Drag reducer is a kind of polymer chemical, which can reduce the friction of liquid flowing in the pipeline. The use of drag reducers plays an important role in increasing transportation, saving energy and reducing consumption, improving economic and social benefits of oil pipelines. The research focus of drag reducers is still the development of new products and new synthesis methods. Many kinds of polymers can be synthesized by changing the type of monomers, the connection mode of structural units, the sequence distribution and the composition of monomers, which provides the possibility and feasibility for the preparation of polymer drag reducers with specified structure and expected performance.

Drag reducer is a kind of chemical product to reduce pipeline friction loss. It is a high polymer and belongs to hydrocarbon. In the late 1940s, great progress was made in the research of catalysts and additives, which provided favorable conditions for the petroleum refining industry, greatly improved the yield of refined products and product quality. Then the additives entered the oil field and made a great contribution to the development of the oil field. It was only in the 1970s that drag reducers began to enter the pipeline industry. Oil pipelines should be competitive for railways, highways and waterways, and the chemicals used should be high-efficiency and low-cost, but the drag reducer should be economically feasible, and a lot of work needs to be done. In 1979, polymer drag reducer was successfully applied in the crude oil pipeline across Alaska, which opened up a situation for the application of drag reducer in the oil transportation industry and made a leap in the oil transportation process.