MASS-TRANSFER OF CO2 THROUGH LIQUID CO2-WATER INTERFACE

An experimental investigation on mass transfer of CO2 through the liqu id CO2-water interface is reported. At high pressures and low temperat ures, water at the liquid CO2-water interface has a quasi-crystalline structure which, locally, may resemble a hydrate crystal element. If t he pressure and temperature of the system fall within the hydrate-form ation region, then hydrate will form rapidly at the interface; in this case, the quasi-crystal becomes a true crystal.. It is found in this study that the interfacial crystallization does not cause a dramatic d ecrease in the rate of mass transfer, and for both cases with and with out an interfacial hydrate layer the overall mass-transfer coefficient s are of order of 10(-7) m s(-1) A mechanism for the interfacial mass- transfer is proposed, which reasonably explains the behavior of the in terfacial hydrate layer. (C) 1998 Published by Elsevier Science Ltd. A ll rights reserved.