Enhancement of the performance of kinetic inhibitors in the presence of polyethylene oxide and polypropylene oxide for binary mixtures during gas hydrate formation in a flow mini‐loop apparatus

The objective of this work is to demonstrate the impact of the polyethylene oxide (PEO) and polypropylene oxide (PPO) on the performance of gas hydrate kinetic inhibitors for binary mixtures during gas hydrate formation in a flow mini‐loop apparatus. PEO and PPO are commercially available polymers that they have been considered to be unable to exhibit kinetic hydrate inhibition (KHI) by their self. Prevention of gas hydrate formation experiments in the presence of the KHIs solutions were conducted in a flow mini‐loop apparatus manner under suitable pressures and temperature conditions for binary gaseous mixtures including 70% CH₄/30% C₃H₈, 30% CH₄/70% C₃H₈, 70% CH₄/30% i‐C₄H₁₀, and 30% CH₄/70% i‐C₄H₁₀. In the experiments, induction time for crystallisation of gas hydrate formation and gas consumption rate are investigated in systems without KHI, containing KHI only (such as polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) and L ‐tyrosine) and PEO or PPO together with KHI. Pressure is maintained at a constant value during experimental runs by means of required gas make‐up. The addition of a KHI into system delayed the onset of hydrate crystal nucleation. Furthermore, addition of the PEO or PPO to a KHI solution was found to enhance the performance of KHI. In addition, under the same pressure temperature hydrate formation conditions the induction time is longer when the PPO is present. Thus, inclusion of PPO into a KHI solution shows a higher enhancement in its inhibiting performance compare to PEO. © 2011 Canadian Society for Chemical Engineering