Abstract
The study of frictional losses in fiber suspension flow is one of the significant scientific interests as the characteristics of suspension flow considerably changes with shear stress, fiber source, and treatments applied on fibers. Pressure drop measurements were obtained for different Malaysian crop fiber suspensions flowing through a closed conduit. The generated data were gathered over a range of flow rates and suspension concentrations. It was found that the magnitude of the pressure drop of the fiber suspensions is dependent on the concentration, characteristics, and fiber source. Considerable drag reduction is obtained for concentration of 0.6 wt. % at high flow rates. Such a reduction of pressure drop at the particular concentrations and the flow rates is interesting and useful as these data can be used for design and optimization of fiber handling equipment and piping systems. Furthermore, the effect of different fibers, fiber properties and flexibility on pressure drop were studied.
Highlights
Fiber suspension flow is different from Two-phase flow occurs in the transportation of oil and gas, mining, petrochemical process, boilers and condensers as fibers are flexible and asymmetric
The minimum drag ratio is observed for highest concentration of 0.6 wt.% at 2.8 m/s and that is slightly higher than the pressure drop of water
The minimum drag ratios 0.966, 1.02 and 1.035 are observed for kbm, kckb3 and kcm at velocity 1.6, 2.8 and 2.8 respectively. These results indicate that floc and network formation even at same concentration occur at different velocities and in the case of long fiber the minimum drag ratio is observed in the mid-range of velocity 1.6 m/s over this point drag ratio successively increases slightly
Summary
Fiber suspension flow is different from Two-phase flow occurs in the transportation of oil and gas, mining, petrochemical process, boilers and condensers as fibers are flexible and asymmetric. Studies conducted on fiber suspensions flow and their characterization and correlations are mainly wood pulp fibers. The physical characteristics of the fiber suspensions, as well as the properties of the end products, are dependent on the hydrodynamic behavior and structure of the suspensions [3]. Features, such as consistency, flow conditions, interactions and fiber properties affect the hydrodynamic behavior and structure of the suspensions flow. The investigations conducted on fiber suspensions flow and characterization of fiber suspensions are mainly wood pulps and polymeric fibers [4,5,6,7,8]
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