A drag reducing agent has a core comprising a polyolefin; and a temporary container encapsulating the core. The temporary container contains 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, polyvinylidene chloride, a polysaccharide or its derivative, or a combination comprising at least one of the foregoing. A largest dimension of the drag reducing agent is greater than about 1,000 microns.

A drag reducing agent has a core comprising a polyolefin; and a temporary container encapsulating the core. The temporary container contains 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, polyvinylidene chloride, a polysaccharide or its derivative, or a combination comprising at least one of the foregoing. A largest dimension of the drag reducing agent is greater than about 1,000 microns.

The present invention belongs to the technical field of natural gas hydrates (NGHs), and provides an environmentally friendly NGH inhibitor and application. The hydrate inhibitor has a component of nisin, and further comprises chitooligosaccharide and an alcohol thermodynamic hydrate inhibitor, that can enhance the thermostability of the inhibitor and the inhibitory effect for NGHs. The optimal application conditions of the NGH inhibitor of the present invention are: temperatures of −10 to 100° C., pressures of 0.1 to 25 MPa, and a maximum subcooling degree of 12° C. The inhibitor of the present invention has good NGH inhibitory performance and certain antibacterial effects, which is a low-dose, degradable, high temperature resistant, green, environmental protective, safe and efficient NGH inhibitor, that can be used for the fields of oil-gas transportation and NGHs, and provides a new solution for field application of green natural hydrate inhibitors.

Described herein are associative polymers capable of controlling a physical and/or chemical property of non-polar compositions and related compositions, methods and systems. Associative polymers herein described have a non-polar backbone and functional groups presented at ends of the non-polar backbone, with a number of the functional groups presented at the ends of the non-polar backbone formed by associative functional groups capable of undergoing an associative interaction with another associative functional group with an association constant (k) such that the strength of each associative interaction is less than the strength of a covalent bond between atoms and in particular less than the strength of a covalent bond between backbone atoms.

Described herein are associative polymers capable of controlling a physical and/or chemical property of non-polar compositions and related compositions, methods and systems. Associative polymers herein described have a non-polar backbone and functional groups presented at ends of the non-polar backbone, with a number of the functional groups presented at the ends of the non-polar backbone formed by associative functional groups capable of undergoing an associative interaction with another associative functional group with an association constant (k) such that the strength of each associative interaction is less than the strength of a covalent bond between atoms and in particular less than the strength of a covalent bond between backbone atoms.

A production method can include flowing a heterogeneous fluid mixture into contact with a homogenizing cutting tool, measuring a fluid mixture temperature so as to obtain a measured fluid mixture temperature, and determining a target fluid mixture temperature. The fluid mixture can be frictionally heated so as to obtain a heated and homogenized fluid mixture by driving the cutting tool at a rate based on (i) the target fluid mixture temperature and (ii) the measured fluid mixture temperature. The heated and homogenized fluid mixture can be flowed away from the cutting tool.

A production method can include flowing a heterogeneous fluid mixture into contact with a homogenizing cutting tool, measuring a fluid mixture temperature so as to obtain a measured fluid mixture temperature, and determining a target fluid mixture temperature. The fluid mixture can be frictionally heated so as to obtain a heated and homogenized fluid mixture by driving the cutting tool at a rate based on (i) the target fluid mixture temperature and (ii) the measured fluid mixture temperature. The heated and homogenized fluid mixture can be flowed away from the cutting tool.

The invention provides a cooler system for a hydrocarbon flow system and a method of use. The cooler system comprises a heat exchange conduit comprising a primary inlet for receiving a fluid to be cooled and a primary outlet. A return conduit is fluidly connected to the heat exchange conduit at a return location downstream of the primary inlet, and is configured to direct at least a proportion of fluid in the heat exchange conduit from the return location to a secondary cooler inlet system. The secondary cooler inlet system enables inflow of recycled fluid from the return conduit to the heat exchange conduit at a plurality of inflow positions along the hydrocarbon flow system, upstream of the return location. The method comprises flowing fluid into the hydrocarbon flow system at one or more of the plurality of inflow positions.

The invention provides a cooler system for a hydrocarbon flow system and a method of use. The cooler system comprises a heat exchange conduit comprising a primary inlet for receiving a fluid to be cooled and a primary outlet. A return conduit is fluidly connected to the heat exchange conduit at a return location downstream of the primary inlet, and is configured to direct at least a proportion of fluid in the heat exchange conduit from the return location to a secondary cooler inlet system. The secondary cooler inlet system enables inflow of recycled fluid from the return conduit to the heat exchange conduit at a plurality of inflow positions along the hydrocarbon flow system, upstream of the return location. The method comprises flowing fluid into the hydrocarbon flow system at one or more of the plurality of inflow positions.

Methods and systems for optimizing pipeline operation are disclosed, including an operating system for optimizing a pipeline objective for a pipeline system comprising a plurality of pipeline sections, the operating system comprising a controller configured to: (i) generate a current state of at least one section of the pipeline, the current state comprising the measured state of at least one pipeline object and at least one fluid object; (ii) generate a line fill; (iii) generate a predicted future state of the at least one section of the pipeline from the line fill, and a schedule of planned additions of fluids and planned flow rates; (iv) generate an optimized future state of the at least one section of the pipeline with an optimization function; and (v) determine one or more setpoints to implement the optimized future state.