Abstract
The formation of hydrate plugs in oil and gas pipelines is a serious industrial problem and recently there has been an increased interest in the use of alternative hydrate inhibitors as substitutes for thermodynamic inhibitors like methanol. We show here that antifreeze proteins (AFPs) possess the ability to modify structure II (sII) tetrahydrofuran (THF) hydrate crystal morphologies by adhering to the hydrate surface and inhibiting growth in a similar fashion to the kinetic inhibitor poly-N-vinylpyrrolidone (PVP). The effects of AFPs on the formation and growth rate of high-pressure sII gas mix hydrate demonstrated that AFPs are superior hydrate inhibitors compared to PVP. These results indicate that AFPs may be suitable for the study of new inhibitor systems and represent an important step towards the development of biologically-based hydrate inhibitors.
Highlights
Gas hydrates, or clathrates, are ice-like compounds that form when hydrocarbon-based guest molecules are trapped in hydrogen-bonded water cages that form under high pressures and low temperatures [1]
Bioreactor Yields The antifreeze proteins (AFPs) cloned from the perennial grass, Lolium perenne (Lp), has a low thermal hysteresis (TH) while the ocean pout fish Type III AFP is more active [9,11]
Yields were comparable for all recombinant proteins, optimization of AFP production depended on a variety of conditions including total volume of growth media, level of dissolved oxygen (DO) or OD600 at isopropyl b-D-1thiogalactopyranoside (IPTG) induction as well as temperature during the induction period
Summary
Clathrates, are ice-like compounds that form when hydrocarbon-based guest molecules are trapped in hydrogen-bonded water cages that form under high pressures and low temperatures [1]. Natural gas hydrates most commonly exist as one of two structures Small guest molecules such as methane tend to form structure I (sI) hydrates while larger guests like propane form structure II (sII) hydrates [2]. Hydrate plugs impede oil and gas flow, resulting in equipment damage as well as hazardous working conditions that can even result in blowouts [5]. Thermodynamic inhibitors such as methanol are one of the most common practical means of controlling hydrate formation [6]. As a result of the high costs, flammability and environmental toxicity associated with such inhibitors, there has been a shift towards the less toxic and sometimes cheaper alternative kinetic hydrate inhibitors, which delay nucleation and interfere with crystal growth, as well as antiagglomerants, which act to prevent hydrates from aggregating into larger masses [7,8]
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