M ethane hydrate isn t a familiar term to most, but it is gaining popularity in the energy sector. The fuel of the future may be ice that burns Methane hydrates, a promising natural gas resource, are believed to reside throughout the globe in sea-floor sediments and permafrost. Lorie Langley, who is leading ORNL s Gas Hydrate program for the Fossil Energy Program, believes ORNL can contribute significantly to DOE s and Congress s research agenda.
Gas hydrates are clathrate compounds.
A clathrate is simply a structure in which water molecules under certain conditions bond to form an ice-like cage that encapsulates a gas molecule, known as a guest molecule. When that guest is a methane molecule, you have methane hydrate. Methane hydrates, which form at low temperature and high pressure, are found in sea-floor sediments and the arctic permafrost. The gas hydrates being evaluated by ORNL researchers are methane hydrates and carbon dioxide hydrates. Although some research has been carried out in the past, little is known about the location, formation, decomposition, or actual quantities of methane hydrates.