Within the SUGAR project, we developed novel methods to produce methane gas from marine gas hydrate deposits. Our particular focus lies on a production technology that is overall CO2-neutral, i.e., we intend to liberate the CH4 by subjecting the gas hydrate in the sediment matrix to liquid or supercritical CO2.
In the and we studied under which conditions CO2 hydrate formation can mitigate the potential risk of leakage from a sub-marine storage unit by self-sealing of the pathway. In general, CO2 may form gas hydrates already in a water depth of 300 m and a temperature of 5 掳C.
In our high-pressure lab, we investigate the gas hydrate reactions on the molecular and pore scale using Raman spectroscopy & NMR tomography as well as in pressure reactors with volumes of a few litres (NESSI). Experimental data are analyzed by state-of-the-art thermodynamic and transport-reaction modeling to derive process parameters that cannot be measured directly and to devise the future experiments.
