Methods of manufacturing polyolefin drag reducing agents

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10982017-B2
Application number	US-201916441266-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jun 14, 2019
Priority date	Jun 18, 2018
Publication date	Apr 20, 2021
Grant date	Apr 20, 2021

Abstract

A process of manufacturing a polyolefin drag reducing agent comprises: injecting a catalyst and a drag reducing agent forming component comprising (i) at least one olefin monomer, or (ii) at least one olefin oligomer, or a combination of (i) and (ii) into a temporary container comprising a container material, sealing the temporary container; allowing the drag reducing agent forming component to polymerize in the sealed temporary container to form the polyolefin drag reducing agent; and at least partially dissolving the container material. The container material includes an ethylene vinyl acetate copolymer, an ethylene vinyl alcohol copolymer, a polyvinylpyrrolidone, an ethylene vinylpyrrolidone copolymer, a vinylpyrrolidone vinyl acetate copolymer, a polyvinyl acetate, a polyvinyl alcohol, a polyethylene glycol, a polysaccharide or its derivative, or a combination comprising at least one of the foregoing, provided that when the container material comprises polyvinyl acetate or polyvinyl alcohol, the temporary container is coated or has two or more layers.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A process of manufacturing a polyolefin drag reducing agent, the process comprising:
injecting a catalyst and a drag reducing agent forming component comprising (i) at least one olefin monomer, or (ii) at least one olefin oligomer, or a combination of (i) and (ii) into a temporary container comprising a container material, which includes an ethylene vinyl acetate copolymer, an ethylene vinyl alcohol copolymer, a polyvinylpyrrolidone, an ethylene vinylpyrrolidone copolymer, a vinylpyrrolidone vinyl acetate copolymer, a polyvinyl acetate, a polyvinyl alcohol, a polyethylene oxide, a polyethylene glycol, a polysaccharide or its derivative, or a combination comprising at least one of the foregoing;
sealing the temporary container;
allowing the drag reducing agent forming component to polymerize in the sealed temporary container to form the polyolefin drag reducing agent; and
at least partially dissolving the container material with a polar solvent that selectively dissolves the container material but not the polyolefin drag reducing agent, provided that when the container material comprises polyvinyl acetate or polyvinyl alcohol, the temporary container is coated or has two or more layers.

2. The process of claim 1 , wherein the temporary container has two or more layers, and at least one layer comprises the container material.

3. The process of claim 2 , wherein each of the two or more layers independently comprises the container material.

4. The process of claim 1 , wherein the temporary container has an inner surface and an opposing outer surface, and a coating is disposed on at least one of the inner and outer surfaces of the temporary container, the coating comprising a wax, a silicone, or a combination comprising at least one of the foregoing.

5. The process of claim 1 , further comprising continuously forming the temporary container from a sheet of the container material.

6. The process of claim 1 , wherein the polar solvent comprises methanol, ethanol, propanol, hexanol, octanol, hexylene glycol, water, or a combination comprising at least one of the foregoing.

7. The process of claim 1 , wherein the container material is dissolved at a temperature of about −100° C. to about 200° C.

8. The process of claim 1 , wherein the container material is dissolved in the presence of the acid or base catalyst.

9. The process of claim 8 , wherein the acid catalyst comprises acetic acid, p-toluenesulfonic acid, carbonic acid, CO 2 , HCl, H 2 SO 4 , H 3 PO 4 , or a combination comprising at least one of the foregoing; and the base catalyst comprises NaOH, KOH, Na 2 CO 3 , K 2 CO 3 , ammonia, NaHCO 3 , KHCO 3 , or a combination comprising at least one of the foregoing.

10. The process of claim 8 , further comprising removing the acid or base catalyst by rinsing the polymer drag reducing agent after the container material is at least partially dissolved.

11. The process of claim 8 , further comprising neutralizing the acid or base catalyst after the container material is at least partially dissolved.

12. The process of claim 1 , further comprising grinding the polyolefin drag reducing agent to produce a particulate polyolefin drag reducing agent.

13. The process of claim 12 , wherein the container material is at least partially dissolved before grinding.

14. The process of claim 12 , wherein the grinding is conducted in the presence of the polar solvent, and the container material is at least partially dissolved during grinding.

15. The process of claim 12 , further comprising dispersing the particulate polyolefin drag reducing agent in a dispersing fluid.

16. The process of claim 15 , wherein the dispersing fluid comprises the polar solvent, and the container material is at least partially dissolved in the polar solvent during dispersing.

17. The process of claim 1 , wherein the sealed temporary container is placed in an environment that is effective to remove heat generated from a polymerization reaction of the drag reducing agent forming component away from the temporary container.

18. The process of claim 17 , wherein the environment comprises a heat transfer fluid that is a hydrocarbon, an organic solvent, an alcohol, or a combination comprising at least one of the foregoing.

19. The process of claim 18 , wherein the heat transfer fluid comprises toluene, xylene, propanol, octanol, hexylene glycol, ethylene glycol isoparaffinic hydrocarbon, or a combination comprising at least one of the foregoing.

20. The process of claim 17 , wherein the environment comprises oxygen; and the container material is selected such that oxygen is not diffused into the sealed temporary container while the olefin is polymerized in the sealed temporary container.

21. The process of claim 1 , wherein the process is a continuous process, a semi-continuous process, or a batch process.

22. A process of manufacturing an olefin drag reducing agent, the process comprising:
continuously forming a temporary container from a container material comprising an ethylene vinyl acetate copolymer, an ethylene vinyl alcohol copolymer, a polyvinylpyrrolidone, an ethylene vinylpyrrolidone copolymer, a vinylpyrrolidone vinyl acetate copolymer, a polyvinyl acetate, a polyvinyl alcohol, a polyethylene glycol, a polysaccharide or its derivative , or a combination comprising at least one of the foregoing;
injecting a catalyst and a drag reducing agent forming component into the temporary container, the drag reducing agent forming component comprising (i) at least one olefin monomer, or (ii) at least one olefin oligomer, or a combination of (i) and (ii);
sealing the temporary container;
placing the sealed temporary container in a heat transfer fluid or a circulated gas environment at −100 to 100° C. for about 0.1 to about 200 hours to allow the drag reducing agent forming component to polymerize in the sealed temporary container forming the polyolefin drag reducing agent;
removing the sealed temporary container from the heat transfer fluid;
grinding the polyolefin drag reducing agent to produce a particulate polyolefin drag reducing agent;
dispersing the particulate polyolefin drag reducing agent in a dispersing fluid, and at least partially dissolving the container material with a polar solvent that selectively dissolves the container material but not the polyolefin drag reducing agent after the polyolefin drag reducing agent is formed; provided that when the container material comprises polyvinyl acetate or polyvinyl alcohol, the temporary container is coated or has two or more layers.

Assignees

• Zou Jian
• Jurek David J
• Vittur Brandon M
• Bravo Anthony D
• Baker Hughes A Ge Co Llc

Inventors

• Zou Jian
• Jurek David J
• Vittur Brandon M
• Bravo Anthony D

Classifications

• C08L29/04

  Polyvinyl alcohol; Partially hydrolysed homopolymers or copolymers of esters of unsaturated alcohols with saturated carboxylic acids · CPC title

• C08F10/00

  Homopolymers and copolymers of unsaturated aliphatic hydrocarbons having only one carbon-to-carbon double bond · CPC title

• C08L23/02

  not modified by chemical after-treatment · CPC title

• C08L71/02

  Polyalkylene oxides · CPC title

• C08F2/02 Primary

  Polymerisation in bulk · CPC title