DRAG REDUCTION WITH POLYMER MIXTURES IN OIL-WATER FLOWS: EFFECT OF SYNERGY

Year 2020, Volume: 3 Issue: 1, 1 - 8, 30.05.2020

Muhammad Gimba Lawrence Edomwonyı-otu

Abstract

The pressure drop encountered during horizontal pipeline flows in chemical and petroleum industries require high pumping energy. An economical approach has been reported where small amount of higher molecular weight polymeric solution can lead to large decrease in pressure drop. In this work, drag reduction (DR) in oil-water flows was investigated in 20 mm horizontal pipe diameter and length of 140 times the diameter (140D). Partially hydrolyzed polyacrylamide (HPAM; magnafloc 1011), polyethylene oxide (PEO) and Aloe Vera mucilage (AVM) as well as their mixtures (HPAM-AVM and PEO-AVM) at mixture Reynolds number of 37773 were used. Master solution of 2000 ppm and 20000 ppm for HPAM, PEO and AVM as well as their respective mixtures at total concentration (TC) of 30 ppm and 400 ppm were used. The two liquids used were tap water (ρ = 1000 Kg/m3, µ = 0.89 cP) and diesel oil (ρ = 832 Kg/m3, µ = 1.66 cP) at ambient conditions (25 oC, 1 atm). Different oil input volume fractions (δo) and mixture velocities (Umix) for the two phases were used. The results show that the DR of 61.67 & 63.33%, and 66.67 & 68.33% were obtained for HPAM-AVM and PEO-AVM respectively, at mixing ratios of 3:1 & 1:19, for 25% oil input and water phase Reynolds number (Rew) of 28329. These values were found to be higher than the DR obtained by individual polymer alone at the same conditions. Drag reduction decreased with increase in the δo due to the decrease in the Rew. The synergistic effect observed in DR of the polymer mixture solution may be due to the presence of interaction among the polymer molecules and their rigidity. The result implies that drag reduction efficiency can be enhanced by combining natural and synthetic polymers. 

Keywords

Synergy, Drag reduction, polymer mixture, oil-water flows

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