Patent ID: 7297823

Claim:
A method for inhibiting hydrate formation in a wet hydrocarbon gas stream comprising an aqueous phase, said method comprising adding to the gas from 0.01 to 2% by weight, based on the aqueous phase, an additive comprising a copolymer having from 1 to 100 mol % of bivalent structural units of the formula in which R 1 is hydrogen or C 1 -C 6 -alkyl, R 2 is C 1 -C 24 -alkyl, C 2 -C 24 -alkenyl or a C 6 -C 18 -aryl radical which may be substituted by a C 1 -C 12 -alkyl group, A are identical or different C 2 -C 4 -alkylene radicals and x is an integer from 2 to 40, to inhibit the formation of hydrate in the wet hydrocarbon gas stream.