Drag Reduction Using Polysaccharides in a Taylor–Couette Flow

Abstract

Three different polysaccharides, aloe vera, Tamarind powder and pineapple fibers, are utilized as drag reducing agents in a turbulent flow. Using a Taylor–Couette setup, consisting of a rotating inner cylinder, for measuring the drag reduction, a range of Reynolds numbers from 4 × 104 to 3 × 105 has been explored in this study. The results are in good agreement with previous studies on polysaccharides conducted in a pipe/channel flow and a maximum drag reduction of 35% has been observed. Further, novel additives such as cellulose nanocrystals (CNC), surfactants and CNC grafted with surfactants are also examined in this study for drag reduction. CNC due to its rigid rod structure reduced the drag by 30%. Surfactant, due to its unique micelle formation showed maximum drag reduction of 80% at low Re. Further, surfactant was grafted on CNC and was examined for drag reduction. However, drag reduction property of surfactant was observed to be significantly reduced after grafting on CNC. The effect of Reynolds number on drag reduction is studied for all the additives investigated in this study.

Keywords

• drag reduction
• polysaccharides
• Taylor–Couette flow
• turbulent flow