Solid Dry Drag Reducing Agent for Heavy Crude Oil Pipelines
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing drag reducing agents are ineffective in heavy crude oil due to low active base content, agglomeration issues, and poor dissolution rates, particularly when used as liquids or requiring complex encapsulation processes.
Innovation Solution
A solid dry drag reducing agent comprising a mixture of poly(meth)acrylate and polyalphaolefin polymers, anti-agglomerating agents, and surfactants, formulated as a high-polymer-content powder for efficient injection into pipelines, enhancing dissolution and drag reduction in heavy crude oil.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If liquid latex formulations are used as drag reducing agents, then the ability to pump the agent into hydrocarbon conduits is improved, but the active base percentage in the formulation is reduced and cream formation occurs during storage
Solution Approach 1:
The invention transitions the drag reducing agent from liquid latex phase to solid dry powder phase through spray drying. This phase transition eliminates the carrier fluid (water), concentrating the active polymer base to 90-99% while maintaining pumpability through powder injection systems. The solid powder form prevents cream formation during storage while allowing effective delivery into hydrocarbon conduits.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention uses pneumatic injection systems to deliver the dry powder drag reducing agent into the pipeline. Compressed air or gas carries the powder through injection nozzles, enabling effective delivery without requiring the agent to be pumped in liquid form. This resolves the contradiction by maintaining high active base content while achieving effective injection into hydrocarbon flow.
2Reliability
If polyalphaolefin-based drag reducing agents are used, then the hydrodynamic drag is reduced in liquid hydrocarbons, but the agents cannot be used in heavy oil
Solution Approach 1:
The invention uses polyacrylate and polymethacrylate polymers as the active base material. These polymers are composed of acrylate or methacrylate monomer units that provide both drag reduction effectiveness in hydrocarbons and compatibility with heavy oil. The composite polymer structure achieves both contradictory requirements: effective drag reduction and adaptability to heavy oil applications.
3Speed
If encapsulated polymeric flow improvers are used, then the dissolution rate is improved, but the manufacturing complexity increases and production cost rises
Solution Approach 1:
The invention extracts and eliminates the water carrier phase from the latex formulation through spray drying, concentrating the active polymer base to 90-99%. This extraction approach achieves rapid dissolution in hydrocarbon streams without requiring complex encapsulation processes. The dry powder form dissolves quickly upon contact with the hydrocarbon flow, maintaining high dissolution rate while simplifying manufacturing.
4Quantity of substance
If dry powder drag reducing agents with high polymer content are used, then the active base effectiveness is increased, but the handling and injection difficulty increases
Solution Approach 1:
The invention employs pneumatic injection systems that use compressed gas to transport and inject the dry powder drag reducing agent into the pipeline. This pneumatic delivery method easily handles high-polymer-content powder (90-99% active base) without requiring mechanical pumping, resolving the contradiction between high active base content and injection ease. The powder is carried by gas flow through injection nozzles into the hydrocarbon stream.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The solution provides a stable, fast-dissolving, high-active-base drag reducing agent that effectively reduces hydrodynamic drag in heavy crude oil pipelines, improving transportation efficiency and reducing operational costs.
Implementation Method 1
an agent for reducing a hydrodynamic drag of a turbulent flow of hydrocarbon liquids in pipelines
Implementation Method 2
a separating agent from 3 to 25
Implementation Method 3
a surfactant from 2 to 25
Data Source
AI summary
This invention relates to drag reducing agents used in case of transportation of crude oil products, in particular, to solid dry poly(meth)acrylate with dry poly alpha-olefins powders based agents. The technical result of the solution involves the preparation of an effective, fast-dissolving, stable solid dry drag reducing agent suitable for use in heavy crude oil. The drag reducing agents compositions have better drag reducing performance in heavy crude applications as compared with traditional drag reducing slurries is also disclosed, which consists of the following components, wt %:a mixture of at least two drag reducing polymers, from 65 to 90a separating agent from 3 to 25anti-agglomerating agent from 3 to 25a surfactant from 3 to 25,where the first polymer is poly(meth)acrylate, the second polymer is poly alpha-olefin, the ratio of the polyacrylate weight and polyalphaolefin weight varies in the range from 2:1 to 5:1.