In this work, to
solve the problem of pipeline blockage caused
by the accumulation of hydrate particles and wax particles and to
explore the interaction characteristics of adhesive force between
gas hydrate particles and wax particles as well as droplets, a high-pressure
triaxial mobile device was used to measure the adhesion strength between
cyclopentane hydrate particles and different commonly seen phases
in the pipeline, including cyclopentane hydrate particles themselves,
liquid droplets, and wax crystal particles. These experiments were
conducted at different temperatures. The results showed that the adhesion
between hydrate and wax particles was decreased with the increase
in temperature; this is because the wax is amorphous, the heat absorbed
when the temperature rises only increases its average kinetic energy,
and the stronger the kinetic energy, the lower its viscosity, resulting
in reduced adhesion between particles. Meanwhile, this adhesion was
also affected by the concentration of wax. As the wax concentration
increased from 1 to 5.32 wt % and then to 8.14 wt %, the adhesion
between hydrate and wax particles was first decreased and then increased.
This was because when the wax crystal concentration was below 5 wt
%, a higher wax molecule concentration meant a more hydrophobic surface,
which restricted the formation of a capillary liquid bridge between
particles and thus reduced the interforce between wax crystal particles
and hydrate particles. When the wax crystal concentration was between
5 and 8 wt %, the change of hydrophobicity was no longer the dominating
factor, the increase in wax concentration blocked the hydrate molecular
diffusion path, which caused a higher hydrate viscosity, therefore
leading to a decreased hydrate molecular diffusion rate and a reduced
conversion rate of the liquid bridge in hydrates, the lower conversion
rate could subsequently lead to the increasing size of micropores
in the hydrate shell, and adhesion between particles was increased.
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