Grants and Contributions:

Grant or Award spanning more than one fiscal year. (2017-2018 to 2018-2019)

This proposal aims to further advance a novel process for the separation of gas mixtures of interest in cleanx000D
technology area. The process is based on gas hydrate crystallization. Gas mixtures of interest are thosex000D
containing carbon dioxide and hydrogen. These gases are products of gasification and shift reactions and theirx000D
separation provides hydrogen (a clean fuel) and also serves to capture carbon dioxide. Another area ofx000D
application is in flue gas mixtures (products of the combustion of fossil fuels). The key technical idea is thex000D
fact that when clathrate hydrates form from a gas mixture such as CO2/H2 or CO2/N2 the clathrate phase isx000D
enriched with CO2 and thus, the crystallization serves as a separation stage. This concept has been proven inx000D
the laboratory at UBC using small (less than 1 L) crystallizers. In addition the concept has been proven byx000D
similar scale equipment in other laboratories around the world. Recently, we have developed a unique benchx000D
scale unit at UBC that consists of two 10 L high pressure crstallizers that can operate in an alternating hydratex000D
formation/dissociation mode. The goal of the proposed project is to engage with experts from the processx000D
development industry in order to conduct a set of kinetic experiments to obtain information about he timex000D
dependence of the formation and decomposition rates in the presence of specific additives which reduce thex000D
process pressure and thus the process economics (demanding less compression). The additives to be consideredx000D
are: tetra-n-butyl ammonium bromide (TBAB); tetra-n-butyl ammonium fluoride (TBAF); and tetra-n-butylx000D
ammonium nitrate (TBANO3). While the use of these additives reduces the pressure requirements thex000D
drawback is that they are expected to decrease the kinetics of the process. The proposed work will elucidate thex000D
impact of the additives on the dynamics of the process using the new UBC apparatus. The data will providex000D
critical information for the assessment of the feasibility of the separation process for further development.