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Home » Faculty » Carolyn A. Koh

Contact Info

425 Alderson Hall
Chemical and Biological Engineering Department
Colorado School of Mines
Golden, CO 80401
Office: (303) 273-3237
FAX: (303) 273-3730
ckoh@mines.edu

Research Group

Center for Hydrate Research

Dr. Sergey Skiba: PhD Siberian Branch of Russian Academy of Science
Dr. David Baker: PhD North Carolina State U.
Dr. Sonny Sachdeva: PhD Indian Institute of Tech., Kanpur, India
Martin Braniff: Visiting scholar, Heriot-Watt U., U.K.
Zach Aman:
Colorado School of Mines
Sanjeev Joshi: U. Institute of Chemical Technology, Mumbai India
Patrick Lafond: Virginia Tech.
Masika Pascall: U. of the West Indies, St. Augustine
Ishan Rao: U. Institute of Chemical Technology, Mumbai India
Matt Walsh: Colorado School of Mines
Giovanny Grasso: Universidad de los Andes, Merida, Venezuela
Zach Ward: Colorado School of Mines
Hongfei Xu: Tianjin U., China
Eric Webb: Virginia Tech.
Luis Zerpa: U. of Zulia
Matt Gilmer: Undergraduate
Nathan Welch: Undergraduate

Honors and Awards

Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry
Young Scientist Award and Medal of the British Association for Crystal Growth
Visiting Professor appointments have been held at Cornell University, Penn State University, London University
National Academies, National Research Council Committee Member on Methane Hydrates

Carolyn Koh

Carolyn A. Koh

Professor

BSc (First Class Hons.), PhD - University of W. London, U.K.
Post-Doctoral Study - Cornell University
Experience Abroad - Reader, King’s College, University of London, U.K.

Research Description

Natural gas hydrates are crystalline inclusion compounds, which are capable of hosting small molecules inside the cages of a hydrogen-bonded water framework. Hydrates of natural gas present a potential hazard to the oil and gas industries when they form in subsea oil/gas flowlines. On the other hand, they also have technological importance in energy recovery, transportation and storage. We have recently demonstrated (Science 2004) that hydrogen molecules can be stored in binary H2/THF (tetrahydrofuran) clathrate hydrates at pressures nearly two orders of magnitude lower than that in pure hydrogen hydrates. This decreased pressure makes binary clathrate hydrates a potentially feasible hydrogen storage material, with a unique combination of advantages not found in any other class of materials.

The ultimate goal of our research is to advance our understanding of the nucleation, crystallization, and agglomeration mechanisms for natural gas hydrates. The results will have immediate relevance to flow assurance in gas/oil flowlines, and energy transportation and storage. Specifically we are aiming to (a) develop molecular-scale models of the aqueous structures which occur in solution immediately prior to and during the growth of gas hydrates, (b) investigate the effects of inhibitor and promoter molecules on these local structures, and, (c) using these data, identify possible pathways which may occur in the process of hydrate formation. This program combines microscopic (vibrational spectroscopy and neutron diffraction coupled to computer simulations) and macroscopic measurements (differential scanning calorimetry) to provide mechanistic information on hydrate nucleation, growth, and decomposition. The different methods help assure correct interpretation of the measurements and provide a solid foundation for accurate model development.

selected Publications

Sloan, E.D. and Koh, C.A., “Clathrate Hydrates of Natural Gases”, 3rd Edition, Taylor & Francis/CRC Press (2008) – “3rd Edition of a Bestseller” quoted from CRC Press Publishers (720 pages in Length).

M. R. Walsh, C. A. Koh, E. D. Sloan, A. K. Sum, and D. T. Wu, "Microsecond Simulation of Spontaneous Methane Hydrate Nucleation and Growth," Science, 326 (5956), 1095-1098 (2009). [doi: 10.1126/science.1174010]

Strobel, T. A.; Sloan, E. D.; Koh, C. A., "Raman spectroscopic studies of hydrogen clathrate hydrates",   Journal of Chemical Physics, 2009, 130 (1), 10. [doi: 10.1063/1.3046678]

T. Sugahara, J. C. Haag, P. S. R. Prasad, A. A. Warntjes, E. D. Sloan, A. K. Sum, and C. A. Koh, "Increasing Hydrogen Storage Capacity Using Tetrahydrofuran," Journal of the American Chemical Society, 131 (41), 14616-14617 (2009). [doi: 10.1021/ja905819z]

Koh, C. A.; Sum, A. K.; Sloan, E. D., “Gas Hydrates: Unlocking the Energy from Icy Cages”, Journal of Applied Physics, 2009, 106 (6), 061101. [doi: 10.1063/1.3216463] [Cover Page]

L.J. Florusse, C.J. Peters, J. Schoonman, K.C. Hester, C.A. Koh, S.F. Dec, K. Marsh, E.D. Sloan, “Molecular Clusters of H2 Stored in Binary Clathrate Hydrates at Near Ambient T & P”. Science, 2004, 306, 469-471. [DOI: 10.1126/science.1102076]

 

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