E. Dendy Sloan, Jr.
University Professor Emeritus
Research Description
Much of the natural gas supplies in the world will be found in offshore and permafrost environments such as the North Sea, the Arctic Oceans, Siberia, and the deep-water (3000 to 10,000 ft) Gulf of Mexico. The efficient exploration, production, and processing of that gas will involve high-pressure phase equilibrium data which are not currently available. Since deep-water and permafrost temperatures are very cold, it is vital to have phase equilibria and kinetics knowledge of solids such as ice and natural gas hydrates. These crystalline solids tend to plug flow channels and produce severe hindrances to deep-water gas recovery.
We have recently discovered that there is a tremendous quantity of biogenic natural gas which has been concentrated in hydrates through decomposition of oceanic plant and animal matter. The total carbon available as conventional energy in the carbon cycle is about 5 E 15 kilograms; there is twice as much energy available from hydrated gas reserves. New technology will be required to recover it, however, because one of the primary gases encapsulated is methane (a greenhouse gas). The large natural masses of hydrate have caused environmental concern as well.
We have established a Center for Hydrate Research which comprises an interdisciplinary team of about 20 persons, including Professor Wada of Physics, Professors Harrison, Wendlandt, and Curtis of Geology, and Dr. Burruss and Mr. Collet of the U.S. Geological Survey.
selected Publications
“Microsecond Simulations of Spontaneous Methane Hydrate Nucleation and Growth“, Walsh, M.R., Koh, C.A., Sloan, E.D., Sum, A.K., Wu, D.T., Science, 2009, 326, 1095-1098. [doi: 10.1126/science.1174010]
"Raman spectroscopic studies of hydrogen clathrate hydrates", Strobel, T. A.; Sloan, E. D.; Koh, C. A., Journal of Chemical Physics, 2009, 130 (1), 10. [doi: 10.1063/1.3046678]
“Increasing Hydrogen Storage Capacity Using Tetrahydrofuran”, Sugahara, T., Haag, J.C., Prasad, P.S.R., Warntjes, A.A., Sloan, E.D., Sum, A.K., Koh, C.A., Journal of the American Chemical Society, 2009, 131 (42), 11311-11315. [doi: 10.1021/jp906492j]
“Gas Hydrates: Unlocking the Energy from Icy Cages”, Koh, C. A.; Sum, A. K.; Sloan, E. D., Journal of Applied Physics, 2009, 106 (6), 061101. [doi: 10.1063/1.3216463] [Cover Page]
"Properties of the clathrates of hydrogen and developments in their applicability for hydrogen storage", Strobel, T. A.; Hester, K. C.; Koh, C. A.; Sum, A. K.; Sloan, E. D., Chemical Physics Letters, 2009, 478 (4-6), 97-109. [doi: 10.1016/j.cplett.2009.07.030] [Cover Page]