Abstract

PONCE MORALES, Rogelio et al. Estudio Experimental de la Reducción de Fricción en la Conducción de Fluidos usando Surfactantes. Ingenier. mecáni. tecnolog. desarroll [online]. 2014, vol.4, n.6, pp.205-217. ISSN 1665-7381.

The experimental results of the water-surfactants dissolution in the drag reduction during the liquid conduction in pipes are presented. An experimental research with water-surfactant mixtures flows was undertaken, three types of surfactants were tested: anionic, cationic and non ionic. An experimental set up was designed and built; the test section was a cylindrical plexiglass 19 mm internal diameter pipe whose length was 300 D. The surfactant concentrations in the mixtures were 150, 250, 500, 750 and 1,000 ppm, added according to an experimental program which considered the quantity and type of additive supplied in different liquid mass flow rates. The experimental pressure drop was compared against the ones obtained with the same water flow rates used in the experimentation. A drag reduction around 44.3 % was attained for a Re = 6,851 (Re = 11,243 without surfactant addition), corresponding to a water solution with 250 ppm of cetyl trimethyl ammonium chloride with 100 ppm of Sodium Salicylate as a stabilizer. Experimental results are promising but there are still some questions waiting for a response like: the way to inject and recover surfactants, mechanisms which produce the drag reduction, and the temperature effect, among others.

Keywords : surfactants; pipe flow; drag reduction; experimental study; pressure drop.