Excess pressure losses in the capillary flow of molten polymers

The excess pressure losses due to end effects in the capillary flow of a linear low-density polyethylene resin (LLDPE) were studied both experimentally and numerically. First, they were determined experimentally by using two methods: i) by extrapolating experimental data of pressure drop versus length-to-radius ratios (L/R) to zero capillary length and ii) by means of using orifice dies (L/R 0). Both methods resulted in about the same end corrections. Numerical simulation was also used to model this important aspect of experimental rheology. The constitutive equation used in the simulations is a multimode K-BKZ equation proposed by Papanastasiou et al. (1983, J. Rheol. 27:387) and further modified by Luo and Tanner (1988, Int. J. Num. Meth. Eng., 25:9). It was found that the numerical predictions agreed qualitatively, but underestimated the experimental data for the various geometries used to determine the end effects.Dedicated to the memory of Professor Tasos C. Papanastasiou     

Bagley correction: the effect of contraction angle and its prediction

The excess pressure losses due to end effects (mainly entrance) in the capillary flow of a branched polypropylene melt were studied both experimentally and theoretically. These losses were first determined experimentally as a function of the contraction angle ranging from 10° to 150°. It was found that the excess pressure loss function decreases for the same apparent shear rate with increasing contraction angle from 10° to about 45°, and consequently slightly increases from 45° up to contraction angles of 150°. Numerical simulations using a multimode K-BKZ viscoelastic and a purely viscous (Cross) model were used to predict the end pressures. It was found that the numerical predictions do agree well with the experimental results for small contraction angles up to 30°. However, the numerical simulations under-predict the end pressure for larger contraction angles. The effects of viscoelasticity, shear, and elongation on the numerical predictions are also assessed in detail. Shear is the dominant factor controlling the overall pressure drop in flows through small contraction angles. Elongation becomes important at higher contraction angles (greater than 45°). It is demonstrated in abrupt contractions (angle of 180°) that both the entrance pressure loss and the vortex size are strongly dependent on the extensional viscosity for this branched polymer. It is suggested that such an experiment (visualisation of entrance flow) can be useful in evaluating the validity of constitutive equations and it can also be used to fitting parameters of rheological models that control the elongational viscosity.     

Experimental and conceptual problems in the rheological characterization of wheat flour doughs

Wheat flour dough is an industrially important material and a better understanding of its rheological behavior could have long ranging impact on the agricultural and the food processing industries. However, rheological characterization of dough is proving to be difficult due to a range of testing issues and anomalies in flow behavior. In a cone-and-plate rheometer wheat flour doughs “roll-out” of the gap before steady state viscosities can be established, as discussed by Bloksma and Nieman (1975). However, the mirror image of the transient viscosity-time plot obtained using a cone-and-plate viscometer has been used to obtain an estimate of steady shear viscosity behavior (Gleissle, 1975). To check this transient methodology for doughs, a second method, in addition to cone-and-plate transient flow, for determination of the shear viscosity, was needed. For this, capillary extrusion was chosen. Both a piston-driven and pressure driven capillary rheometer were employed. End corrections were determined to provide information on both the shear viscosity and, following Binding (1988), the extensional viscosity of the doughs. There are few data available on end corrections for doughs, though published data by Kieffer indicate that the corrections are unexpectedly very high. In this present work it was found that the end correction experiments were very difficult and imprecise in part due to the time-dependent nature of the doughs and difficulties in preparing replicate batches required to compare dies of differing L/R values. Further it was unexpectedly found that the samples, though prepared by normal mixing procedures to the “optimum” level, were so heterogeneous that large fluctuations in the pressure at constant output rate (in the piston-driven rheometer) and in output rate at constant pressure (in the pressure-driven instrument) were observed. These fluctuations could be eliminated by overmixing of the doughs, but overmixed doughs are of little practical interest. Although the problems encountered in this work were significant, it was encouraging that even these preliminary studies indicate that rheological measurements are effective in differentiating between spring and winter wheats. Defining a constitutive model for dough rheology still remains a major challenge, as results from one type of testing do not corroborate the findings from a different type of testing. Received: 19 May 1998 Accepted: 27 July 1998     

