Critique of “Dissolution of CO2 droplets in the ocean” by H. Teng and A. Yamasaki, Energy—The International Journal, 1997, 22, 751

In a recent paper published in this journal, Teng and Yamasaki presented an analysis of mass transfer from CO2 droplets in Stokes flow of water for direct ocean disposal of CO2 . Comparing the results of the analysis and some relevant experimental observations reported by other research groups, they developed a unique view of the mechanism of dissolution of CO2 into water from hydrate-covered or hydrate-free liquid-CO2 droplets. We find a significant inconsistency between Teng and Yamasakiʹs view of the CO2-dissolution mechanism and our general notion of interphase mass transfer, and we believe that the existing experimental observations can be explained in terms of the latter by incorporating the assumption of local equilibrium (no supersaturation) at each phase boundary.