Drag Reduction by Dried Malted Rice Solutions in Pipe Flow

Abstract

In this study, the friction factor of a turbulent pipe flow for dried rice malt extract solutions was experimentally reduced to that of a Newtonian fluid. The friction factor was measured for four types of solutions at different culture times and concentrations. The results indicate that the experimental data points of the test solutions diverged from the maximum drag reduction asymptote at and above Re√f ≅ 200~250 and aligned parallel to those of Newtonian fluids. This drag reduction phenomenon differed from that observed in artificial high-molecular-weight polymer solutions, called Type A drag reduction, in which the drag reduction level is dependent on the Reynolds number in the intermediate region. This is classified as a Type B drag reduction phenomenon in biopolymer solutions and fine solid particle suspensions. The order of drag reduction corresponded to approximately 5–50 ppm xanthan gum solutions, as reported previously. Furthermore, the velocity profile in a turbulent pipe flow was predicted using a semi-theoretical equation in which the friction factors were determined using the difference between the experimental results of the tested solutions and Newtonian fluids. The results indicate considerable thickening of the viscous sublayer in the turbulent pipe flow of the test solutions compared with that of Newtonian fluids.