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Predicting polymer drag reduction in turbulent pipe flows from rheological characteristics
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- Author / Creator
- Singh, Satyajit
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Predicting polymer drag reduction from polymer solution rheology can be potentially achieved by developing a model between friction factor and rheological characteristics. The model’s foundation depends on establishing a correlation between these parameters, and its robustness depends on the size of the data utilized. To establish this relation for hydrocarbon-based polymer solutions, the present work demonstrates friction factor tests with water-based polymer solution as preliminary results and parallelly presents the design, fabrication and commissioning of a flow facility that can operate with diesel fuel as the flow medium. The water-based polymer solution analysis includes extensive pipe flow tests for three different pipe sizes (1-inch, 1.5-inch, and 2-inch inner diameter) and several drag reduction percentages, to gather pressure drop data from the pipe flow facility to further calculate the skin friction coefficient (Cf). For each pressure drop, a fluid sample from the pipe flow setup is tested for shear viscosity and extensional viscosity measurements. The shear viscosity (µ) measurements, along with the known fluid density (ρ), flow velocity (V) and pipe inner diameter (D) were utilized to calculate the Reynold’s number (Re) of the flow through the relation Re = (ρ V D) /µ and the extensional viscosity data provides the relaxation time (tr) of the sample which was utilized along with the shear rate (γ) to calculate the Weissenberg number (Wi), given by Wi = tr · γ. These values of Cf, Re and Wi for each sample point when projected together, exhibit good correlation, and presents strong clues towards understanding the dependence of Cf on Wi and Re. The extensive data for water-based polymer solution test and its analysis are presented. This will be used as foundational work for similar pipe flow tests planned with diesel-based polymer solution, to be conducted in a separate flow facility for diesel.
Based on the concept of the water flow loop, the diesel flow facility with a 1-inch pipe size was designed with consideration on safety and ventilation around the loop. The detailed component level design is presented, and the fabrication and commissioning of the loop was completed. Similar to the water-based tests, three preliminary tests with diesel fuel were conducted at six different Re values (5000, 10000, 15000, 20000, 25000, and 30000) to confirm the alignment with the Newtonian friction factor values. The results showed close and consistent alignment with the Newtonian Cf – Re curve, confirming the diesel flow loop’s readiness for polymer solution tests. -
- Graduation date
- Spring 2024
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- Type of Item
- Thesis
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- Degree
- Master of Science
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- License
- This thesis is made available by the University of Alberta Libraries with permission of the copyright owner solely for non-commercial purposes. This thesis, or any portion thereof, may not otherwise be copied or reproduced without the written consent of the copyright owner, except to the extent permitted by Canadian copyright law.