Carbon Dioxide Clathrate Hydrate Formation and Mass Balance Calculation: A Laboratory Experiment

Clathrate hydrates are attractive materials for education because they form from water and familiar compounds, such as carbon dioxide, and are relevant to novel technologies. In this study, an attempt to propose a laboratory experiment was summarized, which used carbon dioxide clathrate hydrate as an educational material with carbon capture technologies as the background of the experiment. The experiment was provided from October 2020 to August 2022 in the "Laboratory Experiments in Energy and Environment Engineering" class for second- and third-year undergraduate students. A total of 90 students, divided into 14 groups and 28 subgroups, performed the experiment. The carbon dioxide clathrate hydrate was formed under low-temperature and high-pressure conditions. Based on the measured temperature and pressure conditions, the amount of formed carbon dioxide clathrate hydrate was calculated as exercise problems. In addition to the exercise problems, the students submitted a report describing the experiments and related discussions. 92% of the students passed the required score to earn the credit for the class. The average score for those who passed the class was 84%. The educational effect was discussed based on the content of the exercise problems and reports. A stirring device to enhance the clathrate hydrate formation was designed and constructed by two students enrolled in "Project Management Practice" for fourth-year undergraduate students. They obtained a 100% score because they successfully constructed the device based on a project management method. The device was used in a laboratory experiment.