Drag reducing agents (DRA’s) are mainly used in the pipelines to reduce the turbulence of the solution. In many viscous fluids there is always an increase in drag which means that always an opposite force exists between the liquid and the external source which can be the solid surface supporting the liquid or can be temperature, light causing friction in the flow of liquid. This phenomenon is called drag/ fluid resistance in fluid dynamics. Drag forces always decreases the fluid velocity. To reduce the drag resistance many drag reducing agents are used in petroleum and oil mill industries to reduce the fluid friction.
The drag reducing agents include surfactants which are polymers that can reduce the turbulence and improve the flow of the oil/ solution with greater efficiency. Due to the increase in pressure in the pipelines these drag reducing agents are used to reduce the pressure. The surfactants which are nothing but organic polymers gets degraded due to the high pressure and temperature in the oil pipes. It is important to reinject the surfactants to maintain the pressure and also to reduce the turbulence. Main factors involved in drag resistance are pipe diameter and temperature. With increase in temperature the surfactants tend to degrade and with low temperature the surfactants tend to aggregate and change their basic shape. Also it is important to have pipes with larger diameters to reduce the turbulence.
This drag reducing phenomenon is even used in biomedical industry in developing stents for studying the blood flow in various cardiomyopathies. Current research in the rodent models is working on the fluid dynamics in the biological system to improve the blood flow and also to increase the blood oxygen supply to the brain. Many chemically modified polymers are been developed to reduce the turbulence in fluids. Many surfactants like alcohol absorbed polyalphaolefin, aluminium are currently used as drag reducing agents. As they improve in the flow rate these DRA’s are also called as flow improvers.
The drag reducing agents include surfactants which are polymers that can reduce the turbulence and improve the flow of the oil/ solution with greater efficiency. Due to the increase in pressure in the pipelines these drag reducing agents are used to reduce the pressure. The surfactants which are nothing but organic polymers gets degraded due to the high pressure and temperature in the oil pipes. It is important to reinject the surfactants to maintain the pressure and also to reduce the turbulence. Main factors involved in drag resistance are pipe diameter and temperature. With increase in temperature the surfactants tend to degrade and with low temperature the surfactants tend to aggregate and change their basic shape. Also it is important to have pipes with larger diameters to reduce the turbulence.
This drag reducing phenomenon is even used in biomedical industry in developing stents for studying the blood flow in various cardiomyopathies. Current research in the rodent models is working on the fluid dynamics in the biological system to improve the blood flow and also to increase the blood oxygen supply to the brain. Many chemically modified polymers are been developed to reduce the turbulence in fluids. Many surfactants like alcohol absorbed polyalphaolefin, aluminium are currently used as drag reducing agents. As they improve in the flow rate these DRA’s are also called as flow improvers.
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