To Evaluate Effectiveness of Polyacrylamide (PAM), Polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP), and Polyethyleneoxide (PEO) as Drag Reducing Agent for Water System

Drag Reducing Agent (DRA) are widely used in the oil and gas industry for improving the oil transportation and water injection system. The unique characteristic of the long-chain polymer that can dampens the turbulent and modify the flow regime of fluid hence reduce the frictional pressure loss along the pipelines. This research project aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of using polyacrylamide (PAM), polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP), and polyethelyneoxide (PEO) as drag reducing agents in water pipelines system by studying the effect of volume and concentration towards drag reduction in pipelines. Besides, the effectiveness of PAM, PVP and PEO as drag reducers is compared. This research project is experiment-based in which the experiment is conducted to achieve the objectives stated above. Experiment is carried out by pumping water from storage tank and injecting polymer into the flow system through injection point. The mixture is then allowed to flow through the 4-m galvanized pipe to the outlet and the pressure is observed. The steps are then repeated by using different concentration and type of polymer. The drag reduction and flow increase is calculated. The effectiveness of DRA increased at higher concentration as compared to lower concentration of DRA. This is proven by the decrease in pressure drop and increase in drag reduction and flow throughput. From this experiment, it is known that different type of polymer will gives different result in terms of their flow rate. In general, PAM is the most effective DRA as compared to PVP and PEO, with drag reduction up to 42.5% and flow throughput increased to 36%. This is because PAM has been commercially used in the industry and the field result is proven. By increasing the volume and concentration of drag reducing agents, the drag reduction is increased in which the pressure loss across the pipeline system will be minimized. This research project will contribute to the study of flow assurance by reducing the drag factors in a pipeline system. Hence, the frictional loss is reduced, injection capacity increased and a designed pipeline could be more efficient in transporting fluids.