Universal correlation for gas hydrates suppression temperature of inhibited systems: IV. Water activity

Abstract

AbstractIn Parts I, II, and III, the Hu‐Lee‐Sum (HLS) correlation was demonstrated to be a robust method for determining the hydrate suppression temperatures for structure I and II hydrates containing inorganic salts and organic inhibitors. Here, Part IV introduces two different approaches to estimate the water activity for systems containing inhibitors: ice melting point and activity coefficient models. The ice melting point is translated into the water activity changes, which can then be directly used for the hydrate suppression temperatures. The great benefit of this method is its applicability to any inhibited systems with unknown compositions of inhibitors. The activity coefficient model is based on widely available models. These methods for determining the water activity allow for a simple yet reliable prediction of hydrate suppression temperatures for inhibited systems, which advocate for their use in place of the more traditional methods known to be less reliable and less accurate.