•It is a discussion on the combination of hydrate-based gas capture and desalination.•3 Experimental procedures were used and evaluated to promote hydrate formation.•It is found that the primary way to avoid blockage is heating.•Taking the cost of pressure into account, 5.00MPa is a better value for application. The purpose of this study was to obtain the characteristics of CO2 hydrate formation and dissociation by using different experimental modes and pressures with glass beads. From the experiments, it was found that hydrate forms rapidly in each cycle, especially at high pressure. Hydrate blockage rarely appeared during hydrate formation and dissociation when applying gas flow (Case 2); this approach was significantly better than the other two experimental modes. The maximum hydrate saturations for the three experimental modes were 28%, 24% and 67.5%. The overall hydrate saturation of Case 3 was significantly better than those of the other two cases. When a heating process was applied to induce hydrate dissociation, the rapid backpressure decrease led to migration of the pore solution during depressurization. The minimal residual water after hydrate formation resulted in consistent residual water saturation after hydrate dissociation for Case 2. Considering hydrate saturation and operating pressure, 5.00MPa is a better choice for hydrate-based desalination and CO2 capture. If the initial residual solution can be completely converted to hydrate, this technology has potential for industrial applications.