Phase Equilibria of Carbon Dioxide Hydrates in the Presence of Methanol/Ethylene Glycol and KCl Aqueous Solutions

Abstract

In this study, the experimental data for dissociation conditions of carbon dioxide hydrates in the presence of 0.05 and 0.1 mass fraction KCl solution + 0.1 and 0.2 mass fraction methanol and ethylene glycol were measured and then reported at different temperatures and pressure ranges not available in the related literature. The phase equilibrium curves were drawn using an isochoric pressure-search method. To validate the used apparatus and the experimental findings of the current study and also to show the inhibition effects of the aqueous solutions used in this study, the experimental values were compared with some selected experimental data from the literature about the dissociation conditions of carbon dioxide hydrates in the presence of pure water and aqueous solution with 0.05 mass fraction KCl. Finally, to examine the inhibitory effect of various inhibitors and their synergies on each other, the suppressed temperature for hydrate formation was evaluated in the presence of different inhibitor solutions. This value showed that the rate of suppressed temperature for hydrate formation for each solution has been almost constant in various pressures. The synergy effect of KCl with methanol or glycol at low concentrations is negligible indicating that these two inhibitors have no impact on each other. It was also shown that, by increasing the concentration of the inhibitors, this rule was violated, the inhibitors were affected by each other, and the amount of inhibition effect increases. This synergy is of utmost importance for oil and gas pipelines and also for the industrial equipment that naturally contain some salt, in which alcohol or glycol will be added to prevent hydrate formation.