Fully developed laminar flow of non-Newtonian liquids through annuli: comparison of numerical calculations with experiments

Abstract.

Experimental data are reported for fully developed laminar flow of a shear-thinning liquid through both a concentric and an 80% eccentric annulus with and without centrebody rotation. The working fluid was an aqueous solution of 0.1% xanthan gum and 0.1% carboxymethylcellulose for which the flow curve is well represented by the Cross model. Comparisons are reported between numerical calculations and the flow data, as well as with other laminar annular-flow data for a variety of shear-thinning liquids previously reported in the literature. In general, the calculations are in good quantitative agreement with the experimental data, even in situations where viscoelastic effects, neglected in the calculations, would be expected to play a role.