Application Of Drag Reducing Agents In Transportation Of Town Water

Abstract

The purpose of the present research is to investigate the use of guar gum as drag reducing agents (DRAs) to solve the problem of fluid transportation through pipeline. For this project, two different methods were employed: vortex height measurement which applied on water and gasoline, and viscosity applied on water. In the vortex height measurement method, one liter of town water was put in a cylinder and swirled around it by electric-motorized stirrer with different speeds to generate vortex, the generated vortex height was measured in mm. Then the guar gum solution was prepared in the same cylinder by adding 50 mg (to increase guar concentration we add 50 mg as a fixed rate) of guar powder to the town water. The resulting solution then swirled around the cylinder by the stirrer. The vortex height is also measured in mm, the method also applied on the gasoline with the same sequences. In the viscosity method, we used the same solution after the addition of guar powder to the town water and measured the viscosity (gasoline excluded). In both methods, different amount of guar gum (PPM) were added and viscosity was measured. Also with variable speeds, vortex height was measured. Comparison between the vortex height and viscosity results gives a 20% drag reduction at speed 400 rpm and guar gum concentration of 200 PPM. V When guar gum is added to petroleum fluids, a 16% drag reduction is obtained at low and medium speeds, declined at high speeds as shown from experiments.