Drag reducing agent and process of manufacture thereof

Abstract

A process of manufacturing a composition comprises a particulate drag reducing agent is disclosed. The process comprising: continuously forming a temporary container; introducing an unsaturated monomer component and a radical polymerization component into the temporary container; sealing the temporary container to form a sealed temporary container; allowing the unsaturated monomer component to polymerize in the sealed temporary container to form the drag reducing agent via a radical polymerization reaction, the drag reducing agent having a molecular weight of about 1 million gram/mol to about 50 million gram/mol; and grinding the drag reducing agent to form a composition comprising a particulate drag reducing agent, the particulate drag reducing agent having a particle size of about 1 to about 1,500 microns.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A composition comprising, based on the total weight of the composition:
 about 0.5 wt % to about 80 wt % of a particulate drag reducing agent polymerized from a vinyl acetate, styrene, acrylamide, an acrylate, acrylic acid, a derivative thereof, or a combination thereof, the particulate drag reducing agent having a particle size of about 1 micron to about 1,500 microns and a molecular weight of about 1 million to about 50 million gram/mol;   about 0.1 wt % to about 40 wt % of an anti-agglomerating agent polymer;   about 0.001 wt % to 19.99 wt % of a viscosifier; and   about 20 wt % to about 90 wt % of a non-solvent.   
     
     
         2 . The composition of  claim 1  comprising, based on the total weight of the composition, about 15 wt % to about 40 wt % of the particulate drag reducing agent;
 about 0.1 wt % to about 10 wt % of the anti-agglomerating agent; 
 about 0.001 wt % to about 8.99 wt % of the viscosifier; 
 about 26 wt % to about 85 wt % of the non-solvent; and 
 optionally about 0.1 wt % to 10 wt % of the surfactant. 
 
     
     
         3 . The composition of  claim 1 , wherein the anti-agglomerating agent comprises wax, talc, alumina, ethylene bis(stearamide), magnesium stearate, an alcohol having 10 to 30 carbon atoms, an ethoxylated alcohol having 10 to 30 carbon atoms, or a combination comprising at least one of the foregoing. 
     
     
         4 . The composition of  claim 1 , wherein the non-solvent comprises water, methanol, propanol, hexanol, octanol, propylene glycol, diethylene glycol, hexylene glycol, methyl ethers of such glycols, dichloromethane, tetrahydrofuran, ethyl acetate, acetone, dimethylformamide, acetonitrile, dimethyl sulfoxide, nitromethane, propylene carbonate, ammonia, formic acid, acetic acid, hexane, toluene, xylene, gasoline, diesel, a crude oil, a plant oil, or a combination comprising at least one of the foregoing. 
     
     
         5 . The composition of  claim 1 , wherein the viscosifier comprises a polyacrylamide, a copolymer or derivative of the polyacrylamide, polyvinyl alcohol, a copolymer or derivative of the polyvinyl alcohol, starch or a modified starch, chitosan or derivative thereof, cellulose or a derivative thereof, diutan gum, guar gum, or a combination comprising at least one of the foregoing. 
     
     
         6 . The composition of  claim 1 , further comprising 0.1 wt % to 79.99 wt % of a surfactant based on the total weight of the composition, the surfactant comprising a fatty alcohol ethoxylate, an alkylphenol ethoxylate, a fatty acid ethoxylate, an ethoxylated fatty ester, an ethoxylated amine, a fatty acid amide, or a combination comprising at least one of the foregoing. 
     
     
         7 . The composition of  claim 1  further comprising, based on the total weight of the composition, 0.01 wt % to 10 wt % of a container material, wherein the container material comprises a polyethylene, a polypropylene, an ethylene propylene copolymer, a polystyrene, a polylactic acid, a polyamide, a polyester, 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, polyvinylidene chloride, a polysaccharide or its derivative, or a combination comprising at least one of the foregoing. 
     
     
         8 . A composition comprising
 a particulate drag reducing agent manufactured by a process via a radical polymerization reaction and   a polyolefin that is made with a Ziegler-Natta catalyst and a coordination polymerization and having a molecular weight of about 1 million to about 50 million gram/mol,   wherein a weight ratio of the particulate drag reducing agent manufactured by the process via the radical polymerization reaction relative to the polyolefin made with the Ziegler-Natta catalyst and the coordination polymerization is about 99:1 to about 1:99, and   wherein the process of manufacturing the particulate drag reducing agent via the free radical polymerization reaction comprises: continuously forming a temporary container;   introducing an unsaturated monomer component and a radical polymerization component into the temporary container; sealing the temporary container to form a sealed temporary container; allowing the unsaturated monomer component to polymerize in the sealed temporary container to form the drag reducing agent via the radical polymerization reaction, the drag reducing agent having a molecular weight of about 1 million gram/mol to about 50 million gram/mol; and grinding the drag reducing agent to form a composition comprising the particulate drag reducing agent, the particulate drag reducing agent having a particle size of about 1 to about 1,500 microns.