Events

Speaker:  Dr. Carolyn A. Koh, William K. Coors Distinguished Chair & Professor in the Chemical & Biological Engineering Department, Colorado School of Mines

Title of Seminar: “Gas Hydrates in Energy Transportation”

Abstract: Gas hydrate blockages can be a major problem during oil and gas production and transportation, mainly because of the fast timescales at which they can form, compared to other flowline solids. Understanding the gas hydrate slurry formation processes and flow properties are important to developing advanced strategies to control gas hydrate formation in subsea flowlines, as well as other technological applications of gas hydrates. The crystal 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, such as reducing the inter-particle interactions. Transient operations of shut-in (several hours without pumping) and restart (resuming pumping) are often very challenging for sustained flow assurance in subsea flowlines. Discussion will be given to the key lessons learned on gas hydrate control strategies for different pipeline conditions during continuous flow and transient operations.

Biography:   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 also the interim co-Director of the Renewable Energy Materials Research Science & Engineering Center (REMRSEC, CSM). She obtained her BSc (hons) 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 the Colorado School of Mines. 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, a member of the Editorial Advisory Board of the ACS J. Chem. Eng. Data, Chair of the US DOE Methane Hydrate Advisory Committee, and served on the US Secretary of Energy Advisory Board, and on the National Academies NRC committee assessing the US DOE National Methane Hydrate Program. She is also an active member of the joint ASME-AIChE Committee on Thermophysical Properties and organized/chaired/co-chaired sessions. She has been elected Chair of the Gordon Research Conferences on Gas Hydrates in 2018 and is 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. Her research is focused on understanding the nucleation, crystallization and inhibition mechanisms and thermophysical properties of natural gas hydrates. She was awarded the Young Scientist Award of the British Association for Crystal Growth, the CSM Outstanding Faculty Member Award, Young Faculty Research Excellence Award (2012), Dean’s Award (2016). She over 160 publications in refereed journals, including Science, Physics Today, J. American Chemical Society, and two books, including Clathrate Hydrates of Natural Gases (the “third edition of a best seller” – quote from CRC Press publishers, co-authored with E.D. Sloan).