Experimental Evaluation of Drag Reduction in Pipe Flow Using Streamlined Turbulence Modifiers

Fluid Transportation is sustained by high power pumping to overcome the drag created by the shear stress, with considerable cost and energy consumption.In the current paper, a new technique is proposed, which meets the industry's desires to reduce drag and save pumping energy by mounting small streamlined protrusions in the pipe�s short segments� inner wall.The protrusions are functioning as turbulence modifiers by changing the turbulence structure in the flow near the wall.Series of experimental measurements were carried out using two configurations of TMs in 0.0572-m-diameter GI pipe, with water flow covering Reynolds number range from 55,000 to 110,000.The current study focuses on the effect of the population of the TMs on drag reduction.The results demonstrated drag reduction in the low population case, which has 30 TMs separated by 4.8 mm, by approximately 6.3.The high population case showed an increase in drag.However, it is possible to push the boundary for drag reduction efficiency limit by further investigation of configurations of TMs.It is highly recommended to investigate the technique with a different population and more geometries of the turbulence modifiers. © 2023, Institute of Technology PETRONAS Sdn Bhd.