Technology Trends in the Field of Gas Hydrates: A Patent Analysis

Natural gases hydrates are crystalline solids composed of water and gas that are categorized in the clathrate family. Although gas hydrates have been discovered since 200 ago gas hydrate resources have only been discovered under see beds and frozen ocean zones only some 50 years ago. Since the 1979's extensive work has been focused on regasification of gas hydrates, due to the large resources of these materials as well as the limitations and costs of the others. Governmental initiatives have hence been developed in countries of high demand and limited resources. On the other hand, blocking of gas pipelines due to the formation of gas hydrates has embarked on an independent series of research experiments to inhibit the formation of the compounds, leading to the current status in which different companies perform research on diverse aspects of this field.The present work focuses on the technology trends and policy makings in this area through the search, retrieval and analysis of the patents and applications filed in the different fields (including hydrate formation, production, dissociation, degasification etc.). The results contain priceless information of the technology trends and research orientations in the field and can be of benefit to R&D planners, as well as researchers.The aim of this study is to investigate the hydrate technology trend by mining the patent information in the field of gas hydrates including "Inhibition of hydrate formation, hydrate production, hydrate dissociation and regasification, gas hydrate resources exploitation, and some hydrates applications" and analysis thereof in strategic and competitive levels. The analysis of the acquired information is of great value to determine the research and technology orientation in the field and to recognize the inventors active in the field.