Computational models and methods to study the dynamics of gas hydrates

The objective of the project is to gain a better understanding of the conditions under which gas hydrates exist in oil and gas pipes. The project aims to design and apply molecular dynamics techniques to study the creation and dissociation of such hydrate s. The molecular dynamics simulations will extend our knowledge and provide us insight where laboratory experiments are insufficient. A number of model problems are defined to test and validate the developed methods. Initially, the project will test the methods on three gas hydrate crystal structures (SI, SII, and SH). The project combines molecular dynamics, computational physics, petroleum research, and high performance scientific computing, thereby enabling challenging cross-disciplinary research at the intersection of these activities. Furthermore, the project will be an important instrument to transfer knowledge between research groups at the Universities of Bergen and Stavanger, thereby bridging the gap between scientific computing and experiment ation.