# Visual Assessment of Methane Hydrate Dissociation Using a Multi-Rocking Cell: Roles of Surfactants, KHIs, and AAs in Water-Rich Systems

## TL;DR

A new method visually assesses methane hydrate breakdown using different additives, showing how surfactants and inhibitors affect the process.

## Contribution

Introduces a multi-rocking cell system for parallel, visual assessment of methane hydrate dissociation under water-rich conditions.

## Key findings

- Surfactants like SDS, SO, and DDBSA speed up dissociation but cause foaming and hydrate migration.
- DTMAC and saponin promote dissociation while reducing foam and migration.
- Combination fluidizers like SDS + PVP or SDS + Tween 80 enhance performance with additive-specific effects.

## Abstract

This study uses a new multi-rocking cell system for visual,
parallel
assessment of methane hydrate (MH) dissociation. The method allows
for systematic comparison of various fluidizerscomposed of
thermodynamic hydrate inhibitors like urea and additives including
surfactants, kinetic hydrate inhibitors, and antiagglomerantsunder
controlled, water-rich conditions. Our findings show that surfactants,
such as SDS, SO, and DDBSA, accelerate dissociation but cause MH migration
and persistent foaming. In contrast, DTMAC and saponin effectively
promote dissociation while suppressing foam and MH migration. Combination
fluidizers (e.g., SDS + PVP, SDS + Tween 80) further fine-tuned the
performance, demonstrating additive-specific effects such as foam
suppression or accelerated dissociation. This work provides insights
for designing effective fluidizers for hydrate management in subsea
production environments.