Intensifying the performance of polymer suspensions to evaluate drag reduction using rotating disc apparatus

A rotating disc in a close chamber was fabricated to evaluate the drag reduction (DR) performance of different polymer suspensions which estimates it with evaluating tension of crude oil on the disk before and after adding suspensions. The main issue is the link between the rheological and functional behaviors of polymers in crude oil. Polyisobutylene (PIB), styrene butadiene rubber (SBR), and polystyrene (PS) were used as polymers, and their performances were compared with a commercial drag reducer agent. The viscoelastic behavior of polymers and their viscosity in crude oil were found to significantly alter the drag reduction efficiency. Although having been increasingly studied the more the elasticity of the agent, the greater the drag reduction efficiency, it was concluded that the drag force does not change monotonically with the increase in the concentration of polymers (or induction of higher turbulence), and one should use an optimum concentration of polymers to gain the maximum drag reduction. Furthermore, increasing the temperature was found an easy way to slightly promote the drag reduction efficiency. In addition, it will be possible to predict the optimal concentration and temperature with rheological studies before conducting operational tests. The results of rheological evaluations clearly show the entanglement and relaxation behavior depends on the polymer concentration. Also the operational tests show, although, due to its short-chain molecules and high viscosity, the drag reduction by means of PS contained DR was less than 10 %, the sample containing 15.0 ppm of PIB and SBR could cause up to similar to 40 % drag reduction at 40 degrees C and Re = 300,000 (considered as the beginning of the turbulent flow in rotating disk apparatus (RDA)). This record is comparable to that of the commercial sample.