In recent years, kinetic hydrate inhibitors (KHIs), as an important hydrate control method, have received extensive attention in the oil and gas industry. During the usage of KHIs, it is often necessary to add KHI synergists to maximize their hydrate inhibition performance. Therefore, the development of synergistic reagents with high-efficiency to improve inhibition performance of the KHIs is of great significance for the prevention and treatment of hydrates. In this work, we screened a series of imidazole reagents as KHIs synergists through experiments, and studied the synergistic mechanism between imidazole reagents and KHIs by molecular simulation. Our results demonstrate that the addition of low concentrations of imidazole reagents alone has no obvious inhibitory effect on methane hydrates, but show obvious synergistic hydrate inhibition effect with KHIs. Among the tested imidazole reagents, 2-propylimidazole shows the best synergistic effect with KHIs. The synergistic effect between 2-propylimidazole and KHIs is mainly reflected in two aspects. On the one hand, the adsorption of 2-propylimidazole molecules on the hydrate surface hinders the formation of hydrate. On the other hand, 2-propylimidazole molecules can promote the formation of methane bubbles and reduce the driving force for the formation of methane hydrates. Our research further expands the application of imidazole reagents in the prevention and control of hydrates, which is beneficial to enhance the commercial application of KHIs.

近年来，动力学水合物抑制剂（kinetic hydrate inhibitor，KHIs）作为一种重要的水合物控制方法，受到油气行业的广泛关注。在使用 KHI 的过程中，通常需要添加 KHI 增效剂以最大限度地提高其水合物抑制性能。因此，开发高效的增效剂以提高KHIs的抑制性能对于水合物的防治具有重要意义。本工作通过实验筛选出一系列作为KHIs增效剂的咪唑类试剂，并通过分子模拟研究了咪唑类试剂与KHIs的增效机理。我们的结果表明，单独添加低浓度咪唑试剂对甲烷水合物没有明显的抑制作用，但与KHIs表现出明显的协同水合物抑制作用。在所测试的咪唑试剂中，2-丙基咪唑与KHIs的协同作用最好。2-丙基咪唑与KHIs的协同作用主要体现在两个方面。一方面，2-丙基咪唑分子吸附在水合物表面阻碍了水合物的形成。另一方面，2-丙基咪唑分子能促进甲烷气泡的形成，降低甲烷水合物形成的驱动力。我们的研究进一步拓展了咪唑类试剂在水合物防治中的应用，有利于提升KHIs的商业化应用。2-丙基咪唑与KHIs的协同作用主要体现在两个方面。一方面，2-丙基咪唑分子吸附在水合物表面阻碍了水合物的形成。另一方面，2-丙基咪唑分子能促进甲烷气泡的形成，降低甲烷水合物形成的驱动力。我们的研究进一步拓展了咪唑类试剂在水合物防治中的应用，有利于提升KHIs的商业化应用。2-丙基咪唑与KHIs的协同作用主要体现在两个方面。一方面，2-丙基咪唑分子吸附在水合物表面阻碍了水合物的形成。另一方面，2-丙基咪唑分子能促进甲烷气泡的形成，降低甲烷水合物形成的驱动力。我们的研究进一步拓展了咪唑类试剂在水合物防治中的应用，有利于提升KHIs的商业化应用。2-丙基咪唑分子能促进甲烷气泡的形成，降低甲烷水合物形成的驱动力。我们的研究进一步拓展了咪唑类试剂在水合物防治中的应用，有利于提升KHIs的商业化应用。2-丙基咪唑分子能促进甲烷气泡的形成，降低甲烷水合物形成的驱动力。我们的研究进一步拓展了咪唑类试剂在水合物防治中的应用，有利于提升KHIs的商业化应用。