Experimental study on the effect of drag reducing polymer on flow patterns and drag reduction in a horizontal oil–water flow

In this study, a HMW anionic co-polymer of 40:60 wt/wt NaAMPS/acrylamide was used as a drag reducing polymer (DRP) for oil–water flow in a horizontal 25.4 mm ID acrylic pipe. The effect of polymer concentration in the master solution and after injection in the main water stream, oil and water velocities, and pipe length on drag reduction (DR) was investigated. The injected polymer had a noticeable effect on flow patterns and their transitions. Stratified and dual continuous flows extended to higher superficial oil velocities while annular flow changed to dual continuous flow. The results showed that as low as 2 ppm polymer concentration was sufficient to create a significant drag reduction across the pipe. DR was found to increase with polymer concentration increased and reached maximum plateau value at around 10 ppm. The results showed that the drag reduction effect tends to increase as superficial water velocity increased and eventually reached a plateau at Usw of around 1.3 m/s. At Usw > 1.0 m/s, the drag reduction decreased as Uso increased while at lower water velocities, drag reduction is fluctuating with respect to Uso. A maximum DR of about 60% was achieved at Uso = 0.14 m/s while only 45% was obtained at Uso = 0.52 m/s. The effectiveness of the DRP was found to be independent of the polymer concentration in the master solution and to some extent pipe length. The friction factor correlation proposed by Al-Sarkhi et al. (2011) for horizontal flow of oil–water using DRPs was found to underpredict the present experimental pressure gradient data.

► Effect of drag reducing polymer in horizontal oil–water flow was investigated.
► The injected polymer had a noticeable effect on flow patterns and their transitions.
► The polymer was able to induce significant drag reduction at concentrations as low as 2 ppm.
► The percentage drag reduction increased gradually with increasing water velocities.
► Drag reduction was found to be independent of the concentration of the master polymer solution.