Where are Gas Hydrates Found?
Gas hydrates may form wherever water and suitably sized ‘guest’ molecules (e.g. methane, carbon dioxide) exist under suitable (generally) high pressure and low temperature conditions. Figure-1 shows a typical phase diagram for simple gas hydates, in this case methane clathrates. Suitable conditions for gas hydrate formation commonly occur during hydrocarbon production operations, where they are a major flow assurance problem. In the natural enviroment, hydrates may be found and in the sediments of the deep sea continental margins, the subsurface of Arctic permafrost regions, and in deep glacial ice.
