Investigation of the performance of low-dosage hydrate inhibitors combined with wax inhibitors for a mixed CH4-CO2 gas hydrate formation

摘要

Within the oil and gas industry, low-dosage hydrate inhibitors (LDHIs) are a proven technology to control hydrates. Besides hydrate inhibitors, wax inhibitors (WIs) are frequently injected to prevent wax buildup in the crude oil pipeline. However, little attention has been focused on the effect of wax inhibitors on the performance of LDHIs. In this study, performance tests of 3 LDHIs in the presence of wax inhibitors were carried out for a 67% CH4/33% CO2 gas hydrate formation. Using the isothermal cooling method at pressures of 9 MPa and temperatures of 4 degrees C (subcooling is 9 degrees C), the results showed that the induction time of CH4-CO2 gas hydrate formation with LDHI/WI was shorter than the system with only LDHI. During the growth period, when the concentration of the WIs was 1 mass%, the growth time of the system with LDHI/WI was prolonged. Taking the induction time and the growth time into consideration, it was found that WIs had a more negative impact on the kinetic hydrate inhibitor performance at low dosage. The effect of WIs at high concentration could be negligible.