Viscosity behavior and amount of gas consumed during hydrate formation: Influence of different parameters

Hydrate formation is an industry's primary flow assurance problem. Many variables play an important role in hydrate formation. Some have been largely studied as sub-cooling, mean droplet diameter and shear rate. We also studied those variables here, but our main goal is to investigate the impact caused by the wax paraffin in emulsified systems. We use a high-pressure rheological system coupled to a flow meter to interrogate those variables. We show the results regarding the viscosity and mass of gas sent to the cell curves during hydrates dissolution, cooling, growth, and stabilization. Our main findings reveal that the amount of gas in the system at the onset of the process plays a critical role in the induction time of hydrates formation. Details of hydrate formation are not captured only by viscosity curves. Hydrate tests that compute the gas consumed are not common in the literature, which is another goal of this work. One important practical conclusion of our work is that an increased waxy paraffin concentration in the sample contributes to an extended induction time for hydrates formation.

Automated summary

Hydrate formation is a significant flow assurance problem in the industry, influenced by various variables. This study investigates the impact of sub-cooling, mean droplet diameter, shear rate, and wax paraffin in emulsified systems on hydrate formation. The findings reveal that the gas amount in the system at the beginning of the process plays a crucial role in the induction time of hydrate formation, and viscosity curves alone cannot fully capture the details of hydrate formation.