LAUSR

Surfactants such as sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS), which are used as kinetic hydrate promoters in various hydrate based technological applications, are facing a serious roadblock toward their commercial utilization as a result of the excessive amount of foam generation, particularly during hydrate dissociation. One of the approaches to alleviate this foam formation is the use of various antifoaming agents which may be employed in combination with surfactants. The possibility of using one such antifoaming agent, a silicone based polymeric surfactant, for hydrate based methane storage, has been explored in the current work through a detailed morphological study. Investigations on the morphology of hydrate formation and dissociation reveal the strong antifoaming activity of the silicone based compound and the optimal ratio in which it should be mixed with a surfactant, specifically SDS, in order to effectively alleviate unwanted foam formation. Further, kinetic data reveal that the generally observed kinetic ...