An experimental investigation of the cross-flow of power law liquids past a bundle of cylinders and in a bed of stacked screens

Abstract

The steady flow of power-law polymer solutions normal to arrays of cylinders and in a bed of screens has been investigated experimentally. Extensive pressure drop measurements have been made for three different test cells (two tube bundles and one bed made of screens) of different voidages for a series of inelastic carboxymethyl cellulose and sodium alginate aqueous solutions. The resulting values of friction factor correlate well with a modified definition of the Reynolds number based on the capillary bundle representation of the bed. The new data extend considerably the range of voidage values from ∼0.6 to ∼0.87. Extensive comparisons have also been made between the present experimental data and our previous calculations based on the use of simple cell models. The close correspondence between the two demonstrates the utility of such idealized analyses. All in all, the present results embrace the following ranges of physical and kinematic conditions: Reynolds number: 0.01 to ∼1200; power-law flow behaviour index: 0.38 to 1; and three values of voidage, namely, 0.74, 0.78 and 0.87.