Shulou(Shulou.com)11/24 Report--

We live in a watery world where water can be found everywhere. A potato contains 80% water, a cow contains 74% water, and tomatoes, grapes and oranges are 90% water.

Water has a lot of strange tempers. Most liquids are compressed unexpectedly, but water expands when it freezes at zero degrees, increasing its original volume by 10%, which is why the ice floats on the surface.

People may not notice that this "strange temper" of water is an important condition to ensure the formation and continuation of life on Earth. Because if this is not the case, the ice will sink, the lakes and oceans will freeze from the bottom, the ice cover will be lost above, and the heat of the water will continue to lose, forming more ice, and before long, the whole ocean will become ice. such conditions can not give birth to life, even if there is the reproduction of life on Earth, it will not be like this, the history of life on Earth will be completely rewritten, and naturally it will not be where we are today.

Figure source: pexls water molecule also has a strange characteristic, it is composed of a larger oxygen atom and two small hydrogen atoms, in which the "Big Brother oxygen" not only grabs the two "hydrogen brothers", but also likes to catch the "hydrogen brothers" among other water molecules, even constantly exchanging partners like dancing, even billions of times per second.

On the surface, a cup of calm water, but the world inside is lively, precisely because there is a kind of affinity exchange between water molecules, they stick together to form small water droplets, flakes and trickles, as large as puddles, lakes and oceans, without being separated. Another unexpected result of the adhesion of water molecules to each other is the emergence of "hydrate".

A strange hydrate can be formed by the combination of several water molecules. Magically, water molecules glue together to form a skeleton, build a cage, and then capture other substances, such as hydrocarbon methane, into the cage, as shown in the image below.

Although there is no real chemical bond between the two molecules and cannot be called a compound, the substance is very stable and is called combustible ice. Combustible ice, which looks like ice, is formed by the extrusion of many hydrates. Because its generating condition is not under the normal condition, it is difficult for people to see it in daily life.

Combustible ice in the early 19th century, while studying chlorine, two British chemists accidentally discovered that when chlorine molecules were surrounded by ice, they could form a very special substance, which they named chlorine hydrate. From then on, chlorine hydrate was discovered. In the 1930s, a strange ice was found in the natural gas pipeline. at first, the ice was a headache for natural gas companies, and when dehydrating natural gas, they had to add some technical facilities. remove the ice so as not to block the gas pipeline.

But it was this ice called a nuisance of natural gas companies that could survive on the ocean floor, and it was not until the 1960s that it was realized that it was a hydrate formed by natural gas and water at high pressure and low temperature. Its appearance is like ice, but also like solid alcohol, ignition can burn, it is called "combustible ice".

Combustible ice is formed under high pressure and low temperature, and its structure is stable. It is generally hidden in the sediments of the sea floor of 300 to 3000 meters, or in the depths of the permafrost at high latitudes. Once the oil and natural gas resources are exhausted, combustible ice can be used as a substitute for energy, it is a kind of undersea resources.

On February 15, 2012, Japan first tried to mine combustible ice at the offshore bottom of Womei Peninsula, Aichi Prefecture, becoming the first country in the world to mine combustible ice, thus opening the prelude to the development of combustible ice energy.

The world's natural gas and oil resources will be exhausted in the next 40 to 50 years. According to scientists' estimates, the distribution area of submarine combustible ice is about 40 million square kilometers, accounting for 10% of the total ocean area. The reserves of undersea combustible ice are sufficient for human use for another 1000 years. It is known as "the energy of the future of mankind".

The white spot in the picture indicates the global storage and distribution of combustible ice. Combustible ice is easy to use, high combustion value, clean and pollution-free, and the global reserves are twice the total of existing natural gas and oil reserves, so it has a broad exploitation value. According to the survey, the reserves of combustible ice in the South China Sea alone are equivalent to 1/2 of China's total onshore oil and gas resources. It can be said that combustible ice is a gift from nature to human beings, and it is water that helps human beings store combustible materials stably in the form of hydrate.

However, this natural gift is not so easy to get. First of all, it must be preserved at special high pressure or low temperature. if it is developed hastily, or some other unexpected interference occurs, it may not only make the combustible ice lose its normal storage conditions, but also lead to the release of large-scale natural gas or even deflagration, causing the seabed to collapse, trigger landslides, or cause offshore drilling platforms to capsize.

In addition, compared with carbon dioxide, the combustible gas released by combustible ice has a more ferocious impact on Greenhouse Effect, and the large-scale release of combustible ice gas will have a significant impact on the global climate. Therefore, how to develop combustible ice correctly has become a cautious and special technology.

Source: 365th days in the History of Science author: Wei Fengwen Wu Yi part of the online copyright belongs to the original author this article comes from Wechat official account: Origin Reading (ID:tupydread), author: Wei Fengwen, Wu Yi, Editor: Zhang Runxin

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