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AssigneeInstitut Francais du Petrole
InventorsAnne Sinquin, Marie Velly, Patrick Gateau, Jean-Pierre Durand
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A process for slowing the growth and/or agglomeration of hydrates in a fluid comprising water and gases by adding at least one essentially water-soluble polyoxyalkylene glycol macromer or at least one essentially water-soluble polymer containing a single macromer or a plurality of different macromer units of polyoxyalkylene glycol or a mixture of essentially water-soluble macromers and/or polymacromers. It is also possible to both retard the formation of hydrates and to substantially slow their growth and limit their agglomeration during crystallization by combining polyoxyalkylene glycol macromer type structures with kinetic additive type structures which are known to inhibit hydrate formation.
A process for slowing the growth and/or agglomeration and optionally for retarding the formation of hydrates in a fluid comprising water and a gas, under conditions in which hydrates can form from the water and gas, comprising incorporating into the fluid a growth and/or agglomeration inhibiting additive containing at least one essentially water-soluble polyoxyalkylene glycol macromer, or a homopolymer or copolymer thereof.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.