Abstract

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One of the most power consuming applications in the process and petroleum industry is the turbulent means of transporting fluid over long distances through pipelines. High pumping energy is required to overcome the occurring frictional pressure drop. An economical approach has been reported where addition of small amount in parts per million (ppm) of high molecular weight polymeric solution can lead to large decrease in pressure drop. Synthetic polymers are more effective in reducing pressure drop (drag reduction, DR), but cannot be degraded easily by biological means. There is the need to combine them with natural polymers to improve DR and reduce their environmental effect. In this study, an experimental flow facility which consists of liquid storage tanks, pumps and unplasticised polyvinylchloride (uPVC) horizontal pipe system with 20 mm ID has been constructed. DR in single phase water flow was investigated using partially hydrolyzed polyacrylamide (HPAM; magnafloc 1011), polyethylene oxide (PEO) and Aloe Vera mucilage (AVM) separately, as well as mixtures of HPAM-AVM and PEO AVM at Reynolds number from 12,916 to 48,871. The master solutions of 2000 ppm and 20000 ppm for HPAM, PEO and AVM respectively and their respective mixtures were used at different concentrations. The pressure drop was measured using mercury U-tube manometer. Drag reduction of 75.2, 78, 82.5 and 83% was obtained by the polymer mixtures, which was higher than the DR of individual polymer alone at all mixing proportions and Reynolds numbers at the same concentration. The observed synergism in DR may be attributed to the increase in the dimension of the macromolecular coil of the polymer mixture solutions due to the presence and rigidity of other polymer molecules.

Keywords: Drag reduction; synergism; polymers; polymer-polymer mixture