GAS HYDRATE FORMATION INHIBITOR AND METHOD FOR INHIBITING GAS HYDRATE FORMATION WITH THE SAME

摘要

A gas hydrate formation inhibitor consisting of an amphiphilic polymer (such as N-isopropylmethacrylamide (co)polymer) which bears nonionic groups (such as hydroxyl groups) at the polymerization-initiation and -termination ends and has a weight-average molecular weight of 500 to 10,000; and a method for inhibiting gas hydrate formation by adding the gas hydrate formation inhibitor to a system wherein a gas hydrate is to be formed. According to this invention, the formation of gas hydrates can be inhibited, and gas hydrates can be stabilized from the viewpoints of theories of chemical equilibrium and rate process.