DRAG AND HEAT TRANSFER REDUCTION CAUSED BY HETEROGENEOUS DRAG REDUCING SURFACTANT ADDITIVES

Abstract

A series of experiments were performed to determine the heat transfer and friction coefficients in commercially smooth pipes for dilute solutions of a heterogeneous drag reducing surfactant. The studies covered a wide range of variables including surfactant concentration, pipe diameter, Reynolds number and temperature. An extensive set of data was obtained for heat transfer and friction coefficients for a heterogeneous surfactant known and MDR-2000. A wide range of Reynolds numbers were covered and experiments were conducted for many different Prandtl numbers. All drag and heat transfer reduction experiments were performed in the same installation using the same measurement techniques which facilitates the assessment of the trends caused by the various parameters studied. Typical results showed that the friction coefficient was reduced by half at the optimum concentration. While, the heat transfer coefficient was reduced even more dramatically.