Viscoelastic behaviour and flow instabilities of biodegradable poly (ε-caprolactone) polyesters

The viscoelastic behaviour of a number of commercial and newly synthesized linear biodegradable polyesters—poly (ε-caprolactone) (PCLs) with different molecular characteristics was investigated using both rotational and extensional rheometry. The variation of the zero-shear viscosity and relaxation spectrum with molecular weight was studied in detail. The damping function of these PCLs was also determined in order to model their viscoelastic behaviour. The classic Wagner constitutive equation was found to represent the rheology of all PCL polymers quite well. Finally, the PCL processing instabilities were studied by capillary extrusion using a number of capillary dies having various diameter and length-to-diameter ratios. Sharkskin and gross melt fracture was observed at different shear rates depending on the molecular characteristics of the resins and the geometrical details of the capillary dies.     

The effect of viscoelasticity on stress fields within polyethylene melt flow for a cross-slot and contraction–expansion slit geometry

The sensitivity of the principal stress difference (PSD) profiles to material viscoelasticity is demonstrated for two flow geometries using three different polyethylenes. Studies were performed using both experimental optical techniques and computational simulations, in the latter case to evaluate the ability to model these complex flows. The materials were characterised using linear and extensional rheology which was fitted to a multimode POM-POM model implemented in the Lagrangian–Eulerian code flowSolve. A contraction–expansion (CE) slit geometry was used to create a mixed, but primarily simple shear flow, whilst a cross-slot geometry provided a region of high extensional shear and high strain. In both flows, the PSD developed from an initial Newtonian profile to increasing levels of asymmetry between the inlet and the outlet flow. More specific phenomena, such as downstream stress fangs in the CE slit and the formation of centreline cusps and “W”-shaped cusps in the cross-slot, were also observed. The simulations of PSD development within the CE slit geometry quantitatively captured the experimental results. In the case of the cross-slot geometry, the qualitative features of the PSD development were well captured, although the results were quantitatively less accurate.     

Differential constitutive equation for entangled polymers with partial strand extension

Beginning with a formal statement of the conservation of probability, we derive a new differential constitutive equation for entangled polymers under flow. The constitutive equation is termed the Partial Strand Extension (PSE) equation because it accounts for partial extension of polymer strands in flow. Partial extensibility is included in the equation by considering the effect of a step strain with amplitude E on the primitive chain contour length. Specifically, by a simple scaling argument we show that the mean primitive chain contour length after retraction is L=L ₀ E ^1/2, not the equilibrium length L ₀ as previously thought. The equilibrium contour length is infact recovered only after a characteristic stretch relaxation time λ _s that is bounded by the reptation time and longest Rouse relaxation time for the primitive chain. The PSE model predictions of polymer rheology in various shear and extensional flows are found to be in good to excellent agreement with experimental results from several groups. Received: 16 July 1997 Accepted: 22 January 1998     

The effect of step-stretch parameters on capillary breakup extensional rheology (CaBER) measurements

Extensional rheometry has only recently been developed into a commercially available tool with the introduction of the capillary breakup extensional rheometer (CaBER). CaBER is currently being used to measure the transient extensional viscosity evolution of mid to low-viscosity viscoelastic fluids. The elegance of capillary breakup extensional experiments lies in the simplicity of the procedure. An initial step-stretch is applied to generate a fluid filament. What follows is a self-driven uniaxial extensional flow in which surface tension is balanced by the extensional stresses resulting from the capillary thinning of the liquid bridge. In this paper, we describe the results from a series of experiments in which the step-stretch parameters of final length, and the extension rate of the stretch were varied and their effects on the measured extensional viscosity and extensional relaxation time were recorded. To focus on the parameter effects, well-characterized surfactant wormlike micelle solutions, polymer solutions, and immiscible polymer blends were used to include a range of characteristic relaxation times and morphologies. Our experimental results demonstrate a strong dependence of extensional rheology on step-stretch conditions for both wormlike micelle solutions and immiscible polymer blends. Both the extensional viscosity and extensional relaxation time of the wormlike micelle solutions were found to decrease with increasing extension rate and strain of the step-stretch. For the case of the immiscible polymer blends, fast step-stretches were found to result in droplet deformation and an overshoot in the extensional viscosity which increased with increasing strain rates. Conversely, the polymer solutions tested were found to be insensitive to step-stretch parameters. In addition, numerical simulations were performed using the appropriate constitutive models to assist in both the interpretation of the CaBER results and the optimization of the experimental protocol. From our results, it is clear that any rheological results obtained using the CaBER technique must be properly considered in the context of the stretch parameters and the effects that preconditioning has on viscoelastic fluids.     

