Surfactant dry solution (DS) was prepared by mixing sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) solution, hydrophobic silica nanoparticles and air in a high speed blender. Flour-like SDS-DS combines the advantages of dispersed dry water and active SDS solution. Methane storage in clathrate hydrates using SDS-DS was investigated in a stainless steel vessel without stirring under the condition of 5.0 MPa and 273.2 K. The results demonstrated that highly dispersed SDS-DS could significantly enhance formation kinetics and storage capacity of methane hydrate. SDS-DS exhibited about the same methane storage capacity (172.96 m(3) m(-3)) as dry water, but faster storage rates than dry water. Compared to SDS solution, SDS-DS had similar storage rates (7.44 m(3) m(-3) min(-1)) and higher methane storage capacity under the relative low pressure. However, the aggregation of partial SDS-DS powders destroyed its original dispersive property after hydrate dissociation. (C) 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.