The Effect of Chemistry and System Conditions on Hydrate Interparticle Adhesion Forces Toward Aggregation and Hydrate Plug Formation

Abstract

The adhesion force between two cyclopentane hydrate particles was directly measured using an improved micromechanical force apparatus. Adhesion forces decreased between 22 and 87% with the addition of approximately 1000 ppm of various carboxylic acid derivatives. The effect of simple, saturated carboxylic acids (such as decanoic acid) may be primarily explained by a decrease in water-oil interfacial tension. More complex carboxylic acids, such as L-lysine and D-tyrosine amino acids, migrate slowly to the water-oil interface and subsequently may be ineffective at weakening the capillary water bridge between hydrate particles in the 30-second formation/destruction timescale. A 4-membered polynuclear aromatic carboxylic acid (1-pyreneacetic acid) exhibited a decreased adhesion force larger than the prediction from decreased interfacial tension, suggesting an alteration in hydrate surface wettability. We present a numerical solution of one hydrate slurry viscosity model for a simple pipeline scenario, where the difference in adhesion force between mineral oil and 1-pyreneacetic acid can shift shear requirements by one order of magnitude.

Study of Agglomeration Characteristics of Hydrate Particles in Oil/Gas Pipelines

“…However the agglomeration stops when the diameters of agglomerates reach max . Calculation and verification of hydrate critical agglomeration size with Camargo model were carried out with experimental results from literature(for more details about the experiments, please refer to the literature [11]) and some parameters were decided as follows: fractal dimension = 2.5, initial hydrate particle size = 1.5 m, viscosity of oil phase 0 = 60 cP, and hydrate volume fraction = 0.274.…”

“…Based on literatures, force balance model based on hydrate agglomeration force analysis to predict critical agglomeration size has been studied [1][2][3][4][5][6], and Camargo and Palermo had put forward a force balance model for hydrate agglomerate [7], which was proposed based on force balance between agglomeration force and separation force of hydrate particles and combination with the porous characteristic of hydrate agglomerate, while the agglomeration force in the theoretical method is in need of further study and a popular way to determine value of forces was to measure adhesion force between hydrate particles by means of micromechanical force apparatus (MMF) [8][9][10][11]. However, relative researches are far from satisfaction; in this paper, agglomerating forces among hydrate particles influencing factors on agglomeration were analyzed and calculated so as to give some advice for controlling agglomeration and safeguarding the flow of oil and gas pipelines.…”

Prediction of Hydrate Formation Risk Based on Temperature–Pressure Field Coupling in the Deepwater Gas Well Cleanup Process

“…(3) When the pipe string is completely blocked, it will cause suffocating pressure in the string. It can induce abnormal accidents such as pressure leakage or string rupture, and also lead to the failure of the testing. − …”