Enhancement of Kinetic Hydrate Inhibitor Polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) with Addition of Chitosan

Parallel with current needs of oil and gas industry where hydrates formation caused a problem with flow assurance, new formulations are strived to yield a better Kinetic Hydrate Inhibitor (KHI) with high efficiency and low dosage required to inhibit a large scales of hydrate in flow lines. The formation of hydrates can cause flow interruption due to plugging and resulted in higher cost in maintenance and the usage of large dosage of inhibitor. Polyvinylpyrrolidone or PVP is a successful KHI and commonly known as Low Dosage Hydrate Inhibitor (LDHI). A natural polysaccharide from shrimp shells, linear polymer Chitosan (ß-(1-4) linked 2-acetamido-2-deoxy-ß-D-Glucopyranose and 2-amino-deoxy-ß-D-Glucopyranose) is proposed to become an additive to enhance the performance of PVP as KHI. Therefore, this project aims to determine the capability of PVP with Chitosan to delay the formation of hydrate in comparison of using PVP only. Concentration of solution ranged from 0.1wt% to 1.0wt% to examine the optimum concentration of inhibitor required in weight percentage. The heat flux of exothermic and endothermic reaction of the tested inhibitor is examined by using Micro Differential Scanning Calorimeter (μDSC) against time to measure and compare the hydrate formation and dissociation mean time. PVP will be proven as conventional KHI with satisfying result and PVP with Chitosan as an addictive is expected to lengthen the induction time for hydrate to form greater than PVP alone. Polymer Chitosan is a green technology material with great future potential and the uses of Chitosan in oil and gas industry is a new step forward. As hydrates has been declared as long-term problems in oil and gas sector, research and studies regarding an improvement of known KHI is necessary to be applied in the industry.