Optimal use of DRA in oil pipelines

Drag reducers additives (DRA) has become a need for pipeline companies to increase transportation capabilities in saturated pipelines. When injecting drag reducers in very low concentration (5 to 25 parts per million), pipeline flow significant increases, while maintaining base product specification. The high cost of these additives makes necessary to optimize its consumption. The paper presents an optimization algorithm to minimize the DRA consumption but satisfying transportation needs. The algorithm is based on a best first search algorithm. Some results obtained with an oil pipeline in Northern Spain are presented in this paper.