Adding low dosage
hydrate inhibitors to the hydrate systems makes
the generated hydrate particles more uniformly dispersed in the liquid
phase, which can significantly reduce the hydrate accumulation and
blockage in oil and gas pipelines. The effect of surfactant hydrophile–lipophilic
balance (HLB) values on hydrate flow characteristics was studied with
a flow loop. The experimental results showed that there was a critical
HLB value. When the HLB value was 4.3–9.2, it had an inhibitory
effect on the hydrate induction time, and when the HLB value was greater
than 10.2, it had a promoting effect. The hydrate volume fraction
increased gradually with the increase in the HLB value, while the
slurry apparent viscosity decreased with the increase in the HLB value.
It was also found that different types of surfactants all showed the
effects of anti-agglomerant and dispersion, which can obviously improve
the flow of the hydrate slurry. Finally, the analyzed results showed
that the hydrate slurry exhibited shear-thinning behaviors that can
be identified as a pseudoplastic fluid based on the Herschel–Bulkley
rheological model, and the functional relationship between the rheological
index and the solid phase hydrate volume fraction was obtained using
the fitting method. This study can provide a reference for the preparation
of high-efficiency hydrate anti-agglomerants.