The Role of Surfactants in Gas Hydrate Management

This chapter provides an introductory understanding of the role of surfactants in the formation of gas hydrates. The main theories that have been developed over the past decades are discussed with support from computational aspects that have become increasingly useful in this regard. Particularly for surfactants, the structure-property relations are key in the full understanding of their behavior in the context of hydrate formation kinetics and equilibria, which are presented with evidence from various studies. Furthermore, surfactants can benefit from co-promoters that may be utilized in hydrate formation, so we present some details to highlight the importance of their interactions. More recently, bio-based surfactants have gained interest out of environmental concerns, and we showcase some of the most interesting cases of their implementation. Although there have been many examples of how gas hydrates can be used for cold storage, hydrogen storage, and other industrial applications, the usage of surfactants or other additives has not been well supported with clear fundamental understandings. Thus, there have been endeavors to gain these insights via computational tools that span different scales, like quantum mechanics and molecular dynamic simulations. The use of these tools is explained with examples. Combining all these different aspects, we hope to provide some understanding of the role of surfactants in current and emerging hydrate management technologies.