Effect of polymer and fiber additives on pressure drop in a rectangular channel

The influence of minute amounts of additives on pressure drop is an interesting fundamental phenomenon, potentially with important practical applications. Change of the pressure drop in a quasi-two-dimensional channel flow using various additives is experimentally investigated. Tests were conducted for a wide range of concentrations (100 ppm–500 ppm) and Reynolds numbers (16 000– 36 000) with two polymers and four rigid fibers used as additive. Maximum drag reduction of 22% was observed for xanthan gum. However, xanthan gum loses its drag-reducing property rapidly. It was also seen that drag reduction percentage of xanthan gum remains almost constant for different Reynolds numbers. Guar flour demonstrated good drag reduction property at high Reynolds numbers. Drag reduction of 17.5% at Re =33 200 using 300 ppm solution was observed. However, at low Reynolds numbers guar flour will cause an increase in pressure drop. Fiber fillers (aspect ratio=21) have been tested as well. In contrast to polymers, they increased the drag for the range of examined concentrations and Reynolds numbers. Polyacrylonitrile fiber with three different aspect ratios (106, 200, 400) was also used, which showed an increase in pressure drop at low aspect ratios. Polyacrylonitrile fibers of larger lengths (6 mm) demonstrated minor drag-reducing effects (up to 3%).