Characterization of drag reduction and degradation effects in the turbulent pipe flow of dilute polymer solutions

Turbulent drag reduction data were obtained at Re = 9000 in a 0.62-cm-I.D. pipe for five Polyox compounds covering a wide range of molecular weights. The concentration dependence of drag reduction was shown to obey an improved form of Virk's drag reduction equation, which was previously applied only to flows in capillary tubes. The efficiency of the drag-reducing polymer additives on a unit concentration basis at infinite dilution was determined by using a characteristic parameter, DR_m/c], for each compound. A linear relationship was found to exist between this parameter and polymer molecular weight. The polymer degradation data were analyzed through use of a variable related to the dissipated energy in the wall region. The polymer molecular weight was found to decrease as a hyperbolic function of the dissipated energy function. By examining the change of molecular weight with respect to this function, a degradation index characteristic of the entire Polyox polymer family was established. This index may be of general application and provide a method by which the shear stability of various species of drag-reducing polymers may be meaningfully compared.