Effect of the combination of hydrophilic nano-SiO₂ and gaffix VC-713 polymer on CH₄ hydrate formation: Insight from the experimental study

In this paper, the effect of the combination of hydrophilic nano-SiO₂ with a particle size of 80 nm and gaffix VC-713 polymer (VC-713) on their hydrate inhibition was investigated at 4.0°C and 6.0 MPa, and the underlying influence mechanism was analysed by a multiple scales of the meso-structural observation experiments. Experimental results indicated that the combination doesn't exhibit any synergistic inhibition effect on the formation of CH₄ hydrate, but it weakens the hydrate inhibition abilities of both components. Moreover, with the increase of the VC-713 content to 0.75 wt% and 1.00 wt%, the inhibition of hydrophilic nano-SiO₂ completely disappears. (paper)