Run Module

The gas hydrate is an “ice-like” crystal and formed by certain gas molecules trapped inside of "cages" of water molecules through hydrogen bonds. It is usually formed at high pressure and low temperature, but can also be formed at an ambience temperature.

Once it forms, the clathrate hydrates may quickly grow and block the pipelines and/or the production facilities, and result in the cease of production and even in the explosion. It is, therefore, a serious issue that the industry needs to pay attention in the oil field production and the process design and development.

Beside to keep the production facility and the pipeline working at the high temperature and low pressure conditions, the industry uses hydrate inhibitors to prevent hydrate from forming. There are two types of hydrate inhibitors: thermodynamic inhibitors and kinetic inhibitors. The application of the former ones is to drop the hydrate formation temperature at a given pressure; and that of the latter one is to delay the hydrate forming time.

Formation water contains some salts, such as, NaCl, KCl and CaCl₂ which are actually hydrate inhibitors and can be used together with some organic inhibitors to effectively drop the hydrate formation temperature at a given pressure.   

This module of cloud computing performs the accurate and reliable predictions of hydrate formation conditions in the absence / presence of hydrate inhibitor or inhibitors (the hydrate formation curve); the maximum water contents before the hydrate could form; and the minimum injection of hydrate inhibitor to prevent hydrate from forming.