The Settling Behavior of Rigid Spheres in Viscoelastic Non-Newtonian Fluids.

• Author / Creator

  Okesanya, Temitope Oluwaseun

• Fluid-particle transport systems are ubiquitous in various industries. In the petroleum industry they are encountered in hydraulic fracturing where solid proppants are transported through fracturing fluids to induced fractures and in drilling operations where solid cuttings are circulated back to the surface. In the chemical industry, majority of the processes that deal with slurries and particle transport likewise involve fluid-particle transport systems. It is desirable that transported solids are suspended and reach their destination before settling in order to improve operational efficiency. However, in order to ensure particle suspension and cognize what conditions necessitate or hinder settling; the settling behavior of particles in these complex non-Newtonian fluids must be fully demystified. The accurate prediction and description of particle settling behavior in these non-Newtonian fluids is paramount for the design, analysis, and optimization of a wide spectrum of these fluid-particle industrial processes. It is therefore imperative to study and elucidate the settling behavior of particles in these types of fluids.
  Hence, an experimental study was conducted to explicate and describe the settling behavior of spheres in non-Newtonian fluids by developing accurate predictive models of particle settling behavior in non-Newtonian fluids. Using a semi-mechanistic model based on the balance of the forces acting on the settling particle and detailed statistical analyses of the settling test measurement results, mathematical generalized models were developed for predicting settling velocity of spherical particles in viscoelastic and viscoinelastic power-law and viscoplastic fluids.

• Subjects / Keywords

  • non-Newtonian fluids
  • modelling,
  • Elasticity

• Graduation date

  Fall 2019

• Type of Item

  Thesis

• Degree

  Master of Science

• DOI

  https://doi.org/10.7939/r3-d183-x909

• License

  Permission is hereby granted to the University of Alberta Libraries to reproduce single copies of this thesis and to lend or sell such copies for private, scholarly or scientific research purposes only. Where the thesis is converted to, or otherwise made available in digital form, the University of Alberta will advise potential users of the thesis of these terms. The author reserves all other publication and other rights in association with the copyright in the thesis and, except as herein before provided, neither the thesis nor any substantial portion thereof may be printed or otherwise reproduced in any material form whatsoever without the author's prior written permission.