And they will warm you up and put out the fire

– Nikita, why did you focus on gas hydrates?

“This is an extremely promising topic. We, in particular, are engaged in the research and use of gas hydrates in the energy industry, fire extinguishing technologies, separation of liquids and gases and other areas. Also in our laboratory we create various types of fuels for the energy sector and internal combustion engines. We We are conducting research to study combustion characteristics, atomization and stability."

– What is this, gas hydrate? Do they exist in nature?

"These are crystalline compounds formed under certain thermobaric conditions from water and gas. That is, this is a small piece of ice in which there is gas pumped into it. It can be an inert or flammable gas. Gas hydrates exist in nature, they are located underground or on seabed and, as a rule, interfere with oil and gas production. They are usually formed during the pumping of oil and gas, clogging pipelines.

– Can gas hydrates be used as fuel? They also have natural gas...

“As of today, there are no installations for the use of gas hydrates as a source of fuel. Although there is interest in gas hydrates, since in some cases they can replace liquefied natural gas. It is possible to create a hydrate of flammable gas (for example, methane), transport it to a remote place, force gas comes out of it (this is the so-called dissociation process), after which the gas is supplied and burned in power plants together with low-grade fuels and waste coal and oil enrichment. Such combustion will contribute to the production of energy and the disposal of such waste.

– What other advantages are there?

"Only water is involved in hydrate formation, and all the impurities that are there (for example, water may be oil-contaminated) are separated. A pure hydrate is formed. After it has been transported and forced to dissociate, pure quality water is formed in the reactor, suitable for the operation of thermal equipment . Supplying gas together with steam to the boiler plant helps reduce anthropogenic emissions. Gas separation can also be carried out using hydrates. For example, natural gas has a lot of nitrogen. We make methane hydrate, the nitrogen remains in a gaseous state, after which we can pump it into a cylinder and give it to the consumer, thereby purifying the gas."

Nikita Shlegel, candidate of technical sciences, employee of the laboratory of heat and mass transfer, associate professor at the research school of physics of high-energy processes at Tomsk Polytechnic University. Photo: Andrey Afanasyev.

– What are these fire extinguishing technologies that you mentioned?

“In our laboratory we are developing two devices that will ensure the supply of gas hydrate to the combustion zone. The first device is a self-triggering hydrate fire extinguisher. The hydrate is placed in a vessel, due to the heating of the vessel, dissociation occurs, pressure increases, after which a small explosion occurs and the blast wave blows away the flame , while the hydrate itself enters the fireplace, and the inert gas displaces the oxidizer from the combustion zone. Thus, combustion is no longer maintained and the temperature decreases. The second device is a stationary fire extinguisher
There's a double effect here. We all know that water has a high heat capacity, and this allows us to take the temperature from the object and use it for the vaporization process. What happens here is this: ice enters, which melts, after which the water must heat up and evaporate. The effect is that the temperature from the combustion center can be taken away much more and it can be reduced more effectively
We also make gas hydrates with the addition of surfactants, which allow the formation of a foam cap after their dissociation. The oxidizing agent - oxygen - was forced out of the combustion zone, and due to the fact that there is a surfactant there, the foam prevents the new oxidizing agent from getting there.

– Does this apply only to domestic fires, or is this the way to extinguish forest fires, which have become a real disaster for Siberia?

“For now, this concerns domestic fires. Forest fires are a topic that we will study in the future, but for now it is difficult to apply our technologies here. The consumption of gas hydrates is completely different here, and therefore we are already starting to design and create installations that will allow us to collect gas hydrates from flue gases when burning fuels based on waste and hydrates. For example, methane hydrate was brought to the station, burned together with coal and oil mining waste, flue gases were obtained and carbon dioxide hydrate was created from them.

– Is it good to burn methane?

“The advantage here is that it is quite easy to set it on fire, and to combat pollution of the territory, we have installations where we simulate the process of gas hydrate combustion and feed coal enrichment waste into the combustion torch. In Kuzbass, they occupy vast territories. Oil production waste is also suitable. When we burn all this, we get flue gases that contain carbon dioxide and other inert gases. We feed them into the reactor, make a hydrate, which is used for fire extinguishing. I think in the future we will consider both forest fires and burning wells. We are currently developing a fire extinguisher based on gas hydrates.

– A regular fire extinguisher that can be hung anywhere?

“You can’t hang it anywhere yet - you need the temperature to be from zero to plus two degrees. A hydrate is pumped into it, which is in an equilibrium state, and below it there is water. After pressing the handle of the fire extinguisher, the membrane opens, instant dissociation occurs, and a water-ice foam mixture with an inert gas flies out of the fire extinguisher, which blocks the fire.

– What gases do you use?

“We use methane, propane, carbon dioxide, CFCs and are now starting to move to natural gas.

– Do you create all your installations yourself?

“Yes, with our own hands. The first installation, which we are currently working on, simulates the process of burning gas hydrate together with liquid fuels. The second allows us to burn gas hydrate directly in flight, that is, we can study the combustion process in free fall. The third installation simulates a boiler, into which gas and coal enrichment waste are supplied. We also have reactors for creating gas hydrates. Now there are two reactors - one small and the other large, capable of producing up to 400 grams of substance. This process takes 30-40 minutes. Now we have designed a huge reactor, which will allow you to do up to 20 kg in 15-30 minutes."

Research reactor for creating gas hydrates. Photo: Andrey Afanasyev.

– The idea of taking from nature what is in the way and making something useful is wonderful. What opportunities might open up here in the future?

“The main opportunities here are related to the fact that we can deliver gas to those areas where it could not reach before. We can use this gas to heat cottage villages, some important strategic objects, polar stations, and hard-to-reach areas. We use waste flue gases We can use them for recovery, and not just throw them into the atmosphere, and create a fire-extinguishing hydrate from them, which will wait in the wings."