An Innovative High Pressure Mixing Cell for Microcalorimetry: Application to Gas Hydrates.

High pressure differential scanning calorimetry (HP-DSC) is of importance in several fields involving “gas hydrates”, such as oil and gas production, flow assurance, carbon dioxide capture and storage, and refrigeration. Gas hydrates are icelike crystals that contain gas molecules in molecular cavities. To improve classical calorimetric cells used for gas hydrates characterization, we present here our last prototype: a calorimetric cell equipped with an in-situ mechanical agitation system, which allow performing experiments both under pressure and agitated conditions. The m-cell, called MICROMIXCELL®, was developed for micro-calorimetry analysis (experiments carried out using a mDSC7 evo from SETARAM Instrumentation). In this work, thermophysical properties of the cyclopentane hydrate − a “model” clathrate hydrate which forms at atmospheric pressure − were measured. Technical details of the system and results are given and commented. The use of such novel calorimetric mixing cells opens a wide range of possibilities for the analysis of complex fluids, which must be analyzed in both pressurized and agitated conditions.