The Study of Separation of Nitrogen from Methane by Hydrate Formation Using a Novel Apparatus a

The primary motivation for this research is the development of a process for the separation of nitrogen from methane from subspecification natural gas of which there are substantial deposits. However, the fundamental data that are necessary for process development involve information on hydrate formation, melting, and transportation that is currently not available. There are also two additional important areas in which this type of information can be useful. One deals with the problem of controlling hydrate formation in pipelines involved in off-shore natural gas production and transportation where the cost of control of hydrate formation constitutes a substantial expense. The other important problem is the utilization of the vast resource of methane, a clean fuel, in hydrate deposits that have been discovered in recent years amounting to an energy equivalent of more than the total coal and oil reserves of the world.