Assistant professor in chemical engineering to explore frozen polymer solutions' impact on oil pipelines
Published: Feb 28, 2024 4:00 PM
By Joe McAdory
Polymer solutions are injected into petroleum products to enhance viscosity and increase oil recovery. However, polymer solutions are also subject to freezing upon extraction in bitterly cold environments, potentially bursting pipelines. The result: disruptions and costly repairs.
Jean-François Louf, assistant professor in chemical engineering, hopes to solve the problem.
His study, “Freezing of polymer solution droplets,” will leverage a very well-defined geometry, a droplet, to develop a fundamental understanding of polymer solutions freezing. He hopes to establish new guidelines for designing resilient polymer solutions – potentially preventing pipeline damage in sub-freezing climates. The project was awarded a two-year, $110,000 grant from the American Chemical Society Petroleum Research Fund.
“Upon freezing, so many things can happen to a polymer chain; it can be trapped, pushed, stretched, etc., which can alter the shape and volume of the final frozen object,” said Louf, the principal investigator. “You can do so many things with polymers and ice, so we started looking at freezing in a very simple geometry: the freezing of polymer solution droplets.”
Moreover, while previous research improved the understanding of some aspects of frozen polymer solutions, their freezing behavior near curved interfaces remains a mystery. Louf, however, hopes to solve this mystery by freezing polyvinyl alcohol polymer solution droplets at his laboratory inside Ross Hall.
“We will first investigate the influence of polymer concentration on droplet shapes, volumes and freezing time,” he said. “Then, we will identify conditions leading to phase separation within droplets.
“We will connect nanoscopic chemical features, such as the ability of the polymer to make hydrogen bonds with ice, to microscopic features, the characteristic amplitude and wavelength of the measured roughness, and macroscopic physical parameters like the shape of the isotherms due to the droplet geometry.”
To complete the exploration, Louf’s team will quantify ice front velocity and shape based on polymer concentrations and temperature gradients.
“What causes the pipes to burst is the expansion of the solution,” he said. “Depending on the polymer and concentration you use, there might not be an expansion. That’s what we are looking for. What we hope to say is, ‘instead of using that polymer, use this one or a different concentration,’ so that we can find a good recipe.”
Louf said producing research that makes a positive impact on society and industry is “a dream.”
“Something I really love is being part of something bigger,” he said. “When you create knowledge, you leave a legacy, and your work will always be meaningful. Having the opportunity to contribute knowledge to humanity is special. I find a lot of purpose in that and love it.”
Media Contact: , jem0040@auburn.edu, 334.844.3447
Jean-Francois Louf's project was awarded a two-year, $110,000 grant from the American Chemical Society Petroleum Research Fund.
