Drag Reduction using Polyacrylamide in Hydraulic Applications

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Pipelines are essential to the transport of thousands of tons of slurry and petroleum products in Canada. Thehydro-transport pipelines can be hundreds of kilometers long and require several pumping stations to overcomethe friction force between the fluid and the pipe wall. It is well known in the industry that the addition of asmall amount of long-chain polymers to the can reduce friction drag by up to 70%, and consequently reduce thepumping costs. However, the polymeric additives need to be compatible with the shear rate of the flow and thechemical composition of the fluid.The objective of the proposed research program is to investigate the drag reduction performance of SNFpolyacrylamide products as a collaborative project between SNF and the Laboratory of Turbulent Flows (LTF)at the University of Alberta. The SNF team is interested to further understand the relation between ionicity,molecular weight, and macromolecular architecture of their polyacrylamide polymers for drag reduction inhydraulic applications. The preliminary experiments will be carried out in a Taylor-Couette device foraccelerated tests using a small polymeric solution in the presence of solid particles. A slurry flow loop withhigh Reynolds number will be applied to investigate the magnitude and duration of drag reduction usingpolyacrylamide in slurry flows with different composition of particles and ionicity.The proposed research will provide practical guidelines for development of high performance polymer dragreducers. The long-term goal of the research program at LTF is reduction of skin-friction, and development ofefficient and environmentally friendly pipelines for slurry and petroleum transport in Canada.