Investigation of friction reduction in high turbulent flows by different polymer additives

Bakir, Mohammed

Investigation of friction reduction in high turbulent flows by different polymer additives

dc.contributor.advisor	Nassar, Nashaat N.
dc.contributor.author	Bakir, Mohammed
dc.contributor.committeemember	Natale, Giovanniantonio
dc.contributor.committeemember	Hugo, Ronald J
dc.date	2021-11
dc.date.accessioned	2021-09-28T16:44:56Z
dc.date.available	2021-09-28T16:44:56Z
dc.date.issued	2021-09
dc.description.abstract	Industrial applications such as hydraulic fracturing require large flowrates and pressure resulting in high energy consumption and costs. To mitigate these concerns, dilute concentrations of friction reducers (i.e., polymers, and surfactants) are used to reduce the pressure drop (therefore friction) in the solvent operating under turbulent flow conditions resulting in lower energy consumption, and costs. These applications are also present in other industrial applications such as marine transportation, firefighting, and heating & cooling systems, where friction reducers have been employed to reduce the friction by over 80% in these industrial processes. In this study, the friction reducing performance of a commonly used friction reducer, Partially Hydrolyzed Polyacrylamide (HPAM), was investigated in a friction flow loop. While HPAM is inexpensive, environmentally friendly and an effective friction reducer in fresh water, HPAM degrades irreversibly due to high flow rates (shear), and salts present in brine. As a result, HPAM was mixed with polyethylene oxide (PEO), and xanthan gum (XG) to improve the friction reduction (FR) peak performance, shear stability and salt-tolerance of HPAM., The novelty of this work is to analyze the effects and mechanisms of friction reducing polymer mixtures in brine solutions and high turbulent flows similar to what is present in the field. The interesting finding was that HPAM-PEO and HPAM-XG mixtures improved the FR performance of HPAM in brine at a greater rate than in tap water. It was investigated that brine solutions enhance the likelihood of intermolecular interactions of the polymer mixtures than in tap water resulting in the improved FR performance; the correlation between the FR and the intermolecular associations between HPAM with PEO and XG has not been reported in literature. Evidence of intermolecular interactions between HPAM with PEO and XG was found using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). In addition, two degradation models were used confirming that XG improves the degradation resistance of HPAM. Lastly, it was shown that PEO, and XG reduce the consumption of HPAM required achieve an optimal FR performance, thus transitioning towards alternate, eco-friendly FR additives.	en_US
dc.identifier.citation	Bakir, M. (2021). Investigation of friction reduction in high turbulent flows by different polymer additives (Master's thesis, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada). Retrieved from https://prism.ucalgary.ca.	en_US
dc.identifier.doi	http://dx.doi.org/10.11575/PRISM/39297
dc.identifier.uri	http://hdl.handle.net/1880/113985
dc.language.iso	eng	en_US
dc.publisher.faculty	Schulich School of Engineering	en_US
dc.publisher.institution	University of Calgary	en
dc.rights	University of Calgary graduate students retain copyright ownership and moral rights for their thesis. You may use this material in any way that is permitted by the Copyright Act or through licensing that has been assigned to the document. For uses that are not allowable under copyright legislation or licensing, you are required to seek permission.	en_US
dc.subject	friction reduction	en_US
dc.subject	drag reduction	en_US
dc.subject	polymers	en_US
dc.subject	polymer mixtures	en_US
dc.subject	hydraulic fracturing	en_US
dc.subject.classification	Engineering	en_US
dc.title	Investigation of friction reduction in high turbulent flows by different polymer additives	en_US
dc.type	master thesis	en_US
thesis.degree.discipline	Engineering – Chemical & Petroleum	en_US
thesis.degree.grantor	University of Calgary	en_US
thesis.degree.name	Master of Science (MSc)	en_US
ucalgary.item.requestcopy	true	en_US