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

• Published in: Polymers
• Main Authors: Adam Daniel Effendi, Muhammad Aslam Md Yusof, Nor Fariza Abd Mutalib, Chee Wee Sia
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute 2023
• Subjects: amidated pectin; amide functional group; gas hydrate; constant cooling; green alternatives; isobaric condition; Methane hydrate
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.3390/polym15092080

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.