Ep. Van Klaveren et al., Stability of doubly occupied N-2 clathrate hydrates investigated by molecular dynamics simulations, J CHEM PHYS, 114(13), 2001, pp. 5745-5754
Classical molecular dynamics calculations were performed for a structure II
clathrate hydrate with N-2 guest molecules in order to investigate the pos
sibility of double occupancy, i.e., two N-2 molecules inside one large cage
. For all of the pressures, temperatures, and compositions at which the sim
ulations have been performed, the doubly occupied clathrate remained stable
. The structure of the host lattice is indistinguishable from that of a sin
gly occupied clathrate hydrate. The volumes and energies are linearly depen
dent on the filling fraction. The range of values are the same for both the
singly as well as doubly occupied clathrates. In the doubly occupied cages
, the O-N-2 radial distribution function, and therefore the structure in th
e vicinity of the N-2 molecule, is similar to that of the mixed fluid. An e
xtensive investigation of the distances in the cages shows a large similari
ty between singly and doubly occupied clathrates. All these results indicat
e that, upon filling the large cages with pairs of molecules, the stresses
on the host lattice are comparable to those in single occupation. Small cha
nges in the intermolecular interactions do not affect the results. The clat
hrate hydrate destabilizes upon increasing the size of the guest molecules
by more than about 10%. We also find that the clathrate hydrate remains sta
ble when experimental conditions are closely followed, i.e., for partially
doubly occupied clathrates with a pressure dependent filling fraction. The
calculated compressibility is the same as in experiments. (C) 2001 American
Institute of Physics.