Crude oil is considered as a major source of energy all over the world. Midstream refers to the various methods of transportation. Important issues that oil transportation methods face are spills and inadvertent emissions. Therefore, most of the technology developments in transportation methods are aimed at reducing emissions, increasing efficiency, or preventing spills and leaks. Piping systems are the safest and most efficient and cost-effective way for crude oil transportation. The process suffers from serious problems such as: asphaltene and paraffin structures interactions, pipes pressure drop, and high pumping energy consumption. One of the economical important challenges in oil pipeline transportation is to keep the flowability and reduce the pressure drop along the pipe. The current review highlights the recent and most development techniques which have been used to enhance the fluidity of crude oil in pipelines.

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Crude oil flowing in pipelines suffers from a problem fluid flow pressure drop and high energy consumption for fluid pumping. The flow can be enhanced using either viscosity reduction or drag reduction techniques. Drag reduction (DR) can be considered as the most effective and applicable method. Such method contributes in reducing the frictional energy losses during the flow by addition of little amounts of drag reducing agents (DRAs). The present work focuses on comparing between the effect of PMMA only and PMMA with CNT on drag reduction In order to achieve this object, an experimental rig has been designed and implemented. It should be mentioned that the ring consists of: a crude oil Perspex pipe, oil pump, pressure sensors. Two additive materials including PMMA and CNT with different concentrations have been used to reduce the drag inside the oil pipe. polymethyl metha acrylate polymer (PMMA) with different concentrations 1000, 2000, 3000, 4000 mg/L. It has been shown 3000ppm is the best where the percentage of drag reduction reached to 65%. While, A mixture of CNT and PMMA with (1000, 2000, 3000, 4000, 5000) mg/L are used and the results showed that 50% of DR is achieved at 2000 mg/L.

Flow of crude oil in pipelines suffers from a problem of fluid flow pressure drop and high energy consumption for fluid pumping. Flow can be enhanced using either viscosity reduction or drag reduction techniques. Drag reduction (DR) is considered as a most effective and most applicable method. The technique contributes in reducing the frictional energy losses during the flow by addition of little amounts from drag reducing agents. The present work focuses on preparation and application of a new natural and low cost material derived from palm fiber (PF) that has been tested as a drag reducing agent (DRA) for crude oil flow enhancement. This objective has been achieved through designing and constructing of an experimental rig consisting of: a crude oil pipe, oil pump, pressure sensors, solenoid valve and programmable logic control. The additive material (PF) is prepared with different diameters (75µm, 125µm, 140µm) and tested with different concentrations as: 100, 200, 300, 400, and 500 mg/L for reducing the drag inside the oil pipe. The experimental results showed that the fiber with 125µm diameter and 100ppm is the best where the percentage of drag reduction reached 43%. Furthermore, the results of this work proved that PF is an efficient and low cost DRA that can be applied successfully in crude oil pipelines as well as its contribution in the waste management.

The pressure wave is a serious problem in crude oil transportation pipelines. It is generated at the beginning and at the end of crude oil pumping process or as a result of sudden closing of valves. The high turbulence fluid particles in presence of pressure wave resulting in sever stresses on pipe walls needing for maintenance and replacement after a period of time. It is also leading to dissipation of flow energy consuming much more power for oil pumping. The objective of the present work is to decrease and eliminate the pressure wave in Iraqi crude oil pipelines through designing, manufacturing, and testing of a novel pressure wave filter with optimum design. The experimental system consists from: porous filter, oil pipe, pump, AC drive, and digital pressure transducers. The porous filter that was tested to eliminate the pressure wave is composed from various pipes (0.5 inch Perspex pipe, 1 inch PVC pipe, and 2 inches stainless steel pipe) with different porous materials to absorb the pressure energy from the fluid particles. These porous media are (1.5cm, 1cm, 0.4cm glass beads, and glass cylinders of 2cm length, 2cm outer diameter, and 2mm thickness). The experimental results proved the successful of the invented porous filter for eliminating the pressure wave by 99% using optimum design without suppressing the flow rate of crude oil in the pipe. The results obtained are quite significant since it awards a simple and low-cost solution for a real and practical problem in crude oil transportation sector.