16 research outputs found
Inhibition of Gas Hydrate Nucleation and Growth: Efficacy of an Antifreeze Protein from the Longhorn BeetleRhagium mordax
Antifreeze
proteins (AFPs) are characterized by their ability to protect organisms
from subfreezing temperatures by preventing tiny ice crystals in solution
from growing as the solution is cooled below its freezing temperature.
This inhibition of ice growth is called antifreeze activity, and in
particular, certain insect AFPs show very high antifreeze activity.
Recent studies have shown AFPs to be promising candidates as green
and environmentally benign inhibitors for gas hydrate formation. Here
we show that an insect antifreeze protein from the longhorn beetle, Rhagium mordax (RmAFP1), the most potent protein
yet found for freezing inhibition, can inhibit methane hydrates as
effectively as the synthetic polymeric inhibitor polyvinylpyrrolidone
(PVP). In high pressure rocking cell experiments, onset hydrate nucleation
temperatures and growth profiles showed repeatable results. RmAFP1
clearly showed inhibition of hydrates compared to amino acids (l-valine and l-threonine) and the protein bovine serum
albumin (BSA). This indicates that proteins or amino acids do not
generally inhibit hydrate formation. The promising performance of
RmAFP1 as a new green kinetic hydrate inhibitor could further the
development and increased production of green hydrate inhibitors