Growth kinetics of ethane hydrate from a seawater solution at an ethane gas interface

The growth rate and morphology of discs of natural gas hydrate at an interface between seawater and ethane gas is reported. Ethane hydrate crystals, that has the macroscopic appearance of concentric rings, were nucleated and grown from a seawater solution under a range of supersaturation conditions. The nucleation rate was determined by plotting the increase in the number of observed particles with time. Growth consistently approached a maximum rate, which suggests a diffusion-limited process. The disks eventually agglomerated to completely cover the interface.