Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-gxg78 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-18T21:07:58.206Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Turbulent flow drag reduction and degradation with dilute polymer solutions

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 March 2006

R. W. Paterson  and
F. H. Abernathy
R. W. Paterson
Affiliation:
Division of Engineering and Applied Physics, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts Present address: Fluid Dynamics Laboratory, United Aircraft Research Laboratories, East Hartford, Connecticut.
F. H. Abernathy
Affiliation:
Division of Engineering and Applied Physics, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Experimental studies of drag reduction and polymer degradation in turbulent pipe flow with dilute water solutions of unfractionated polyethylene oxide are described. Drag reduction results indicate that the magnitude of the reduction cannot be correlated on the basis of weight average molecular weight, rather the phenomenon depends strongly on the concentration of the highest molecular weight species present in the molecular weight distribution. Polymer degradation in turbulent flow is found to be severe for high molecular weight polymers causing appreciable changes in drag reduction and molecular weight with the duration of flow. Data indicates that drag reduction exists in the limit of infinite dilution suggesting that the phenomenon is due to the interaction of individual polymer molecules with the surrounding solvent and that the extent of reduction is relatively independent of pipe diameter when a comparison is carried out at equal solvent wall shear stresses. Consideration of the high viscosity obtained with solutions in an irrotational laminar flow field suggests this is due to polymer molecule deformation and that this phenomenon is central to the mechanism of turbulent flow drag reduction.

Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Fluid Mechanics , Volume 43 , Issue 4 , 2 October 1970 , pp. 689 - 710
Copyright
© 1970 Cambridge University Press

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Cottrell, F. R. 1968 An experimental study of the conformation of Polyisobutylene in hydrodynamic shear field. Sc.D. Thesis, M.I.T.
Fabula, A. G. 1965 The Toms phenomenon in the turbulent flow of very dilute polymer solutions. Proc. 4th Int. Congress on Rheology, Part 3, pp. 455–479. Interscience.
Fabula, A. G. 1966 An experimental study of grid turbulence in dilute high-polymer solutions. Report to U.S. Bureau of Naval Weapons via Office of Naval Research.
Fabula, A. G., Lumley, J. L. & Taylor, W. D. 1966 Some interpretations of the Toms effect. In Modern Developments in the Mechanics of Continua. Academic.
Flory, P. J. 1953 Principles of Polymer Chemistry. Cornell University Press.
Kline, S. J., Reynolds, W. D., Schraub, F. A. & Runstadler, P. W. 1967 J. Fluid Mech. 30, 741–73.
Lumley, J. L. 1969 Annual Review of Fluid Mechanics. Palo Alto, California: Annual Reviews, Inc.
Merrill, E. W., Smith, K. A., Shin, H. & Mickley, H. S. 1966 Study of turbulent flows of dilute polymer solutions in a Couette viscometer. Trans. Soc. Rheology, 10, 335–351.Google Scholar
Paterson, R. W. 1969 Turbulent flow drag reduction and degradation with dilute polymer solutions. Office of Naval Research, Contract N00014–67-A-0298–0002.Google Scholar
Shin, H. 1965 Reduction of drag in turbulence by dilute polymer solutions. Sc.D. Thesis, M.I.T., Cambridge, Mass.
Taylor, G. I. 1932 The viscosity of a fluid containing small drops of another fluid. Proc. Roy. Soc. A 138.Google Scholar
Taylor, G. I. 1934 The formation of emulsions in definable fields of flow. Proc. Roy. Soc. A 146, 501.Google Scholar
Toms, B. A. 1948 Some observations on the flow of linear polymer solutions through straight tubes at large Reynolds numbers. Proc. 1st Int. Congress on Rheology, vol. ii, pp. 135–41. North Holland.
Virk, P. S., Merrill, E. W., Mickley, H. S., Smith, K. A. & Mollo-Christensen, E. L. 1967 The Toms phenomenon: turbulent pipe flow of dilute polymer solutions. J. Fluid Mech. 30, 305–28.Google Scholar
Walsh, M. 1967 On the turbulent flow of dilute polymer solutions. Ph.D. Thesis, Cal. Inst. Tech., Pasadena, California.