CATASTROPHIC GAS HYDRATE GROWTH UNDER SHUT-IN AND COLD START UP CONDITIONS

In oil and gas industry, one of the major problems faced is the formation of gas
hydrates that could cause blockages in petroleum transmission lines. The knowledge
to describe how gas hydrates could grow catastrophically under shut-in and cold start
up conditions are not available. Utilizing a newly designed apparatus, consisting of
six units of identical rocking gas hydrate cell, new insights of how capillary actions
can be responsible for catastrophic hydrate growth under both shut-in and cold start
up conditions with and without a kinetic hydrate inhibitor are presented. Visual
observation shows that the hydrate crystal formation at the brine wetted area close to
the brine/gas interface initiates capillary-aided catastrophic hydrate growth.
Moreover, no mass-transfer restriction of brine towards catastrophic gas hydrate
growth is observed. The capillary force may provide a greater driving force to form
gas hydrates than the diffusion rate of gasses into the bulk water phase.