Simulation of the Effect of Micro/Nanoparticles on Pressure Drop in Oil Pipeline

One of demanding issues that engineers encounter in the production of highly viscous oils is the high-pressure drop of oil moving across the pipeline. A wide range of methods have been introduced to overcome this problem, and among them, the chemical injection is considered to have a dramatic effect on viscosity and hence the pressure drop reduction. In this study, the role of nanoparticles in oil production is simulated using Pipesim software, and the level of pressure drop in the pipeline is estimated. In addition, the pressure drop was investigated with changing the type and concentration of particles, temperature, the inner diameter of the pipe, oil’s flow rate and the flow type in order to detect the effect of each parameter. Results suggested that microparticles of copper with 0.1 wt% concentration prompt the lowest pressure drop per unit length. At lower temperatures, the concentration of microparticles dictates the level of pressure drop while at a higher temperature, the effect of temperature is dominant. Moreover, we founded that in higher flow rates, the presence of particles desirably reduces the pressure drop, regardless of their amount. The pressure drop in laminar and turbulent flow demonstrated to have a direct relation with viscosity, while in the transient flow the viscosity reduction was followed by an increase in pressure drop.