Improvement of Drag Reduction for Water Flow in Pipe Based Nanofluid

Thamer Jasim Mohammed; Ellaf Khaled Abbass

doi:10.33261/jaaru.2019.27.1.005

Thamer Jasim Mohammed Chemical Engineering Department, University of Technology, Baghdad, Iraq
Ellaf Khaled Abbass Chemical Engineering Department, University of Technology, Baghdad, Iraq

DOI: https://doi.org/10.33261/jaaru.2019.27.1.005

Keywords: Drag Reduction, Nanofluid, Energy Losses, Nano particles

Abstract

In the present work, the effect of Nano fluids as drag reducing agents for water flowing in pipelines was studied. Tap water was chosen to be the tested liquid and the Nano fluid was a dilute solution of water and titanium dioxide (TiO₂) Nano particles which was used at five different concentrations (50, 100, 150, 200, and 250) ppm. The test section of the experimental setup consisted of a stainless steel pipe of 29.6 mm I.D (DN25) and 1.2 m long. Water was pumped with eight different flow rates (1.0 - 8.0 m³/hr) through the pipe at room temperature (35±1) ^o C. The effect of the nano particle concentration and the flow rate (or Reynolds number) on percentage drag reduction (%Dr) and flow rate increases (%FI) was examined. Generally, a gradual increase of %Dr &%FI was observed with increasing the NP concentration and bulk velocity. The highest TiO₂ concentration of 250 ppm and Re.No. of 106230 offered the maximum drag reduction which was 29.7%. Friction factors were also calculated from experimental data. Their values for pure water transported lies near or at Blasuis asymptote. While by introducing the additives, their values were positioned below Blasuis asymptotes towards Virk maximum drag reduction asymptotes.