The Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering welcomes Dr. Carolyn A. Koh, the William K. Coors Distinguished Chair & Professor of Chemical & Biological Engineering and Director of the Center for Hydrate Research at the Colorado School of Mines (CSM).
Her seminar titled, “Advancing Gas Hydrate Formation and Stability Controls in Energy Applications”, will take place on Thursday, March 7 from 2:00-3:00 PM in 100 Earle Hall.
Natural gas hydrates are crystalline inclusion compounds comprised of a three-dimensional network of hydrogen-bonded water molecules that can trap small gas molecules in the water cavities. The ability to control gas hydrate nucleation and growth processes is important in several energy applications. During the production and transportation of oil/gas in subsea flowlines, gas hydrates can present a major problem forming blockages in the flowline. Conversely, gas hydrate technologies may be developed for energy storage of fuels in gas hydrate crystals, or as an alternative potential energy resource from naturally occurring hydrate deposits. The nucleation and growth processes and inter-particle interactions of gas hydrate crystals on gas bubbles and water droplets in water and oil continuous systems are examined at high pressure and low temperature conditions. Addition of surface-active molecules can be used to modify these processes, e.g. delaying the nucleation and growth processes, and/or reducing the inter-particle interactions. Structure metastability has been observed through spectroscopic and computational studies. Examples of the use of different additives or promoter guest molecules and synthesis conditions are presented for the production of hydrate slurry systems, or stable/metastable clathrate hydrate phases. These studies can help further our knowledge for developing clathrate materials for storage and other technologies.
Carolyn A. Koh is the William K. Coors Distinguished Chair & Professor of Chemical and Biological Engineering and Director of the Center for Hydrate Research at the Colorado School of Mines (CSM). She is the interim co-Director of the Renewable Energy Materials Research Science & Engineering Center (REMRSEC, CSM) and was the interim Department Head of Chemical & Biological Engineering. She obtained her BSc and Ph.D. degrees from University of W. London and postdoctoral training at Cornell University. She was a Reader at King’s College, London University before joining CSM. She has been visiting Professor at Cornell, Penn State and London University. She was a consultant for the Gas Research Institute in Chicago and is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry, Associate Editor of the Society for Petroleum Engineers Journal, Chair of the US DOE Methane Hydrate Advisory Committee, and served on the US Secretary of Energy Advisory Board, and many more. She was elected Chair of the Gordon Research Conference on Gas Hydrates in 2018 and was the Chair of the International Conference on Gas Hydrates (ICGH9) in 2017. She has established internationally recognized gas hydrate research programs over the last two decades at King’s College, University of London and the Colorado School of Mines. She has received several awards, including the Young Scientist Award of the British Association for Crystal Growth, the CSM Young Faculty Research Excellence Award (2012), and Dean’s Award (2016). She has over 170 publications (Google Scholar h-index: 60, citations: 20,095).