Gas hydrates represent a critical risk in subsea flow assurance, as particle aggregation and deposition may lead to complete flowline blockage. Anti-agglomerants are strong surfactants that may be injected to stabilize a non-aggregating particle slurry, but continuous dosage may be cost-prohibitive. Corrosion inhibitors are structurally similar to anti-agglomerants, but their effect on hydrate particle aggregation has not been established. This study deploys high-pressure differential scanning calorimetry to measure the effect of model corrosion inhibitors on the stability of a hydrate dispersion in crude oil. The results indicate that corrosion inhibitors adsorb to hydrate-oil interfaces, and may effectively stabilize a hydrate-in-oil dispersion. The threshold adsorption concentration is quantitatively similar to previously-established behavior of carboxylic and sulfonic acid surfactants. These results are compared to established techniques, including interfacial tensiometry, and represent the first deployment of high-pressure calorimetry to detect surfactant adsorption at the hydrate-oil interface.

Modification of gas hydrate interfacial energy and wettability with corrosion inhibitors

247th National Meeting (2014)

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