Synthesis and evaluation of poly(N-vinyl caprolactam)-co-tert-butyl acrylate as kinetic hydrate inhibitor

Low dosage kinetic hydrate inhibitors(KHIs)are a kind of alternative chemical additives to high dosage thermodynamic inhibitors for preventing gas hydrate formation in oil&gas production wells and transportation pipelines.In this paper,a new KHI,poly(N-vinyl caprolactam)-co-tert-butyl acrylate(PVCapco-TBA),was successfully synthesized with N-vinyl caprolactam(NVCap)and tert-butyl acrylate.The kinetic inhibition performances of PVCap-co-TBA on the formations of both structureⅠmethane hydrate and structureⅡnatural gas hydrate were investigated by measuring the onset times of hydrate formation under different conditions and compared with commercial KHIs such as PVP,PVCap and inhibex 501.The results indicated that PVCap-co-TBA outperformed these widely applied inhibitors for both structureⅠand structureⅡhydrates.At the same dosage of KHI,the maximum tolerable degree of subcooling under which the onset time of hydrate formation exceeded 24 hours for structureⅠhydrate was much lower than that for structureⅡhydrate.The inhibition strength increased with the increasing dosage of PVCap-co-TBA;The maximum tolerable degree of subcooling for the natural gas hydrate is more than10 K when the dosage was higher than 0.5%(mass)while it achieved 12 K when that dosage rose to0.75%(mass).Additionally,we found polypropylene glycol could be used as synergist at the dosage of 1.0%(mass)or so,under which the kinetic inhibition performance of PVCap-co-TBA could be improved significantly.All evaluation results demonstrated that PVCap-co-TBA was a very promising KHI and a competitive alternative to the existing commercial KHIs.

Molecular simulation study on the evolution process of hydrate residual structures into hydrate

The clathrate hydrate memory effect is a fascinating phenomenon with potential applications in carbon capture,utilization and storage(CCUS),gas separation,and gas storage as it can accelerate the secondary formation of clathrate hydrate.However,the underlying mechanism of this effect remains unclear.To gain a better understanding of the mechanism,we conducted molecular dynamic simulations to simulate the initial formation and reformation processes of methane hydrate.In this work,we showed the evolution process of hydrate residual structures into hydrate cages.The simulation results indicate that the residual structures are closely related to the existence of hydrate memory effect,and the higher the contribution of hydrate dissociated water to the hydrate nucleation process,the faster the hydrate nucleation.After hydrate dissociation,the locally ordered structures still exist after hydrate dissociation and can promote the formation of cluster structures,thus accelerating hydrate nucleation.Additionally,the nucleation process of hydrate and the formation process of clusters are inseparable.The size of clusters composed of cup-cage structures is critical for hydrate nucleation.The residence time at high temperature after hydrate decomposition will affect the strength of the hydrate memory effect.Our simulation results provide microscopic insights into the occurrence of the hydrate memory effect and shed light on the hydrate reformation process at the molecular scale.

High efficient development of green kinetic hydrate inhibitors via combined molecular dynamic simulation and experimental test approach

The development of environmental friendly low dose hydrate inhibitors like kinetic hydrate inhibitors(KHIs)is of great significance for the flow assurance in oil&gas production and transportation.In this work,a combined molecular dynamic simulation and experimental verification approach was adopted to increase the efficiency of KHIs development.The inhibition effect of a series of copolymers(N-vinylpyrrolidone and N-acrylate)on hydrate growth was studied by using both molecular dynamics simulation and experimental approaches.The simulation results demonstrated that introduction of hydrophobic ester and butyl group in PVP is beneficial for the inhibition.The length of the alkyl chain of ester group played an important role in improving inhibition performance.PVP-A,the one being introduced butyl ester group into PVP gets the best inhibition effect.In addition,inhibitors can restrict methane bubbles to re-dissolve into the liquid phase,thereby inhibiting the growth of methane hydrate.Increasing the interaction between KHIs and methane can also improve the inhibitory effect of KHIs.The experimental results confirm the reliability of the molecular dynamics simulation.

Stabilization of Plutonium(V)Within a Crown Ether Inclusion Complex

Crystalline coordination complexes of actinides,especially in atypical oxidation states,are not only fundamentally important for expanding the notably limited knowledge on the bonding nature of actinides but could also provide critical information toward the development of nuclear fuel cycle,waste management,and national security.Plutonium(Pu)is the only element in the periodic table that could exist in four oxidation states in aqueous solutions simultaneously.