Polymeric additives for reduction of erosion wear in slurry pipelines of the oil sands

在加拿大的油砂行业，管道是运输数千吨沥青浆以及沙子和粘土的关键。管道将混合物从矿场输送到沥青提炼厂和提炼厂，最终转化为合成原油。渣浆管道的一个遗留问题是，由于固体颗粒逐渐去除管道材料而造成的表面磨损，管道的寿命相对较短。**壳牌加拿大公司的研究人员定性地观察到，添加低浓度的高分子量聚合物可以减少各种浆液流动设备中的磨损。这种可能的减磨技术尚未被探索，需要详细的研究来定量评估减磨能力。此外，与聚合物对浆料颗粒湍流运动的影响有关的减磨机理还不是很清楚。**阿尔伯塔大学湍流实验室和壳牌加拿大公司的这一合作项目将开展一项实验研究，系统地量化使用低浓度长链聚合物的浆料管道的磨损率。该项目将研究聚合物类型和浓度对与油砂行业泥浆管道相关的广泛颗粒尺寸分布导致的管道磨损的影响。该项目还将通过使用最先进的颗粒跟踪测速仪详细研究颗粒的冲击动力学来基本了解磨损机理。该项目的长期目标是延长长距离泥浆管道的寿命，从而减少加拿大油砂行业对环境的影响。

Pipelines are essential to transport thousands of tons of bitumen slurries along with sand and clay in the oil sands industry of Canada. Pipelines deliver the mixture from the mine to the bitumen extraction and the upgrading plants for final conversion into synthetic crude oil. A remaining issue of slurry pipelines is the relatively short life-time of the pipes due to surface wear caused by the progressive removal of pipe material by the solid particles.**Researchers at Shell Canada have qualitatively observed that the addition of a low concentration of high-molecular weight polymers can reduce wear in various slurry flow equipment. This possible wear reduction technique is unexplored and requires detailed investigation to quantitatively assess the wear reduction capabilities. In addition, the wear reduction mechanism that is associated with the effect of polymers on the turbulent motion of slurry particles is not well understood. **This collaborative project between the Laboratory of Turbulent Flows of the University of Alberta and Shell Canada will carry out an experimental investigation to systematically quantify the wear rate of slurry pipes using a low concentration of long-chain polymer. The proposed project will investigate the effect of polymer type and concentration on pipeline wear caused by a broad distribution of particle size relevant to the slurry pipelines of oil sands industry. The program will also aim at fundamental understanding of wear mechanism by detailed investigation of the impact dynamics of particles using state-of-the-art particle tracking velocimetry. The long-term goal of the project is to increase the lifetime of long distance slurry pipelines and consequently reduce the environmental impact of the oil sands industry in Canada.**