Kinetic Hydrate Inhibition Performance of Poly(vinyl caprolactam) Modified with Corrosion Inhibitor Groups

Multifunctional polymers were designed and synthesized that contain both a kinetic hydrate inhibitor and corrosion inhibitor groups. This was achieved by modifying a copolymer of vinyl caprolactam and acrylic acid (PVCap- co -AA) where the acid groups were converted to known corrosion inhibitor groups including imidazole (APIM) and quaternary ammonium (ATCH) moieties. Therefore, all of the resulting polymers had the same molecular weight, end groups, and overall composition which allowed for accurate determination of the performance of these inhibitors. Their performance as kinetic hydrate inhibitors was evaluated by determining the hydrate onset time, growth rate, and resistance to flow using a high pressure autoclave. The experimental results show that both PVCap- co -APIM and PVCap- co -ATCH were able to delay hydrate nucleation; however, PVCap- co -APIM was better than PVCap- co -ATC…