Free-flowing solid encapsulated drag reducing additives

1. A process of manufacturing a free-flowing solid encapsulated drag reducing additive, the process comprising:

forming a solid drag reducing additive from one or more C 5-20 olefin monomers;

dispersing the solid drag reducing additive in a liquid medium to form a dispersion, the liquid medium comprising an encapsulant and a non-solvent;

grinding the solid drag reducing additive in the liquid medium under non-cryogenic grinding conditions to form a second dispersion comprising encapsulated drag reducing additive particles;

feeding the second dispersion comprising the encapsulated drag reducing additive particles into a spray dryer in a form of droplets using an atomizer or a spray nozzle;

contacting the droplets with a heated gas; and

removing the non-solvent to form the free-flowing solid encapsulated drag reducing additive, the heated gas having an inlet temperature of 50° C. to 300° C. and an outlet temperature of 25° C. to 100° C.

2. The process of claim 1 , wherein the encapsulant comprises a polyethylene homopolymer, a polyethylene copolymer, a poly-alpha-olefin derived from one or more C 2-4 monomers, a polyethylene glycol, a polypropylene glycol, am alcohol ethoxylate, an alcohol propoxylate, a polyacrylate, a polymethacrylate, a polystyrene, a polyester, a polycarbonate, a polyamide, alumina, silica, carbon black, calcined clays, talc, and metal stearates, or a combination comprising at least one of the foregoing.

3. The process of claim 1 , wherein the non-solvent comprises water, an alcohol, or a combination comprising at least one of the foregoing.

4. The process of claim 3 , wherein the alcohol comprises one or more of the following: methanol; ethanol; a propyl alcohol; butanol;

pentanol; hexanol; glycerol; ethylene glycol; propylene glycol; diethylene glycol;

dipropylene glycol; or a methyl ether of a glycol.

5. The process of claim 1 , wherein the dispersion comprises about 10 wt. % to about 60 wt. % of the drag reducing additive, and about 40 wt. % to about 90 wt. % of the non-solvent, which is water, each based on the total weight of the dispersion.

6. The process of claim 1 , wherein the dispersion further comprises a non-agglomeration agent including a salt of fatty acids having 12-20 carbon atoms, a polyethylene glycol, a methoxylated polyethylene glycol, a polyethylene wax, stearamide, ethylene-bis-stearamide, an inorganic clay, a silicone, or a combination comprising at least one of the foregoing.

7. The process of claim 1 , further comprising synthesizing a drag reducing additive via bulk polymerization; and grinding the drag reducing additive to form the solid drag reducing additive.

8. The process of claim 1 , further comprising synthesizing a drag reducing additive via solution polymerization; and precipitating the drag reducing additive to form the solid drag reducing additive.

9. The process of claim 1 , wherein the encapsulated drag reducing additive particles have a particle size of about 10 to 2,000 microns.

10. The process of claim 1 , wherein the free-flowing solid encapsulated drag reducing additive comprises less than 1 wt. % of the non-solvent based on the total weight of the free-flowing solid encapsulated drag reducing additive.

11. The process of claim 1 , wherein the process is a continuous process.

12. A process of manufacturing a free-flowing solid encapsulated drag reducing additive, the process comprising:

forming a solid drag reducing additive from one or more C 5-20 olefin monomers;

grinding the solid drag reducing additive in the presence of an encapsulant under cryogenic grinding conditions to form encapsulated drag reducing additive particles;

dispersing the encapsulated drag reducing additive particles in a liquid medium to form a dispersion, the liquid medium comprising a non-solvent;

feeding the dispersion comprising the encapsulated drag reducing additive particles into a spray dryer in a form of droplets using an atomizer or a spray nozzle;

contacting the droplets with a heated gas; and

removing the non-solvent by a drying technique including spray drying, flash drying, or rotating disc drying to form the free-flowing solid encapsulated drag reducing additive, the heated gas having an inlet temperature of 50° C. to 300° C. and an outlet temperature of 25° C. to 100° C.

13. The process of claim 12 , wherein the encapsulant comprises a polyethylene homopolymer, a polyethylene copolymer, a poly-alpha-olefin derived from one or more C 2-4 monomers, a polyethylene glycol, a polypropylene glycol, am alcohol ethoxylate, an alcohol propoxylate, a polyacrylate, a polymethacrylate, a polystyrene, a polyester, a polycarbonate, a polyamide, alumina, silica, carbon black, calcined clays, talc, and metal stearates, or a combination comprising at least one of the foregoing.

14. The process of claim 12 , wherein the non-solvent comprises water, an alcohol, or a combination comprising at least one of the foregoing.

15. The process of claim 12 , wherein the dispersion further comprises a non-agglomeration agent including a salt of fatty acids having 12-20 carbon atoms, a polyethylene glycol, a methoxylated polyethylene glycol, a polyethylene wax, stearamide, ethylene-bis-stearamide, an inorganic clay, a silicone, or a combination comprising at least one of the foregoing.

16. The process of claim 1 , wherein the free-flowing solid encapsulated drag reducing additive comprises less than 0.5 wt. % of the non-solvent based on the total weight of the free-flowing solid encapsulated drag reducing additive.

17. The process of claim 1 , further comprising heating the second dispersion comprising the encapsulated drag reducing additive particles before feeding the second dispersion into the spray dryer.

18. The process of claim 17 , wherein the encapsulated drag reducing additive particles have a particle size of about 75 to 750 microns, and a weight ratio of the solid drag reducing additive relative to the encapsulant in the encapsulated drag reducing additive particles is about 3:1 to about 5:1.