Application of naturally extracted surfactant from Madhuca longifolia to improve the flow properties of heavy crude oil through horizontal pipeline

Madhuca longifolia or Mahua is a natural alternative of surfactants and cleaners. Having enormous applications in cleaning industries and its potential biodegradability, the surfactant extracted from Mahua was used as flow improver for transportation of heavy crude oil through pipeline. The beneficial effects of the surfactant on improvement of pressure drop, drag reduction and head loss for flow of crude oil has been investigated at different operating conditions through a horizontal pipeline of diameter 1.5 inch. The results showed significant influence of surfactant on the pressure drop and percentage of drag reduction. Heating of crude from 25 degrees C to 40 degrees C reduced pressure drop from 10.6 psi to 4.3 psi at a flow rate of 60 L/min whereas addition of 2000 ppm surfactant at 25 degrees C reduced the pressure drop to 2.6 psi at same flow rate. At same temperature, the head loss decreased from 6.77 L/min to 4.88 L/min when 2000 ppm surfactant was added to the crude oil. It was also noticed that viscosity reduction at 25 degrees C after addition of 2000 ppm surfactant was even greater than heating the crude to 40 degrees C. This can immensely serve the purpose of pipeline transportation of heavy crude oil where viscosity is a major issue. The experimental results were compared with existing models like Cross, Carreau and Krieger & Dougherty model and the crude oil was found to follow Krieger-Dougherty model. Considering the effectiveness of the surfactant, biodegradability and cost effectiveness, this novel surfactant can be used as a flow improver for crude oil during transportation through pipelines even at low temperatures.