Gas hydrate technology has broad application prospects in the fieids of natural gas solid state storage and trans-portation,seawater desalination,carbon dioxide storage,etc.The rapid formation of hydrate is considered to be one of the key problems restricting the application of hydrate technology.But the hydrate reactors have not been developed completely,and the formation rate cannot meet the industrial requirements due to the late start of researches on rapid hydrate formation.Therefore,realization of the rapid formation of hydrate is one of the urgent problems to be solved in the application of gas hydrate technology.The influence factors restricting the rapid formation of hydrate are analyzed with consideration of hydrate formation mechanism.Then the structures and principles of rapid hydrate generation devices of various types are reviewed,and the advantages and disadvantages of the reactors are analyzed from the perspective of mass transfer and heat transfer.Finally,suggestions for future research directions are provided:the device with good application prospects should be strengthened and improved gradually to expand the scale;and new types of reactors are constructed using high-tech equipment;standard reactor evaluation system should be established.