Amidated Pectic Polysaccharides (Pectin) as Methane Hydrate Inhibitor at Constant Cooling and Isobaric Condition

Abstract

This study aims to address the environmental impact of using common commercial hydrate inhibitors such as Methanol (MeOH) in extremely cold oil and gas environments. As a greener alternative, Pectic Polysaccharides (pectin) can act as a kinetic hydrate inhibitor (KHI) to delay hydrate formation. We evaluated the performance of amidated pectin (AMP), a type of pectin with higher electronegative functional groups, using a high-pressure micro-differential scanning calorimeter (HP µ-DSC) under isobaric conditions with constant cooling. We compared AMP to low-methoxylated pectin (LMP) and high-methoxylated pectin (HMP) and found that AMP was the best KHI among the tested pectin types. At a concentration of 1.0 wt.%, the AMP Relative Inhibitor Performance (RIP) was 0.10, and at 0.1 wt.%, it had an RIP of 0.07, which were the only positive RIPs obtained amongst the tested KHIs. The results suggest that AMP can be a sustainable KHI option in extremely cold environments where the KHI effectiveness typically declines.