An experimental investigation of heterogeneous injection of biopolymer (guar gum) on the flow patterns and drag reduction percentage for two phase (water-oil mixture) flow

Abstract An experimental investigation of the effect of a water-soluble biopolymer (guar gum) in horizontal water-oil flow was studied. A horizontal pipe flow facility having inner diameter 19.5 mm and length 3050 mm was used. Laboratory scale experiments were conducted using the biopolymer, which showed a positive effect on drag reduction. A master solution having 1000 ppm concentration was injected in the boundary layer by using peristaltic pump to achieve 10–50 ppm concentration. Simultaneously, effect of the drag reducing polymer on the flow patterns were investigated from stratified region to dispersed flow region. It was found that addition of the polymer in the boundary layer extended the stratified region to higher mixture velocities from lower mixture velocities. Similar experiments were performed by varying oil fraction as well as polymer concentration in the test facility. A maximum drag reduction of 50% was observed when 50 ppm polymer was injected to 0.1 oil fraction solution.