An in-situ MRI method for quantifying temperature change of hydrate
growth in a porous medium
Abstract
The intricacy of the thermo-hydro-chemically coupled process of hydrate
phase transition requires real-time in-situ observations, therefore,
thermometry maps are of particular value to reveal the heat transfer
process during crystal growth and dissociation. By using the temperature
dependence of water proton chemical shift, the temporally- and
spatially-resolved thermometry of tetrahydrofuran hydrate growths is
presented in this study. Images of temperature changes were
synchronously obtained by a 9.4 T 1H Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI)
system, in order to predict the saturation of aqueous solution, solid
hydrate phases, and the positive temperature anomaly of exothermic
reaction. Variations of MRI signal decrease and histories of temperature
rise differ significantly in space and time, which have a great use for
analyzing the physical micro-mechanism and the heat transfer process of
hydrate growth. The extension of these predicted results could have
important implications for optimizing the phase transition process of
gas hydrates.