Gas Hydrate

Name:
Gas Hydrate
Detailed information:
A clathrate compound formed by a gas (either noble or reactive) and water. The compounds are crystalline solids and are insoluble in water. They usually form (only at relatively low temperatures and high pressures) directly by contact of gas and liquid water. From 6 to 18 molecules of water may combine with each molecule of gas, depending on the nature of the gas. The best-known gas hydrates are those of ethane, ethylene, propane, and isobutane. Others include methane and 1-butene, most of the fluorocarbon refrigerant gases, nitrous oxide, acetylene, vinyl chloride, carbon dioxide, methyl and ethyl chloride, methyl and ethyl bromide, cyclopropane, hydrogen sulfide, methyl mercaptan, and sulfur dioxide. Interest in the gas hydrates originated mainly because of the nuisance of such compound formation in gas pipelines. In recent years, propane has been used successfully to precipitate water from salt solution (or seawater), thus yielding potable water.