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Performance of Poly Vinyl Caprolactam as Hydrate Inhibitor in a Prototype Horizontal Subsea Flowline

Received: 22 July 2021     Accepted: 3 August 2021     Published: 30 September 2021
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Abstract

Hydrate formation in horizontal subsea flowlines can pose serious issues during petroleum production. In this study, a 12 meters laboratory flowline that closely mimics the conditions in a horizontal flowline is used to analyse Poly Vinyl Caprolactam's performance (PVCap) as a hydrate inhibitor. The 1/2inch diameter 12meter closed laboratory loop is immersed in a 4inch insulated PVC pipe containing cold water, simulating the offshore pipeline surrounded by cold water. Compressed natural gas comprising methane and carbon dioxide is fed into the hydrate loop and some water. The loop was pressurised to 150psia using compressed natural gas temperature, and pressure along the loop was observed using the several temperatures and pressure gauges around the loop. It was observed that a pressure decline in the loop indicated hydrate formation in the constant volume batch experiment conducted for two hours. The effect of 0.01wt%, 0.2wt%, 0.03wt%, 0.04wt%, 0.09wt% and 0.1wt% of PVCap was also studied. A reduction in the loop pressure indicated how much gas was used up in forming hydrates. As the concentration of PVCap increased, the volume of gas used up reduced, implying that hydrate formation reduced with increasing PVCap concentration. The optimum concentration in the study considered is 0.1wt%PVCap. PVCap performed optimally in preventing hydrate formation in the simulated subsea horizontal pipeline.

Published in Petroleum Science and Engineering (Volume 5, Issue 2)
DOI 10.11648/j.pse.20210502.13
Page(s) 54-59
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2021. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Hydrate Inhibition, Horizontal Flow Loop, Poly Vinyl Caprolactam, Kinetic Hydrate Inhibitor

References
[1] Sloan, E. D. "Natural Gas Hydrates." J Pet Technol 43 (1991): 1414–1417. doi: https://doi.org/10.2118/23562-PA.
[2] Long, J. P., Sloan, E. D. Hydrates in the ocean and evidence for the location of hydrate formation. Int J Thermophys 17, 1–13 (1996). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01448204.
[3] Odutola T. O. (2019): Hydrate Prediction and Management in Offshore Environment (2019): Lambert Academic Publishing, Omni Scriptum Publishing, Mauritius.
[4] Halliday, William, Clapper, Dennis K., and Mark Smalling. "New Gas Hydrate Inhibitors for Deepwater Drilling Fluids." Paper presented at the IADC/SPE Drilling Conference, Dallas, Texas, March 1998. doi: https://doi.org/10.2118/39316-MS.
[5] Rodger P. M., (2000) "Methane Hydrate: Melting and Memory", Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences Volume 912, Issue 1 p. 474-482.
[6] Sloan, E. D., and Koh C. A. (2008): Clathrate Hydrates of Natural Gases, 3rd edition, CRC Press, Taylor &Francis Group, Boca Raton, FL 33487-2742.
[7] Vincente N. Hernandez-Valencia, Michael W. Hlavinka, Jerry A. Bullin, (1992): "Design Glycol Units for Maximum Efficiency, "Proceedings of the Seventy-first GPA Annual Convention, pp. 310-316.
[8] Iyowu T., (2010) "Prevention of Hydrates in Pipelines using Hybrid Thermodynamic Inhibitor, Master's Degree thesis at African University of Science and Technology (AUST), Abuja.
[9] Corrigan, A., Duncum, S. N., Edwards, A. R., and C. G. Osborne. "Trials of Threshold Hydrate Inhibitors in the Ravenspurn to Cleeton Line." SPE Prod & Fac 11 (1996): 250–255. doi: https://doi.org/10.2118/30696-PA.
[10] Lederhos J. P., Long J. P., Sum A., Christiansen R. L., Sloan E. D., (1996) Effective kinetic inhibitors for natural gas hydrates, Chemical Engineering Science, Volume 51, Issue 8, 1996, Pages 1221-1229.
[11] Kelland, M. A., Svartaas, T. M., and L. A. Dybvik. (1994): "Control of Hydrate Formation by Surfactants and Polymers." Paper presented at the SPE Annual Technical Conference and Exhibition, New Orleans, Louisiana, September 1994. doi: https://doi.org/10.2118/28506-MS.
[12] Odutola T. O., Ajienka J. A., Onyekonwu M. O. and Ikiensikimama S. S. (2016): "Hydrate Inhibition in laboratory flowloop using polyvinylpyrrolidone, N-Vinylcaprolactam and 2-(Dimethylamino)ethylmethacrylate" Journal of Natural Gas Science and Engineering, Volume 36, Part A, pp 54–61.
[13] Odutola T. O., Onyekonwu M. O. and Ikiensikimama S. S. (2016): "Effect of N-Vinylcaprolactam on Hydrate Inhibition in Gas Dominated System" Paper SPE 184354 Presented at SPE Nigeria Annual International Conference and Exhibition, Lagos, Nigeria.
[14] Odutola T. O, Chukwu U. J. and Monday C. U. (2019): Experimental Investigation of Modified Starch from White Corn as a Kinetic Hydrate Inhibitor of Gas Hydrate, PetCoal (2019); 61 (6) 1487-1493.
[15] Odutola T. O., Ajienka J. A., Onyekonwu M. O., Ikiensikimama S. S. Design, Fabrication and Validation of a Laboratory Flow Loop for Hydrate Studies. American Journal of Chemical Engineering. Special Issue: Oil Field Chemicals and Petrochemicals. Vol. 5, No. 3-1, 2017, pp. 28-41. doi: 10.11648/j.ajche.s.2017050301.14.
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  • APA Style

