Computer-assisted design of oil additives: hydrate and wax inhibitors

In this paper we present the results of a molecular simulation study of low dosage anti-freeze agents for two common problems that occur during oil and gas transport: gas hydrate crystallization and wax deposition. Direct molecular dynamics simulations are presented of the nucleation and growth of m...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Molecular Physics
Format: Conference Object
Language:unknown
Published: TAYLOR & FRANCIS LTD 2004
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Online Access:http://wrap.warwick.ac.uk/8519/
https://doi.org/10.1080/00268970310001648717
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Summary:In this paper we present the results of a molecular simulation study of low dosage anti-freeze agents for two common problems that occur during oil and gas transport: gas hydrate crystallization and wax deposition. Direct molecular dynamics simulations are presented of the nucleation and growth of methane hydrate from a liquid water film, and of the suppression of this growth in the presence of a well-known kinetic inhibitor--polyvinylpyrrolidone. In the case of wax inhibition we present a simple model for predicting the activity of comb-like polymers, which is likely to be useful for identifying the most active inhibitor from within a given class. The method is applied to a set of random copolymers and shown to correlate well with experimental data.