Jeong-Hoon Sa

Hydrophobic amino acids as a new class of kinetic inhibitors for gas hydrate formation.

As the foundation of energy industry moves towards gas, flow assurance technology preventing pipelines from hydrate blockages becomes increasingly significant. However, the principle of hydrate inhibition is still poorly understood. Here, we examined natural hydrophobic amino acids as novel kinetic hydrate inhibitors (KHIs), and investigated hydrate inhibition phenomena by using them as a model system. Amino acids with lower hydrophobicity were found to be better KHIs to delay nucleation and retard growth, working by disrupting the water hydrogen bond network, while those with higher hydrophobicity strengthened the local water structure. It was found that perturbation of the water structure around KHIs plays a critical role in hydrate inhibition. This suggestion of a new class of KHIs will aid development of KHIs with enhanced biodegradability, and the present findings will accelerate the improved control of hydrate formation for natural gas exploitation and the utilization of hydrates as next-generation gas capture media.

Amino Acids as Natural Inhibitors for Hydrate Formation in CO2 Sequestration

The motivation for this work was the potential of hydrophobic amino acids such as glycine, l-alanine, and l-valine to be applied as thermodynamic hydrate inhibitors (THIs). To confirm their capabilities in inhibiting the formation of gas hydrates, three-phase (liquid-hydrate-vapor) equilibrium conditions for carbon dioxide hydrate formation in the presence of 0.1-3.0 mol % amino acid solutions were determined in the range of 273.05-281.45 K and 14.1-35.2 bar. From quantitative analyses, the inhibiting effects of the amino acids (on a mole concentration basis) decreased in the following order: l-valine > l-alanine > glycine. The application of amino acids as THIs has several potential advantages over conventional methods. First, the environmentally friendly nature of amino acids as compared to conventional inhibitors means that damage to ecological systems and the environment could be minimized. Second, the loss of amino acids in recovery process would be considerably reduced because amino acids are nonvolatile. Third, amino acids have great potential as a model system in which to investigate the inhibition mechanism on the molecular level, since the structure and chemical properties of amino acids are well understood.

Gas hydrate inhibition by perturbation of liquid water structure

Natural gas hydrates are icy crystalline materials that contain hydrocarbons, which are the primary energy source for this civilization. The abundance of naturally occurring gas hydrates leads to a growing interest in exploitation. Despite their potential as energy resources and in industrial applications, there is insufficient understanding of hydrate kinetics, which hinders the utilization of these invaluable resources. Perturbation of liquid water structure by solutes has been proposed to be a key process in hydrate inhibition, but this hypothesis remains unproven. Here, we report the direct observation of the perturbation of the liquid water structure induced by amino acids using polarized Raman spectroscopy, and its influence on gas hydrate nucleation and growth kinetics. Amino acids with hydrophilic and/or electrically charged side chains disrupted the water structure and thus provided effective hydrate inhibition. The strong correlation between the extent of perturbation by amino acids and their inhibition performance constitutes convincing evidence for the perturbation inhibition mechanism. The present findings bring the practical applications of gas hydrates significantly closer, and provide a new perspective on the freezing and melting phenomena of naturally occurring gas hydrates.

Inhibition of methane and natural gas hydrate formation by altering the structure of water with amino acids.

Natural gas hydrates are solid hydrogen-bonded water crystals containing small molecular gases. The amount of natural gas stored as hydrates in permafrost and ocean sediments is twice that of all other fossil fuels combined. However, hydrate blockages also hinder oil/gas pipeline transportation, and, despite their huge potential as energy sources, our insufficient understanding of hydrates has limited their extraction. Here, we report how the presence of amino acids in water induces changes in its structure and thus interrupts the formation of methane and natural gas hydrates. The perturbation of the structure of water by amino acids and the resulting selective inhibition of hydrate cage formation were observed directly. A strong correlation was found between the inhibition efficiencies of amino acids and their physicochemical properties, which demonstrates the importance of their direct interactions with water and the resulting dissolution environment. The inhibition of methane and natural gas hydrate formation by amino acids has the potential to be highly beneficial in practical applications such as hydrate exploitation, oil/gas transportation, and flow assurance. Further, the interactions between amino acids and water are essential to the equilibria and dynamics of many physical, chemical, biological, and environmental processes.

Improving the tensile strength of carbon nanotube yarn via one-step double [2+1] cycloadditions

The tensile strength of a CNT yarn was improved through simple one-step double [2+1] cycloaddition reactions that crosslinked the constituent CNTs using a polyethylene glycol (PEG)-diazide crosslinker. The FT-IR spectrum confirmed that the azide groups in the PEG-diazide were converted into aziridine rings, indicating that the cycloaddition reaction was successful. The generation of crosslinked CNTs was also supported by the observation of N1s peak in the XPS spectrum and the increased thermal stability of the material, as observed by TGA. The tensile strength of the CNT yarn was increased from 0.2GPa to 1.4GPa after the crosslinking reaction when twisted at 4000 twists/ meter. The appropriate selection of the crosslinker may further optimize the CNT yarn crosslinking reaction. The simplicity of this one-step crosslinking reaction provides an economical approach to the mass production of high-strength CNT yarns.