Experimental study on the flow and heat transfer characteristics of a tetra-n-butyl ammonium bromide hydrate slurry (first report: Flow characteristics)

The flow characteristics of a tetra-n-butyl ammonium bromide hydrate slurry were investigated experimentally. Reynolds number, tube diameter and solid fraction were varied as the experimental parameters. For laminar flow, it was found that the ratio of the coefficients of pipe friction increases with solid fraction, and the rate of increase is high in the case of a low Reynolds number. For turbulent flow, the ratio of the coefficients of pipe friction was approximately 1 for all tube diameters at low solids fraction. It then decreased slightly at a particular solid fraction and increased again at high solid fraction. Theoretical analysis was carried out using the experimental results, and it was found that the flow characteristics of the hydrate slurry can be treated as those of a pseudoplastic fluid and clarified using the apparent Reynolds number.