Evaluation of the Hydrate Workflow Process Time

Abstract

There are stranded gas reserves both on land and offshore Trinidad. Some of the fields produce associated gas which is presently being re-injected. There is need for other economic ways of capturing and transporting natural gas on a small scale especially to other small islands where there exists a Caribbean regional market for natural gas. The gas hydrate concept can be used to capture, store and transport natural gas. The objective of the analysis is to evaluate the time breakdown for the design of an integrated scheme to transport natural gas in hydrate form Trinidad to the Caribbean islands. The study will show the time for each process in the gas hydrate value chain for transportation of 5 MMscf/d of natural gas from Trinidad to Jamaica. The evaluation shows six hours for hydrate formation, 10–20 hours for transportation and 3.6 hours for dissociation.