In-line measurement of rheological properties of polymer melts

Shear viscosity (), first normal stress difference (N ₁), and extensional viscosity ( _E ) of polymer melts measured under processing conditions are important in process modeling, quality control, and process control. A slit rheometer that could simultaneously measure , N ₁, and the planar extensional viscosity ( _p ) was designed and tested by attaching it in-line to a laboratory model single-screw extruder. A tube (circular cross-section) rheometer to measure and the uniaxial extensional viscosity ( _u ) simultaneously was also designed and tested. Two commercial grades of LDPE (low density polyethylene) with melt index values of 6 and 12 were used as test materials for the study. Exit and hole pressure methods were used to estimate N ₁, and the entrance pressure drop method using the analyses of Cogswell, Binding, and Gibson (the last analysis used with the axisymmetric case only) was used to estimate _E .The hole pressure method was considered better than the exit pressure method to estimate N ₁ (due to the greater susceptibility of the latter to experimental errors). From the hole pressure method N ₁ was obtained from 100 kPa to 500 kPa over a range of shear rates from 40 s^–1 to 700 s^–1. Among the analyses used to estimate the extensional viscosity, Cogswell's is recommended due to its simpler equations without loss of much information compared to the other analyses. The range of extension rates achieved was 1 to 30 s^–1. The combination of the hole pressure and entrance pressure drop methods in a slit rheometer is a feasible design for a process rheometer, allowing the simultaneous measurement of the shear viscosity, first normal stress difference and planar extensional viscosity under processing conditions. Similarly, combining the entrance pressure drop measurements with a tube rheometer is also feasible and convenient.     

Dynamics of viscoelastic liquid filaments: Low capillary number flows

Many applications of viscoelastic free surface flows requiring formation of drops from small nozzles, e.g., ink-jet printing, micro-arraying, and atomization, involve predominantly extensional deformations of liquid filaments. The capillary number, which represents the ratio of viscous to surface tension forces, is small in such processes when drops of water-like liquids are formed. The dynamics of extensional deformations of viscoelastic liquids that are weakly strain hardening, i.e., liquids for which the growth in the extensional viscosity is small and bounded, are here modeled by the Giesekus, FENE-P, and FENE-CR constitutive relations and studied at low capillary numbers using full 2D numerical computations. A new computational algorithm using the general conformation tensor based constitutive equation [M. Pasquali, L.E. Scriven, Theoretical modeling of microstructured liquids: a simple thermodynamic approach, J. Non-Newtonian Fluid Mech. 120 (2004) 101–135] to compute the time dependent viscoelastic free surface flows is presented. DEVSS-TG/SUPG mixed finite element method [M. Pasquali, L.E. Scriven, Free surface flows of polymer solutions with models based on conformation tensor, J. Non-Newtonian Fluid Mech. 108 (2002) 363–409] is used for the spatial discretization and a fully implicit second-order predictor–corrector scheme is used for the time integration. Inertia, capillarity, and viscoelasticity are incorporated in the computations and the free surface shapes are computed along with all the other field variables in a fully coupled way. Among the three models, Giesekus filaments show the most drastic thinning in the low capillary number regime. The dependence of the transient Trouton ratio on the capillary number in the Giesekus model is demonstrated. The elastic unloading near the end plates is investigated using both kinematic [M. Yao, G.H. McKinley, B. Debbaut, Extensional deformation, stress relaxation and necking failure of viscoelastic filaments, J. Non-Newtonian Fluid Mech. 79 (1998) 469–501] and energy analyses. The magnitude of elastic unloading, which increases with growing elasticity, is shown to be the largest for Giesekus filaments, thereby suggesting that necking and elastic unloading are related.     

