Gas hydrate is a novel cool-storage medium. However

its engineering application is impeded by its long induction time for crystallization

large super-cooling requirement

and poor growth rate. A homogeneous nucleation method was used to investigate the effect of promoters on the growth rate during the growth period. Samples prepared using 0.1% (w/v) sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS)

sodium dodecylbenzenesulfonate (SDBS)

perfluoroalkyl ether alcohol ammonium anion Intechem-01 (FC-01)

tetrabutylammonium bromide (TBAB)

and tetrahydrofuran (THF) and a blank sample were kept in water bath at 3 ?C to observe the HCFC-141b hydrate growth rate. The experimental results show that thermodynamic promoters TBAB and THF displayed little influence on the growth rate of the hydrate

but the kinetic promoters—surfactants SDS

SDBS

and FC-01—exhibited considerable promotion of the hydrate growth rate

and FC-01 played the best role. By analyzing the droplet size using Malvrern Zetasizer

the results show that the dispersion and stability of the FC-01 sample was the best at an average droplet size of approximately 350 nm

which provided further proof that a kinetic promoter with outstanding dispersion and stability can exponentially enhance the growth rate of hydrates.