Thermal analysis of polymer-water interactions and their relation to gas hydrate inhibition

Gas hydrates formed in oil production pipelines are crystalline solids where hydrocarbon gas molecules such as methane, propane, and their mixtures are trapped in a cagelike structure by hydrogen-bonded water molecules to form undesirable plugs. Methanol and glycol are currently used to prevent these plugs via thermodynamic inhibition. Small amounts of water-soluble polymers may provide an alternate approach for preventing gas hydrates. In this study, we expand the fundamental understanding of water-polymer systems with differential scanning calorimetry. Non-freezable bound water was used to quantify polymer-water interactions and relate them to the chemical structure for a series of polymers, including acrylamides, cyclic lactams, and n-vinyl amides. For good interactions, the water structure needs to be stabilized through hydrophobic interactions. An increased hydrophobicity of the pendant group also appears to favor polymer performance as a gas hydrate inhibitor. Good inhibitors, such as poly(diethyl acrylamide) and poly(N-vinyl caprolactam), also show higher heat capacities, which indicate higher hydrophobicity, than poor performers such as polyzwitterions, in which hydrophilicity dominated. The phase behavior and thermodynamic properties of dilute polymer solutions were also evaluated through measurements of the heat of demixing and lower critical solution temperature. (c) 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.