19^th International CODATA Conference
Category: Gas Hydrates - Plenary

Gas Hydrates - An Ideal Subject for CODATA Activity in the Information Age

E. Dendy Sloan (esloan@mines.edu), Center for Hydrate Research, Colorado School of Mines, USA
Fedor A. Kuznetsov (fk@che.nsk.su), Siberian Branch, Russian Academy of Sciences, Russia

A review of the history of gas hydrates will be given, with a projection for the future. This work has the following points:

1. Natural gas hydrates impact the following applications: climate change, energy, flow assurance, gas storage, global carbon budget, safety, and seafloor stability.
2. Such far-ranging applications require a Renaissance knowledge, going far beyond the capability of any one person, or group. In the words of Sir Francis Bacon, such a complex subject "requires a dynamic, cooperative, and cumulative undertaking." (Novum Organum, 1620)
3. A database for hydrates is required to enable the cooperative work of such diverse disciplines as chemistry, physics, geology, geophysics, geochemistry, petroleum engineering, and chemical engineering.
4. While it appears that the thermodynamic data and prediction methods are in a satisfactory condition for most applications, data and prediction methods which are much less satisfactory are in geology, geochemistry, and geophysics, as well as in hydrate kinetics.
5. The impact of errors in the above needed data and prediction methods will be given in this presentation.
6. For the last three years, CODATA has funded the awareness of the need for a hydrate database, which has resulted in a series of regional CODATA hydrate meetings in China, India, Japan, North America, Russia, etc.
7. A renewal proposal is currently under consideration by CODATA to extend the above awareness need to the construction of the hydrate database itself.

This presentation indicates the need for a hydrate database to serve seven important societal applications.