Nucleation Mechanisms of CO₂ Hydrate Reflected by Gas Solubility

The concentration of gas has been confirmed as a key factor dominating hydrate nucleation. In this study, CO₂ hydrates were formed in pure water and a sodium dodecyl sulphate (SDS) solution using a temperature reduction method under constant pressure at different temperatures. The dissolving properties of CO₂ throughout the whole induction period were investigated in detail. The experimental results showed that the 'memory effect' of hydrate might not be attributed to residual water structures after hydrate dissociation. Instead, residual gas molecules in the aqueous phase should receive more attention. Hydrate nucleation was confirmed to be a type of chain reaction. Low temperature was a significant factor that promoted hydrate nucleation. As a result, these two factors enhanced the stochastic features of the CO₂ hydrate nucleation reaction. Even under the same conditions, critical gas concentrations beyond the threshold that hydrates can spontaneously nucleate were not fixed, but they still exhibited linear relations regarding a set temperature. Taking the significant influences of temperature into account, a new nucleation mechanism for CO₂ hydrates was established based on the potential of the reaction system. Therefore, this study sheds new light when explaining the reason for the formation of gas hydrates in natural reservoirs.