Laminar Forced Convection in Viscous Shear-Thinning Liquid Flows Inside Circular Pipes: Case for a Modified Power-Law Rheology

Abstract

Laminar forced convection in viscous, non-Newtonian polymeric liquids that exhibit pseudoplastic or shear-thinning behavior is characterized. The fluid rheology is characterized by a new asymptotic power-law (APL) model, which appropriately represents extensive data for apparent viscosity variation with shear rate—from the low-shear constant-viscosity plateau to shear thinning at high shear rates. This is contrasted with the traditional Ostwald-de-Waele or power-law (PL) model that invariably over-extends the pseudoplasticity in the very low shear-rate region. The latter's limitations are demonstrated by computationally obtaining frictional loss and convective heat transfer results for fully developed laminar flows in a circular pipe maintained at uniform heat flux. The Fanning friction factor and Nusselt number, as would be anticipated from the rheology map of pseudoplastic fluids, are functions of flow rate with the APL model unlike the Newtonian-like constant value obtained with the PL model. Comparisons of the two sets of results highlight the extent of errors inherent in the PL rheology model, which range from 23% to 68% for frictional loss and 3.8% to 13.7% for heat transfer. The new APL rheology model is thus shown to be the more precise characterization of viscous shear-thinning fluids for their thermal processing applications with convective heat transfer.