EFFECT OF CYCLOPENTANE HYDRATES ON THE STABILITY OF DODAC AND AOT STRUCTURES

Hydrates are crystalline structures formed by water and substances with low molar mass molecules. Hydrate formation can occur during oil production when oil, gas and water flow through the same lines in conditions of high pressure and low temperatures. The deposition of hydrate crystals in production lines can severely jeopardize the safety of operations, being one of the biggest issues of the oil and gas industry. The present work describes a study carried out on the formation of cyclopentane hydrates. Cyclopentane forms - at atmospheric pressure - type II-structure hydrates, which are similar to those formed by natural gas. In this study, hydrate formation was induced in two different systems, one obtained with the cationic surfactant DODAC (dioctadecyldimethylammonium chloride), water, mineral oil and cyclopentane, and the other with the anionic surfactant AOT (di-(2-ethylhexyl) sulfosuccinate of sodium), water and cyclopentane. The surfactants used can form emulsions or self-associated systems, depending on compositions and concentrations of the substances that are present in the samples. The stability of the hydrates formed in the different structures was analyzed. Moreover, we also perform a study of the stability of the structures obtained when the hydrate formation is induced.