The motion of long bubbles through viscoelastic fluids in capillary tubes

The penetration of long gas bubble through a viscoelastic fluid in a capillary tube has been studied in order to investigate the influence of viscoelastic material properties on the hydrodynamic coating thickness and local flow kinematics. Experiments are conducted for three tailored ideal elastic (Boger) fluids, designed to exhibit similar steady shear properties but substantially different elastic material functions. This allows for the isolation of elastic and extensional material effects on the bubble penetration process. The shear and extensional rheology of the fluid is characterized using rotational and filament stretching rheometers (FSR). The fluids are designed such that the steady-state extensional viscosity measured by the FSR at a Deborah number (De) greater than 1 differs over three orders of magnitude (Trouton ratio = 10³–10⁶). The experiment set up to measure the hydrodynamic coating thickness is designed to provide accurate data over a wide range of capillary numbers (0.01 < Ca < 100). The results indicate that the coating thickness in this process increases with an increase in the extensionally thickening nature of the fluid. Experiments are also conducted using several different capillary tube diameters (0.1 < D < 1 cm), in order to compare responses at similar Ca but different flow De. Suitable scaling methods and nonlinear viscoelastic constitutive equations are explored to characterize the displacement process for polymeric fluids. Bubble tip shapes at different De are recorded using a CCD camera, and measured using an edge detection algorithm. The influence of the mixed flow field on the bubble tip shape is examined. Particle tracking velocimetry experiments are conducted to compare the influence of viscoelastic properties on the velocity field in the vicinity of the bubble tip. Local shear and extension rates are calculated in the vicinity of the bubble tip from the velocity data. The results provide quantitative information on the influence of elastic and extensional properties on the bubble penetration process in gas-assisted injection molding. The bubble shape and velocity field information provides a basis for evaluating the performance of constitutive equations in mixed flow. Received: 19 January 1999 Accepted: 30 June 1999     

Computational analysis of techniques to determine extensional viscosity from entrance flows

Recent computational analysis of entrance flows (Mitsoulis et al. 1998) suggests that the entrance pressure drop is insensitive to large changes in steady extensional viscosity-a result that directly contradicts a large body of experimental work in this area. A re-examination of entrance flows using numerical simulations is presented in this work which shows that entrance pressure drops do depend on the steady extensional viscosity, provided the extension rate in the entrance flow is large enough. Numerical simulations are presented using both the strain thinning and thickening versions of the Phan-Thien–Tanner (PTT) constitutive model. Several techniques for extracting extensional viscosity from entrance pressure are applied to the results of these simulations. The resulting predictions of extensional viscosity are compared to the steady extensional viscosity curves predicted by the PTT constitutive model used to generate the simulated pressure drop curves. The analytical techniques examined here are shown to provide reasonably accurate estimates of the steady extensional viscosity. This work also clearly demonstrates the advantage of using variable power-law coefficients for the rheological properties, used as inputs to the analyses, to capture the extensional behavior at deformation rates below the power law region more accurately. Received: 23 July 1999/Accepted: 24 November 1999     

Extensional rheology of a shear-thickening cornstarch and water suspension

A filament-stretching rheometer is used to measure the extensional viscosity of a shear-thickening suspension of cornstarch in water. The experiments are performed at a concentration of 55 wt.%. The shear rheology of these suspensions demonstrates a strong shear-thickening behavior. The extensional rheology of the suspensions demonstrates a Newtonian response at low extension rates. At moderate strain rates, the fluid strain hardens. The speed of the strain hardening and the extensional viscosity achieved increase quickly with increasing extension rate. Above a critical extension rate, the extensional viscosity goes through a maximum and the fluid filaments fail through a brittle fracture at a constant tensile stress. The glassy response of the suspension is likely the result of jamming of particles or clusters of particles at these high extension rates. This same mechanism is responsible for the shear thickening of these suspensions. In capillary breakup extensional rheometry, measurement of these suspensions demonstrates a divergence in the extensional viscosity as the fluid stops draining after a modest strain is accumulated.     

