CLATHRATE HYDRATE FORMATION AT THE INTERFACE BETWEEN LIQUID CO2 AND WATER PHASES - A REVIEW OF RIVAL MODELS CHARACTERIZING HYDRATE FILMS

The clathrate hydrate formation at the interface between liquefied car bon dioxide (CO2) and liquid water is one of the key processes in the course of direct CO2 disposal into deep seas-an option to mitigate the emission of CO2 into the atmosphere. Eight different models have been proposed so far on the formation and metabolic self-preservation of a hydrate him at the interface and also the mass transfer of CO2 across the hydrate film. This paper reviews those rival models one by one an d illustrates how they are discrepant. Each model is critically examin ed, and if any, its weakness in physical reality or mathematical formu lation is pointed out. The slate of the art of hydrate-film modeling t hus revealed suggests the necessity of more careful consulting of pert inent experimental observations to establish our physical view about h ydrate films, which should serve as the base of any further work on hy drate-film modeling. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserve d.