Role of salinity in clathrate hydrate based processes

Clathrate or gas hydrates have gained tremendous interest due to their potential applications in various industries and flow assurance problems in the oil and gas sector. In both directions, salinity plays an essential role in controlling the kinetics/thermodynamics of hydrate formation/dissociation. Therefore, it is critical to understand: (i) the exact impact of salts, either as promoters or inhibitors of hydrate formation and their mechanism of action, (ii) exclusion or inclusion of salts from the gas hydrate framework, and (iii) factors determining the effect of salts (e.g., pressure, temperature, type of guest molecules, and hydrate structures). This review gathers the macro and microscopic level literature while incorporating the experimental and molecular dynamic simulations to explain the conflicting views on the effect of salt ions in gas hydrate research. The overall objective of this review is to fill the knowledge gap between experimental and theoretical efforts examining the influence of salt chemistry on hydrate nucleation, growth and dissociation phenomena.