Formation and Decomposition of Methane Hydrate Using Silica Sand

The formation of methane hydrate (CH4 hydrate) in silica sand and decomposition experiments were performed at 7.0 ℃ using a newly designed reactor. Temperature profile within silica sand bed was measured by thermocouples installed at differ- ent height of reactor. Both temperature and pressure are the main parameters for the formation (measured by adsorption ex- periment) and decomposition (measured by desorption experiment) of methane hydrate. Experiment of methane hydrate for- mation at 8 MPa and 7.0 ℃ showed that 70% of methane was converted to hydrate and the recovery of methane by the decomposition of methane hydrate was 82%.