Abstract:
With the increasing depth of coal mining, coal and gas outburst accidents occur from time to time, making it imperative to adopt effective measures to eliminate such disasters. Gas hydrate solidification technology can effectively reduce gas content and pressure in coal seams, thereby mitigating the risk of potential outburst hazards. Amino acids, as a class of highly efficient kinetic promoters for hydrate formation, offer advantages such as low cost, environmental friendliness, and foam-free solutions, providing valuable insights for the application of gas hydrate solidification in outburst prevention in deep coal seams. In this study, kinetic experiments on gas hydrate formation in coal-containing systems were conducted with different mass fractions of L-tryptophan (0.025%, 0.05%, and 0.075%). The optimal mass fraction of L-tryptophan was identified as 0.075% and was combined with cyclopentane (CP-5.56%) to investigate the kinetics of gas hydrate formation in coal-containing systems. The results demonstrate that in systems with various particle sizes, the 0.075% L-tryptophan solution exhibited superior performance in terms of
RN,30,
t90, and overall growth rate compared to the 0.025% and 0.05% L-tryptophan solutions. After combining the 0.075% L-tryptophan solution with 5.56% cyclopentane, the induction time of the hybrid system was shorter than that of other systems, significantly reducing the induction time for gas hydrate formation and increasing the gas hydrate formation rate by 89.6%, 87.8%, 85.0% and 79.2%, respectively. Morphological analysis of the hydrate formation process revealed that larger coal particle sizes resulted in greater amounts of hydrate formed within the coal matrix. In all systems, the hydrate formation rate initially increased and then decreased, substantially shortening the gas hydrate formation process. This study offers a promising new approach for the application of gas hydrate solidification technology in outburst prevention in deep coal seams.