    Toyin Olabisi Odutola, Okomo Felicia. (2021). Performance of Poly Vinyl Caprolactam as Hydrate Inhibitor in a Prototype Horizontal Subsea Flowline. Petroleum Science and Engineering, 5(2), 54-59. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.pse.20210502.13

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    ACS Style

    Toyin Olabisi Odutola; Okomo Felicia. Performance of Poly Vinyl Caprolactam as Hydrate Inhibitor in a Prototype Horizontal Subsea Flowline. Pet. Sci. Eng. 2021, 5(2), 54-59. doi: 10.11648/j.pse.20210502.13

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    AMA Style

    Toyin Olabisi Odutola, Okomo Felicia. Performance of Poly Vinyl Caprolactam as Hydrate Inhibitor in a Prototype Horizontal Subsea Flowline. Pet Sci Eng. 2021;5(2):54-59. doi: 10.11648/j.pse.20210502.13

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  • @article{10.11648/j.pse.20210502.13,
      author = {Toyin Olabisi Odutola and Okomo Felicia},
      title = {Performance of Poly Vinyl Caprolactam as Hydrate Inhibitor in a Prototype Horizontal Subsea Flowline},
      journal = {Petroleum Science and Engineering},
      volume = {5},
      number = {2},
      pages = {54-59},
      doi = {10.11648/j.pse.20210502.13},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.pse.20210502.13},
      eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.pse.20210502.13},
      abstract = {Hydrate formation in horizontal subsea flowlines can pose serious issues during petroleum production. In this study, a 12 meters laboratory flowline that closely mimics the conditions in a horizontal flowline is used to analyse Poly Vinyl Caprolactam's performance (PVCap) as a hydrate inhibitor. The 1/2inch diameter 12meter closed laboratory loop is immersed in a 4inch insulated PVC pipe containing cold water, simulating the offshore pipeline surrounded by cold water. Compressed natural gas comprising methane and carbon dioxide is fed into the hydrate loop and some water. The loop was pressurised to 150psia using compressed natural gas temperature, and pressure along the loop was observed using the several temperatures and pressure gauges around the loop. It was observed that a pressure decline in the loop indicated hydrate formation in the constant volume batch experiment conducted for two hours. The effect of 0.01wt%, 0.2wt%, 0.03wt%, 0.04wt%, 0.09wt% and 0.1wt% of PVCap was also studied. A reduction in the loop pressure indicated how much gas was used up in forming hydrates. As the concentration of PVCap increased, the volume of gas used up reduced, implying that hydrate formation reduced with increasing PVCap concentration. The optimum concentration in the study considered is 0.1wt%PVCap. PVCap performed optimally in preventing hydrate formation in the simulated subsea horizontal pipeline.},
     year = {2021}
    }
    

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  • TY  - JOUR
    T1  - Performance of Poly Vinyl Caprolactam as Hydrate Inhibitor in a Prototype Horizontal Subsea Flowline
    AU  - Toyin Olabisi Odutola
    AU  - Okomo Felicia
    Y1  - 2021/09/30
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    N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.pse.20210502.13
    DO  - 10.11648/j.pse.20210502.13
    T2  - Petroleum Science and Engineering
    JF  - Petroleum Science and Engineering
    JO  - Petroleum Science and Engineering
    SP  - 54
    EP  - 59
    PB  - Science Publishing Group
    SN  - 2640-4516
    UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.pse.20210502.13
    AB  - Hydrate formation in horizontal subsea flowlines can pose serious issues during petroleum production. In this study, a 12 meters laboratory flowline that closely mimics the conditions in a horizontal flowline is used to analyse Poly Vinyl Caprolactam's performance (PVCap) as a hydrate inhibitor. The 1/2inch diameter 12meter closed laboratory loop is immersed in a 4inch insulated PVC pipe containing cold water, simulating the offshore pipeline surrounded by cold water. Compressed natural gas comprising methane and carbon dioxide is fed into the hydrate loop and some water. The loop was pressurised to 150psia using compressed natural gas temperature, and pressure along the loop was observed using the several temperatures and pressure gauges around the loop. It was observed that a pressure decline in the loop indicated hydrate formation in the constant volume batch experiment conducted for two hours. The effect of 0.01wt%, 0.2wt%, 0.03wt%, 0.04wt%, 0.09wt% and 0.1wt% of PVCap was also studied. A reduction in the loop pressure indicated how much gas was used up in forming hydrates. As the concentration of PVCap increased, the volume of gas used up reduced, implying that hydrate formation reduced with increasing PVCap concentration. The optimum concentration in the study considered is 0.1wt%PVCap. PVCap performed optimally in preventing hydrate formation in the simulated subsea horizontal pipeline.
    VL  - 5
    IS  - 2
    ER  - 

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Author Information
  • Department of Petroleum and Gas Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, University of Port Harcourt, Port Harcourt, Nigeria

  • Department of Petroleum and Gas Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, University of Port Harcourt, Port Harcourt, Nigeria

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