Comparative study of inhibition mechanism and performance of kinetic hydrate inhibitors: Varying amide group orientation

Abstract

In this work, the inhibition mechanisms of two kinetic hydrate inhibitors, poly(N-isopropyl acrylamide) (PNIPAM) and poly(N-vinyl isobutyramide) (PNVIBA), were investigated at the molecular level, and the influence of the orientation of the amide group on the inhibition performance was evaluated. The results show that two inhibitors have the similar inhibition behavior, and should have the comparable inhibition performance. However, PNIPAM is slightly better at decreasing the stability of gas clusters to inhibit hydrate nucleation, and PNVIBA is slightly better at disrupting liquid water structure and preventing hydrate nucleus from contacting with the surroundings.