Drag Reduction of Polymer Solutions in a Pipe With a Highly Water-Repellent Wall

Abstract

By applying a highly water-repellent wall pipe in the drag reduction of polymer solutions, a flow system in which drag reduction is obtained in both laminar and turbulent flow ranges has been realized. Experiments were carried out to measure the pressure drop in pipes with a highly water-repellent wall and an acrylic resin wall by means of a pressure transducer. The diameter of the pipe was 6mm. The polymer solutions tested were PE015 aqueous solutions in the concentration range of 30ppm∼1000ppm. The drag reduction ratio for laminar flow was about 11∼15%. To understand this effect, the pressure drop was measured by using surfactant solutions and degassed water, and by pressurizing tap water in the pipeline. It was shown that the laminar drag reduction does not occur in the case of surfactant solutions although degassed water and pressurizing tap water in the pipeline have no effect on the reduction. In the laminar flow range, the friction factor of a power-law fluid with fluid slip was analyzed by applying the modified boundary condition on fluid slip at the pipe wall, and the analytical results agree with the experimental results in the low Reynolds number range.