Untersuchungen zum Fließverhalten verschieden konzentrierter Polyisobutenlösungen unter hoher Scherbeanspruchung.

Zusammenfassung Das Schubspannungs- und Verfestigungsverhalten verschieden konzentrierter hochmolekularer Polyisobutenlösungen wird mit Hilfe eines neu konstruierten Hochdruckkapillarviskosimeters bis zu sehr hohen Schergeschwindigkeiten untersucht. Hierbei wird gleichzeitig der Einlaufdruckverlust nach Bagley durch Messungen an Kapillaren mit unterschiedlichenL/R-Verhältnissen ermittelt und, um Informationen über das Einströmverhalten der Lösungen zu erhalten, die Einlaufströmung in die Kapillare sichtbar gemacht. Im Bereich niedriger Schergeschwindigkeiten werden die Lösungen zusätzlich mit verschiedenen Rotationsviskosimetern charakterisiert.Die anhand der durchgeführten Untersuchungen erhaltenen Fließkurven lassen sich für Lösungen mit einem Polymergehalt ab 0,5% PIB-B200 in drei Bereiche einteilen, die mit Hilfe von Strömungssichtbarmachungsuntersuchungen verschiedenen Strömungsphänomenen zugeordnet werden können. Dabei kommt es u. a. zu Verfestigungserscheinungen, die sich in einem sprunghaften Ansteigen des Druckverlustes bemerkbar machen. Durch Messungen an Kapillaren mit einem kegelförmigen Einlauf kann gezeigt werden, daß diese Verfestigungserscheinungen und der damit verbundene Druckanstieg nicht nur auf das Auftreten von Sekundärströmungen im Einlaufbereich der Kapillaren zurückgeführt werden kann, sondern daß hierfür andere Effekte wie etwa die Bildung von Assoziaten aus Makromolekülen verantwortlich gemacht werden können. Auch die starke Viskositätszunahme der Lösungen im Verfestigungsbereich und die Beobachtung der Ausbildung heller Streulichtfelder sprechen für eine Bildung von Polymerassoziaten vor der Kapillare.Des weiteren wird bei den Untersuchungen zur Bagley-Korrektur festgestellt, daß zur korrekten Ermittlung des Einlaufdruckverlustes bei höher konzentrierten Polyisobutenlösungen Kapillaren mit einemL/R-Verhältnis von mindestens 1000 verwendet werden müssen. Es zeigt sich nämlich im Bagley-plot dieser Lösungen, daß die Linien konstanter Schergeschwindigkeit bei kleinerenL/R-Verhältnissen eine auffallende Krümmung im Sinne eines mit zunehmendemL/R-Verhältnis abnehmenden Druckgradienten besitzen, der erst oberhalb eines bestimmtenL/R-Verhältnisses konstant wird.

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A new design high-pressure capillary-viscometer is used to study the shear behavior of high-molecular polyisobutene solutions up to very high shear rates. The entry pressure loss from the Bagley-plot is estimated by the measurement in capillaries of different length-to-radius (L/R) ratios. Simultaneously, flow visualization of the entry flow is carried out. At low shear rates the flow behavior of the solutions is characterized by different rotational viscometers.The obtained flow curves for the solutions with polymer concentrations being above 0.5% PIB-B200 can be divided into three regions which can be related to different flow phenomena by means of flow visualization. A sudden increase in pressure loss can be related to a shear thickening behavior. Measurements in capillaries with a conical entry show that this thickening behavior is not only due to secondary flows in the entry region of the capillary, but also due to other effects like the association of macromolecules. The assumption of the formation of molecular associates is also supported by the large increase in the viscosity of the solutions in the thickening region and the observed formation of luminous scattered light areas.Furthermore, the investigations on the Bagley-correction show that for higher concentrated polyisobutene solutions capillaries withL/R ratios of at least 1 000 have to be used for a correct determination of the entry pressure loss. The Bagley-plots of these solutions show that lines of constant shear rate are remarkably curved at lowerL/R ratios. The gradient of the pressure loss decreases with increasingL/R ratio and approaches a constant value at a certainL/R ratio.

