Reservoir Fluids

PETE 310
Lab 8: Determination of Hydrate Formation Conditions Design of Hydrate Inhibition Methods
Learning Objectives
Determine hydrate formation envelopes (pressure vs. temperature curve) for three
different fluids.
a. Separator gas
b. Gas Condensate
c. Black Oil Sample
Determine amount of gas hydrate formed as a function of water present.
Evaluate different chemicals to inhibit hydrate formation.
General Skills
Know how to operate PVT Sim (live instructions presented in this lab).
Use Excel spread sheets and graphs using one or two y-axis.
Calculate relationships between moles, mass, and molecular weight.
Understand the conversions between API gravity to specific gravity and/or oil density.
Work with different systems of units and convert one set to another.
Background Material
Evaluation of hydrate formation pressure and temperature.
Hydrate inhibition methods
PVTSim Hydrate simulation options
Determination of the hydrate P T curve for a given fluid with and without inhibitors.
Determination of how much free water can exist in contact with your fluid without
having hydrates formed at a given pressure and temperature.
Determination of the amount of inhibitor needed to avoid hydrate formation at a given P

and T.
The following screen shows these available options.

The following screen will appear when you select the option to determine the hydrate
formation pressure and temperature. You can specify the upper and lower bounds of
pressure and temperature and you can select the pressure or temperature increments.
The plot of the phase envelope is disabled from this screen, but you can make your own
plot using the data from a file that is created while you are executing the program. The pT hydrate formation curve will appear in the screen and it is automatically stored in a file
labeled Hydplot.txt that you can cut and paste into excel, make plots, and analyze them
later.

The file Hydplot.txt will be automatically removed and lost if you exit the program. You
also need to save every run because this file is overwritten every time as well.

The following panel shows the composition of the vapor, liquid, and hydrate phases
formed.
From a material balance calculation you can determine how much methane (or other
components) is captured in the hydrate phase.

When using inhibitor you can select the following chemicals. Note that the concentration
is expressed in weight % in the aqueous phase. Just like adding antifreeze to water.

An important calculation is to determine the amount of hydrate formed for a certain

amount of water present. The pressure and temperature must be within the hydrate
forming conditions.
The following screen is activated when you select Quantitative Hydrate Calculations.

The amount of hydrate formed for the gas condensate sample DST 1 for a 5 mole % of
water at 50oF and 1000 psia is indicated in the following panel. (5.517 mole %).

Lab Tasks
Tasks to be accomplished in this lab include:
1. Determine the hydrate formation envelope (pressure vs. temperature) for three
different samples from your virtual cabinet
a. Separator gas (No 4, Test PT 1)
b. Gas condensate sample (No 1, Test DST 1)
c. Oil sample (N 5, Test BHS )
Discuss and compare the hydrate forming conditions for these samples.
2. Take as a basis the hydrate formation curve for the gas condensate sample (b) and
compare the effectiveness of the available inhibitors by generating new hydrate
formation curves in the presence of inhibitors which are added to the aqueous
phase.
The rules are that the combined amounts of inhibitors must be 15% weight, and you
cannot use more than 3 inhibitors at a time.
Examples of valid combinations are:
5% Methanol and 10% Ethylene Glycol
15% Methanol
5% Sodium Chloride, 5% Ethanol, and 5% Propylene Glycol
Examples of Invalid Combinations are
4% Calcium Chloride, 12% Ethanol
2% Propylene Glycol, 10% Ethanol, 1% Methanol, 2% Sodium Chloride
When deciding upon the best inhibition scheme you want to discuss the advantages and
disadvantages of the methods selected. Some may cause corrosion problems, others may
be too expensive. Justify your selection. A large portion of your grade in this lab depends
upon this discussion.
Provide the maximum temperature reduction for each method used.
3.

4.

Determine the amount of hydrate, gas, and liquid phases formed (in moles %) for
the Gas Condensate Sample versus the amount of water present at a temperature
of 60 oF and a pressure of 1,500 and 4,500 psia. Use 5 to 60% of water, and plot:
a. Mole percent of gas, liquid and solid (hydrate) phases versus mole percent
of water in the condensate stream (5 to 60%).
b. Composition of methane and water in the hydrate phase versus water
percent in the condensate stream (5 to 60%).
Discuss the results obtained.
Compare the hydrate formation pressure obtained at 50oF, 60 oF, and 70 oF with
the charts using specific gravity from your text book. Some interpolation may be
needed. Discuss the results obtained.

General Guidelines for the Report (check with TA special arrangements)

Follow the format for lab reports (check Useful Notes in the Technical Presentations
course as needed).
Abstract: What important lessons did you learn about these design exercises? Why are
they valuable for petroleum engineers to know?
Conclusions: Evaluations, estimations, generalizations..
Introduction: What are gas hydrates, why are they important? Did you see them forming
as expecting form this exercise? Are inhibitors effective? If so, which recipe worked
best for you?
Discussion: You may want to include a Methods section, or you might want to introduce
your method for each part of this exercise as you discuss the various topic areas. Do
not regurgitate the lab manual; instead, tell us how you met its standards. If you made
any other decisions about how to proceed, explain what you did. Remember that we
know the procedure, but we gave you some opportunities to make choices, and we
need to know what choices you made. You have at least a couple of different figures
here. Be sure to have a Discussion section to handle each of them.
End Matter: If you used any symbols, be sure to include a Nomenclature; if you cited
your textbook or other resources for the Introduction, be sure to include a References
list. (Remember that lab notes/class notes cannot be cited.)
Appendix: The table you formatted to make your graphs should not be included in the
body of your report. Instead, include it (or any other extraneous materials) in an
Appendix.