Turbulent Drag Reduction by Polymers, Surfactants and Their Mixtures in Pipeline Flow (original) (raw)

lthough extensive research work has been carried out on the drag reduction behavior of polymers and surfactants alone, little progress has been made on the synergistic effects of combined polymers and surfactants. A number of studies have demonstrated that certain types of polymers and surfactants interact with each other to form surfactant-polymer complexes. The formation of such complexes can cause changes in the solution properties and may result in better drag reduction characteristics as compared with pure additives. A series of drag-reducing surfactants and polymers were screened for the synergistic studies. The following two widely used polymeric drag reducing agents (DRA) were chosen: a copolymer of acrylamide and sodium acrylate (referred to as PAM) and polyethylene oxide (PEO). Among the different types of surfactants screened, a cationic surfactant octadecyltrimethylammonium chloride (OTAC) and an anionic surfactant Sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) were selected for the syner...