PC-SAFT/UNIQUAC model assesses formation condition of methane hydrate in the presence of imidazolium-based ionic liquid systems

One of the major problems in flow assurance, especially in the case of deep subsea pipelines, is the accumulation of gas hydrates that leads to significant issues such as pipe plugging and cracking. Utilization of thermodynamic inhibitors is an effective method to prevent hydrate formation in pipelines. Recently, ionic liquids (ILs) have been recognized as new hydrate inhibitors due to their strong electrostatic charges, which form hydrogen bonds with water molecules. In this work, the capability of the PC-SAFT/UNIQUAC model combined with the van der Waals-Platteeuw theory is assessed for estimation of the methane hydrate dissociation temperatures in the presence of various IL solutions. Five pure-component parameters of PC-SAFT EOS for ILs are fitted by using experimental data of liquid density. Furthermore, vapour-liquid and hydrate equilibria experimental data are employed to adjust the binary interaction parameters of the PC-SAFT EOS (k(ij)) and the UNIQUAC model (u(ij)), respectively. Methane hydrate dissociation temperatures are successfully forecasted by using the proposed model for ten (10) IL systems with different concentrations in which the overall average absolute deviation for temperature (AADT %) of the model is lower than 1.5%. The results clearly demonstrate that the developed thermodynamic model is capable of precisely obtaining the methane hydrate dissociation temperatures in the presence of IL solutions, though, for [EMIM] [Cl] solutions with a concentration of more than 30 wt%, the model overestimates the methane hydrate conditions. The proposed thermodynamic modeling strategy can assist to screen suitable IL solutions with an optimal composition for hydrate formation inhibition in terms of technical, economic, and environmental prospectives.