Erster Teil einer vom Fachbereich Chemietechnik der Universität Dortmund genehmigten Dissertation.     

Evaluation of high shear viscosity data from jet and concentric cylinder viscometers

Summary This work compares and evaluates viscosity data obtained on similar fluids by two widely accepted high shear techniques. Both the jet and concentric cylinder viscometers are useful high shear methods. The major limitation of the jet viscometer is an inability to distinguish quantitatively between energy losses in laminar flow and those due to capillary geometry and experimental conditions. For example, the jet viscometer gives minima in viscosity-shear rate correlations which are difficult to treat. These minima are not found in concentric cylinder viscometer data for the same and similar fluids. The apparent viscosity increase at high shear in the jet may be due to factors other thanReynold's turbulence, as previously supposed. This effect may be due to molecular relaxation phenomena in certain cases. The jet viscometer might thus be used to evaluate molecular relaxation and/or other phenomena contributing to this effect.For a variety of systems, the concentric cylinder viscometer gives significantly smaller temporary viscosity losses due to shear than do the jet viscometer data. These comparisons are made using the maximum jet shear rate at the capillary wall. The differences are, of course, larger if average shear rates are used to compare the data. It is concluded that the jet viscometer results tend to be erroneous. This is possibly due to capillary end effects or problems with kinetic energy corrections.     

Effect of vapor flow on the wetting behavior of unstable evaporating menisci in heated capillary tubes

The wicking height of a heated, evaporating meniscus formed by surface-wetting liquid in a vertical capillary tube with dynamic flow has been investigated. Previous experimental results and analytical models for measuring/predicting wicking heights in capillaries are also reviewed. An analytical model is presented that accounts for both major and minor vapor pressure losses along the vertical capillary tube. It is shown that during thermo-mechanical instability, vapor/meniscus interaction can become more prevalent due to increased vapor generation/pressure near the meniscus free surface. A relatively simple procedure for estimating onset of meniscus instability is presented and, when used with the vapor Reynolds number, can estimate whether vapor pressure loss is significant. By comparing the current model with the available experimental data, it is shown that the wicking height of an unstable, evaporating meniscus of n-pentane in a vertical, glass capillary tube is better estimated by considering vapor flow pressure losses – providing a 40% improvement over previous models that neglect vapor flow. In addition to vapor flow pressure loss, the dynamic contact angle and thin film profile must also be calculated to ensure accurate prediction of wicking height. Although the proposed model shows improvement, it is prone to under-predicting the actual meniscus wicking height for stable, evaporating menisci at lower relative heat loads. The proposed model can be used for predicting wicking behavior of heated, vertically-aligned liquid columns in capillary structures – which is relevant to the design of miniature heat transfer equipment/media such as wicked heat pipes, micro-channels and sintered/porous surfaces.     

Detection and quantification of industrial polyethylene branching topologies via Fourier-transform rheology,NMR and simulation using the Pom-pom model

