Effect of oil on the performance of biopolymers as drag reducers in fresh water flow

This study looks at the effectiveness of natural polymers (biopolymers) as drag reducers in flows of oil-water mixtures. The technique of using drag reducers to minimize the frictional drag in pipeline transportation of fluids is getting more challenging and there is need to be more environmentally friendly by using natural polymers. In this report, two natural polymers: xanthan gum (XG) and guar gum (GG), were used as drag reducers in a 12-mm ID straight conduit with water. The concentration of the gums was varied from 50 to 250 pm while 25, 0.50 and 0.75 fractions of oil were mixed with freshwater. The molecular weight of the gums was also determined to gain insight into their influence on the rheology of the fluids. The result showed that the gums (natural polymers) performed better as drag reducer in freshwater than in mixture with oil. Specifically, the drag reduction (DR) of 200 pm GG and XG solutions at Reynolds number of 59000 in freshwater was 39% and 44% respectively, while with the addition of 50% oil fraction, it was reduced to 19% and 32% respectively. DR reduced with oil fraction. It was concluded that XG performs better in the presence of oil than GG.