Reviews of gas hydrate inhibitors in gas-dominant pipelines and application of kinetic hydrate inhibitors in China

Abstract

Abstract During the development and application of natural gas, hydrate plugging the pipelines is a very important issue to solve. Currently, adding thermodynamic hydrate inhibitors (THIs) and kinetic hydrate inhibitors (KHIs) in gas-dominated pipelines is a main way to prevent hydrate plugging of flow lines. This paper mainly reviews the efforts to develop THIs and KHIs in the past 20 years, compare the role of various THIs, such as methanol, ethylene glycol and electrolyte, and give the tips in using. The direction of KHIs is toward high efficiency, low toxicity, low pollution and low cost. More than a hundred inhibitors, including polymers, natural products and ionic liquids, have been synthesized in the past decade. Some of them have better performance than the current commercial KHIs. However, there are still few problems, such as the complex synthesis process, high cost and low solubility, impeding the commercialization of these inhibitors. The review also summarized some application of KHIs in China. Research of KHIs in China began late. There are no KHIs used in gas pipelines. Only a few field tests have been carried out. In the end of this paper, the field test of self-developed KHIs by China is summarized, and the guidance is given according to the application results.