Experimental studies on drag reduction by coupled addition of nonionic polymer poly(ethylene oxide) and cationic surfactant cetyltrimethyl ammonium chloride. Issue 4 (25th June 2018)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Pang, Mingjun; Xie, Chengcheng; Zhang, Zhan; Dai, Junrong
• Is Part Of: Asia-Pacific journal of chemical engineering. Volume 13:Issue 4(2018)
• Page Start: n/a
• Page End: n/a
• Publication Date: 2018-06-25
• Subjects: channel flow -- polymer -- surfactant -- synergistic effect -- turbulent drag reduction; Chemical engineering -- Periodicals; 660
• DOI: 10.1002/apj.2218
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1932-2135

Abstract

Abstract: More and more attention is paid to the synergistic drag reduction by polymers and surfactants because there are serious disadvantages of the drag reduction by them alone. In order to understand the synergistic effect of the drag reduction by polymers and surfactants, in‐depth investigations are performed on the drag reduction behavior by simultaneous addition of nonionic polymer poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO) and cationic surfactant cetyltrimethyl ammonium chloride (CTAC) in a two‐dimensional channel flow. The sodium salicylate (NaSal) is added to provide counter ions for promoting micelle formation. For comparisons, the drag‐reducing behaviors of PEO and CTAC/NaSal alone are also investigated. The present results show that the synergistic effect of the drag reduction depends upon concentration combination of PEO and CTAC/NaSal. The Reynolds number range with a high drag‐reducing rate becomes wider due to the simultaneous addition of PEO & CTAC/NaSal, whereas the ultimate drag reduction rate has a minimal change. The drag reduction enhancement is a complicated and nonlinear issue, and it seems that PEO and CTAC/NaSal play different roles in the drag reduction in different Reynolds number ranges.