Crystal Growth Inhibition Studies for the Qualification of a Kinetic Hydrate Inhibitor under Flowing and Shut-In Conditions

Abstract

One of the methods to control the formation of hydrates in oil and gas pipelines is the injection of kinetic hydrate inhibitors (KHIs). The accepted understanding is that KHIs slow down or interfere with hydrate nucleation, forcing an extended “induction time” (time to emergence of viable hydrate crystals) at a given subcooling. As a result, KHIs are commonly evaluated by measuring induction times in the laboratory. However, this experimental approach has some limitations, notably in that data can be stochastic due to the nucleation element, raising questions over reliability/transferability, with multiple repeats often required to establish clear trends. As KHIs also exhibit powerful growth inhibition properties, a new crystal growth inhibition (CGI) method for the evaluation of KHIs has been previously developed with the aim of providing a means to more rapidly evaluate KHIs in a robust manner. This method shows that KHIs induce a number of well-defined hydrate CGI regions with different growth rates as...