Dilute solution molecular characterization and drag reducation studies of high molecular weight polyethylene oxide

• Main Author: Jones, Brian Dion
• Other Authors: Rochefort, Willie E.
• Language: en_US
• Published: 2012
• Subjects: Polyethylene oxide > Mechanical properties; Frictional resistance (Hydrodynamics)
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/1957/29401

The molecular weight distributions of two high molecular weight (M[subscript w]>>1 million) polyethylene polymers, WSR-308 and WSR-301, were characterized with gel permeation chromatography (GPC) coupled with a multi-angle laser light scattering detector (MALLS). The M[subscript w] of the WSR-308 was found to be 5.10x10⁶ g/mol with a molecular weight range from about 1 million g/mol to as high as 10 million g/mol. The M[subscript w] of the WSR-301 was found to be 3.16x10⁶ g/mol with the lowest molecular weight about 400,000 g/mol while the highest molecular weight component may have been as high as 8 million g/mol. Attempts to measure the M[subscript w] of the two polymers using static light scattering (SLS) techniques proved to be difficult. In conjunction with these studies, drag reduction and shear degradation studies of the two polymers in water were also conducted. Solutions of the two polymers, ranging from 1 to 10 ppm including mixtures of the two, were tested in a pipe-flow apparatus to obtain friction factor and %DR data. In every case, the greater the concentration and/or the molecular weight of the polymer, the greater the drag reduction effects. Additionally, the higher molecular weight polymer and mixtures with a greater weight percentage of the higher molecular weight polymer were found to shear degrade less quickly than otherwise. A unique point along the maximum drag reduction asymptote (MDA) termed the "divergence point" was a focus of this study and an energy model based on frictional losses correlates well to the data. The correlation developed here relates the difference in frictional losses between the solvent by itself and the polymer solution directly to the mass concentration and molecular weight of the polymer. This frictional difference was proportional to the product of the mass concentration and molecular weight where both quantities were to approximately the first power. === Graduation date: 2002