Method for inhibiting hydrate formation

摘要

A method for inhibiting the formation of clathrate hydrates in a fluid having hydrate forming constituents is disclosed. More specifically, the method can be used in treating a petroleum fluid stream such as natural gas conveyed in a pipe to inhibit the formation of a hydrate restriction in the pipe. The hydrate inhibitors used for practicing the method are substantially water soluble polymers formed from a N-substituted acrylamide having two nitrogen substituent groups, R1 and R2, where R1 is a hydrocarbon group having from one to ten carbon atoms and zero to four heteroatoms selected from the group consisting of nitrogen, oxygen, sulfur, and combinations thereof, and R2 is a hydrogen atom or a hydrocarbon group having from one to ten carbon atoms selected from the group consisting of carbon, nitrogen, oxygen, and sulfur; alternatively, R1 and R2 may be linked to produce a cyclic ring having ten atoms comprising a combination of between three and ten carbon atoms and zero to four heteroatoms selected from the group consisting of nitrogen, oxygen, sulfur, and combinations thereof. Some examples of such inhibitors include, but are not limited to, poly(N-ethylacrylamide), poly(N,N-diethylacrylamide), poly(N-methyl, N-acrylamide), poly(iso-propylacrylamide), poly(n-propylacrylamide), poly(N-cyclopentylacrylamide), poly(N-cyclohexylacrylamide), poly(acryloylpiperdine), poly(acryloylpiperdine), poly(acryloylmorpholine) and various N-substituted acrylamide copolymers.