PETROLEUM SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY, vol.28, no.6, pp.625-631, 2010 (SCI-Expanded)
This article analyzes the performance of a liquid polymer emulsion containing partially hydrolyzed polyacrylamide/polyacrylate (PHPA) copolymer as a circulating system pressure loss (drag) reducer. Straight cylindrical pipe flow experiments were performed at different concentrations of solutions for measuring frictional pressure losses. Comparison of measured and theoretical frictional pressure loss values showed that as the PHPA concentration increased, considerable drag reduction (as high as 60%) was achieved and the optimum PHPA concentration for drag reduction purposes was estimated as 0.0020 (v/v). A friction factor is developed as a function of PHPA concentration and Reynolds number, and the results show that the pressure losses can be estimated with an error less than 15% by using the proposed friction factor.