ENHANCEMENT OF KINETIC INHIBITOR (PVP) WITH ADDITION OF POLYETHYLENE OXIDE (PEO)

Plugging of pipelines and processing equipment has severe economical consequences and
poses safety concerns. It is therefore of great interest to prevent the formation of gas hydrates.
There are a variety of methods of hydrate prevention which are classified either as
thermodynamic or kinetic inhibition methods.This study aims to shed some light on
Enhanl!ement of kinetic Inhibitor (PVP) with addition of Polyethylene Oxide (PEO).
This study is an experimental study, which the objective is to demonstrate the impact of
polyethylene oxide (PEO) on the performance of known kinetic hydrate inhibitor (KHI).
Comparison will be conducted on the induction time for crystallization of gas hydrate
containing various concentrations of PEO together with the known KHI which in this study is
PVP. The experiment is being conducted using Pyris I DSC which use is to measure the heat
flow into or from the samples as it is heated, cooled or held under isothermal conditions. The
outcome of this study is mainly to find the most favorable concentration of the mixture of
KHI and PEO that will exhibit the strongest inhibition by highest time delayed in gas hydrate
formation. The study expects to find that as the concentration of the mixture of PEO and PVP
increases, the induction time for gas hydrate crystallization increases, but after a certain point,
the induction time would be constant. From the results of this study, the knowledge of how
PEO and PVP mixture affects the performance of gas hydrate inhibition, may help oil and gas
industry to solve problems in flow assurance.