BOOK REVIEWS

Clathrate Hydrates of Natural GasesE. Dendy Sloan, JrMarcel Dekker, 1998754 pp, $195ISBN 0 8247 9937 2

Reviewed by Adrian Todd (Heriot-Watt University, UK)

The importance of hydrates in natural gas was ® rstencountered when in 1934 they were discovered inpipelines. Since that time the oil and gas productionindustry has been very sensitive to the hazards associatedwith the formation of these solid materials, and haveconcentrated efforts in their prevention. Over the lastdecade, interest in these hydrates has accelerated and awider community of practitioners are now focusing effortson these fascinating materials. Whereas in earlier yearsit was the gas producing community who were concernedwith these materials from a hazard perspective, morerecently their impact on oil production in sub seaenvironments has broadened the concern. This has stimu-lated new focus for attention, for example, the importanceof salts and issues on the kinetics of formation. Newdimensions now bring an even broader community ofinterest as natural hydrates are examined by the geologicalcommunity from their presence as a large hydrocarbonresource and as a reason for movement in geologicalstructures. Hydrates focusing at sea bed conditions hasadded a further dimension and also the use of hydrateformation as a means of disposing of CO2 as a solid fromenvironmental perspectives. The latest dimension of theapplication of hydrate technology is as a means of storingand transportation of natural gas. Dendy Sloan and his teamat Colorado School of Mines have been long recognized asmajor contributors in this topic and for his enthusiastic openapproach to this subject. His recently published mono-graph on the topic of Clathrates of Hydrates, I wouldsuggest, is now an essential resource for engineers andresearchers in this topic.

This second edition of an earlier book published in 1988recognizes the wide perspective of readers from theengineers seeking to implement process design in oil andgas transmission and production to the researchers seekingto understand the design of inhibitor treatments. This newcomprehensive text is written to suit such a wide readershipand the author in his introduction provides suggestedpathways for consulting the book from both an engineeringand researcher perspective.

Sloan’s prime objective is `to update the thread of logiclinking more than sixty years of concepts regarding hydratesin natural gas’ . He comments `the modern increasedunderstanding of these components can provide a freshperspective of past theories and data. It is hoped that suchan exercise will yield new insights for the reader and author

and that direction might be suggested for future researchand practical implications’. Characteristic of the man,Dendy throughout his text generously acknowledges thecontributions made by others in this area. Such an approachis very refreshing when so many authors use such texts topromote their own work.

His ® rst chapter gives an overview and historicalperspective of the subject, building natural hydrates andenvironmental aspects. His comprehensive second chapteron hydrates structure includes contributions on a newstructure H reported in 1987, and expands on the ability ofthese various structures to accommodate various guestmolecules.

The kinetics of hydrate formation are at the heart ofhydrate formation and prevention and Chapter 3 providesa comprehensive review of this topic covering thecontributions of many researchers. The fourth chapter onPhased Equilibrium provides a very useful reference forthe engineer and forms an understanding basis for theresearchers seeking a more comprehensive review. Chapter5 is targeted at the research community and provides anextensive examination of the statistical thermodynamicapproach.

The value of Chapter 6 cannot be underrated. In the ® eldof hydrates there has been an explosion of experimentalactivity and this has been the physical foundation andcorrection of theories. This chapter covers one hundredand sixty-six pages, and includes experimental proceduresand results. There are 190 tables of results covering arange of components which provide a very valuable datasetfor investigators in this ® eld. It demonstrates the results ofa very laborious data collection exercise.

Chapter 7 moves to a new dimension in relation tohydrates in the earth and comments on a signi® cantcontribution of Russian authors and is a very usefulreview for those in the potential exploitation of suchhydrocarbon reserves. Chapter 8 is a very practical reviewand its purpose is to consider the application of some ofthe earlier chapters to hydrate formation in hydrocarbonproduction transportation and processing. The principlesof prevention and dissolution are applied to thespecial case of pipelines, a common and expensiveconcern. Hydrate consideration in well drilling are alsocovered.

The book concludes with a bonus. It includes a PC-baseddisc of computer programmes developed by the author andthe appendix acts as a manual to these programmes.

This text is an essential reference for anyone workingin the subject of hydrates and although costing $195,this is small compared to the cost of consulting suchexperts in this specialized topic. I consider that the wealthof information contained will be useful for a number ofyears, until perhaps the next edition appears in ten yearstime!

Trans IChemE, Vol 76, Part A, July 1998

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