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Water-soluble polymer-induced drag reduction and flow patterns for oil–water flows in return bend

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Abstract

Drag reduction (DR) by additives in single- and two-phase fluid transport has enormous engineering and economic benefits. An ample amount of work has been done with regards to understanding the mechanism of DR for developed flows in straight conduits. There is however a limited understanding of the effects of drag-reducing agents (DRAs) on under-developed flows in bends and more so for liquid–liquid two-phase flows in and around the bend. This study therefore investigates the influence of U-bend on polymer drag reduction and flow patterns for oil–water two-phase flows. The ranges for oil and water superficial velocities tested were \(0.04\le {U}_{so}\le 0.950 {m}/{s}\) and \(0.13\le {U}_{sw}\le 1.10 {m}/{s}\), respectively. The test section consists of \(19-{mm}\) ID clear polyvinyl chloride straight tubes and return bend (\(R=100 {mm}\)). Measurements were carried out for developed flow upstream of the bend, at the U-bend and at two under-developed flow sub-sections downstream of the bend. The addition of polymer imposed partial or complete flow stratification in all test sections. In all test sections, drag reduction increased with flow rate of water and reduced with oil fraction in the region of strong turbulence. For high mixture velocities, DR upstream of the bend was highest while the least was recorded at the bend. The highest DR upstream of the bend, in the U-bend and at the two downstream under-developed flow sub-sections were 40%, 34%, 28%, and 29%, respectively.

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Data Availability

Raw and processed experimental are properties of the authors and may be made available when requested. The data reported in this work showed no discrepancies. Materials and experimental facility used for this work is at Richmond Field Station of the University of California Berkeley, USA.

Abbreviations

DP (DPL):

Pressure drop (pressure gradient)

DR:

Drag reduction

DRP (DRA):

Drag-reducing polymer (drag-reducing agent)

R:

Bend radius

D:

Bend diameter

r:

Pipe radius

d:

Pipe diameter

f:

Friction factor

B or b:

Bend

BB or bb:

Before bend

AB1 or ab1:

After bend station 1

AB2 or ab2:

After bend station 2

SO:

Superficial oil

SW:

Superficial water

M:

Mixture

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Acknowledgements

The authors wish to thank the Flow Group of University of California Berkeley and in particular Simo A. Mäkiharju, Eric Thacher, and Daniel Grieb for the support provided for this research. The authors also wish to acknowledge the free donation of HPAM polymer for this research by BASF-Chemicals USA.

Funding

This research work was funded by United States J.W. Fulbright Program/U.S. Department of State and Institute of International Education (IIE).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of California Berkeley, Berkeley, 94720 CA, USA

    Paul Onubi Ayegba

  2. Department of Chemical Engineering, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, 810212, Nigeria

    Paul Onubi Ayegba, Lawrence C. Edomwonyi-Otu & Abdulkareem Abubakar

  3. Department of Chemical and Petroleum Engineering, Delta State University, Abraka, 330106, Nigeria

    Lawrence C. Edomwonyi-Otu

  4. Department of Chemical and Petroleum Engineering, Bayero University, Kano, 700231, Nigeria

    Nurudeen Yusuf

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  1. Paul Onubi Ayegba
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Correspondence to Lawrence C. Edomwonyi-Otu.

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Ayegba, P.O., Edomwonyi-Otu, L.C., Abubakar, A. et al. Water-soluble polymer-induced drag reduction and flow patterns for oil–water flows in return bend. Colloid Polym Sci 299, 1521–1532 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00396-021-04851-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00396-021-04851-4

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