BENZENE CAN FORM GAS HYDRATES

Benzene has only recently been recognised as a potential gas hydrate former by considering its van der Waals' diameter. The formation of benzene hydrates and its modelling are reported for the first time in this communication. Dissociation pressures of methane/benzene gas hydrates have been measured at four different feed compositions over a temperature range of 275-288 K. Four phase (L1-L2-H-V) equilibrium calculations have been used for modelling hydrate dissociation pressure. The Valderrama modification of Patel and Teja equation of state (VPT EoS) with a non-density dependent mixing rule is adapted for all fluid phases, with benzene-water BIPs (Binary Interaction Parameters) from matching the mutual solubility of benzene and water at atmospheric pressure. The hydrate phase is modelled using the ideal solid solution theory, with the Kihara parameters for benzene optimised by matching two sets of methane/benzene experimental dissociation pressure data. The other two sets of data were used for validation of the model and very good agreement with experimental data is demonstrated.