetrahydrofuran hydrate induction time and surfactant influence on hydrate formation. Experiments were performed at temperature lower than the thermodynamic equilibrium. First, THF hydrate homogeneous crystallization is observed and hydrate dissociation temperature is determined. Further, dissociation temperature and hydrate crystallization reproducibility are analyzed. Finally surfactant effects on hydrate formation is studied. The surfactants used are Synperonic