Carbohydrate Polymers: Potential Green Solutions for Gas Hydrate Challenges

Carbohydrate polymers have emerged as renewable, biodegradable materials with dual roles in gas hydrate management. This sustainable functionality positions them as a crucial alternative to conventional chemical inhibitors and promoters, which are often associated with significant ecological toxicity and environmental hazards. However, despite their potential, the literature lacks a comprehensive and systematic review that critically consolidates their dual role as both inhibitors and promoters while connecting fundamental research to practical application. To address this gap, this review provides a critical analysis of the current state of knowledge regarding carbohydrate polymers in gas hydrate systems. It comprehensively examines their dual roles as both kinetic inhibitors and promoters. The review also provides a foundational overview of gas hydrate structures and a classification of carbohydrate polymers, followed by a critical analysis of standard experimental methodologies, characterization techniques, and molecular dynamics simulations. Finally, this work underscores the potential of carbohydrate polymers to enable sustainable hydrate management technologies and identifies critical research gaps that must be addressed to develop them into cost-effective and high-performance solutions.