A method of temperature vibration was proposed to promote CO2 hydrate formation based on the dual nature of CO2 solubility in hydrate-forming regions. The effects on carbon dioxide hydrate formation were investigated in a small scale reactor. The results show that the hydrate formation with distilled water in a quiescent system can be improved effectively by temperature vibration, and the pressure drop is increased by 30%. The effect is especially evident with 0.3% sodium dodecyl sulfate (SOS) additive using temperature vibration method, and large amount of hydrates are formed. The rest gas pressure is very close to the phase equilibrium value at setting temperature. Moreover, the pressure drop of CO2 gas in the reactor is about 2.6 times of that without temperature vibration. With appropriate operation time of temperature vibration, hydrate formation period can be greatly shortened. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.