The significance of sparse long-chain branching in polyolefines towards mechanical properties is well-known. Topology is a very important structural property of polyethylene, as is molecular weight distribution. The method of Fourier-transform rheology (FTR) and melt state nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) is applied for the detection and quantification of branching topology (number of branches per molecule), for industrial polyethylenes of various molecular weight and molecular weight distributions. FT rheology consists of studying the development of higher harmonics contribution of the stress response to a large amplitude oscillatory shear deformation. In particular, when applying large-amplitude oscillatory shear (LAOS), one observes the development of mechanical higher harmonic contributions at 3ω ₁, 5ω ₁,..., in the shear stress response. We correlate the relative intensity, I _3/1, and phase Φ ₃ of these harmonics with structural properties of industrial polyethylene, i.e. polymer topology and molecular weight distribution. Experiments are complemented by numerical simulations, using a multimode differential Pom-pom constitutive model (DCPP formulation), by fitting to the experimental linear and nonlinear viscoelastic behaviours. Simulation results in the nonlinear regime are correlated with molecular properties of the “pom-pom” macromolecular architecture. Qualitative agreement is found between predicted and experimental FT rheology results.     

An Experimental Study of Mobilization and Creeping Flow of Oil Slugs in a Water-Filled Capillary

An experimental investigation was carried out on mobilization and very slow flow of oil slugs in a capillary tube. The pressure drop of the slug flow was measured at every stage of mobilizing and moving the oil slugs as a function of capillary number in the range of 4 × 10⁻⁷–6 × 10⁻⁶. The pressure drop across the oil slug experienced three stages: build-up, hold-up, and steady stages. During the build-up stage, the convex rear end of the slug was becoming concave into the oil slug and the convex front end of the slug moved ahead to form a new portion of the slug. At the hold-up stage, both the concave rear end and the front end continued to advance, and the initial contact line of the oil slug with the tube wall through a very thin water film was being shortened. At this stage, the pressure drop reached a maximum value and remained nearly constant. At the steady stage, after the oil slug was completely mobilized out of the original contact region, the differential pressure had a step-drop first, and then the oil slug flowed at a lower differential pressure depending on the flow rate. Numerous slug flow tests of this study showed that the hold-up pressure drop was always higher than the steady stage pressure drop. Results also showed that the measured extra pressure drop was significantly high compared to the pressure drop calculated from Poiseuille equation, which is still commonly used in network modeling of multiphase flow in porous media.     

A Discussion of the Effect of Tortuosity on the Capillary Imbibition in Porous Media

In the past decades, there was considerable controversy over the Lucas–Washburn (LW) equation widely applied in capillary imbibition kinetics. Many experimental results showed that the time exponent of the LW equation is less than 0.5. Based on the tortuous capillary model and fractal geometry, the effect of tortuosity on the capillary imbibition in wetting porous media is discussed in this article. The average height growth of wetting liquid in porous media driven by capillary force following the [`(L)] _s(t) ~ t^1/2D_T{\overline L _{\rm {s}}(t)\sim t^{1/{2D_{\rm {T}}}}} law is obtained (here D _T is the fractal dimension for tortuosity, which represents the heterogeneity of flow in porous media). The LW law turns out to be the special case when the straight capillary tube (D _T = 1) is assumed. The predictions by the present model for the time exponent for capillary imbibition in porous media are compared with available experimental data, and the present model can reproduce approximately the global trend of variation of the time exponent with porosity changing.     

Influence of temperature on the slip velocity of semidilute xanthan gum solutions

We obtain experimental evidence of the influence of temperature in the range 12-32°C on the slip phenomena of two different 0.3% xanthan solutions in a glass capillary rheometer. Enhancement of the slip velocity was observed for both samples around the corresponding thermally induced order-disorder transition temperature. Intrinsic viscosity measurements were performed to find the conformation change of both samples. Concentrations of 0.15% and 0.2% were analyzed for one sample, showing absence of slip at 0.15%.Slip velocity measurements were determined with the traditional Mooney method for a L/D ratio of the capillaries (640) enough to neglect entry head losses. Comparisons were done with the method developed by Piau et al. (1990) and with the one developed by Hatzikiriakos and Dealy (1992). The resulting behavior of the slip velocity with the capillary diameters, calculated with the method of Hatzikiriakos and Dealy, was contrary to the behavior experimentally found by other authors. The observed differences in the slip velocity, measured with the other two methods, were proportional and nearly independent of temperature and diameter of the capillaries.