Drag reduction and mechanical degradation of poly(ethylene oxide) in seawater

Polymer induced turbulent drag reduction in a rotating disk apparatus was i nvestigated using four different molecular weights of nonionic poly(ethylen e oxide) (PEO) in synthetic seawater for potential application to cold wate r piping in the Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion (OTEC) system, The linear c orrelation between polymer concentration (C) and C/DR for different molecul ar weights of PEO and a universal correlation are obtained. In addition, to measuring the drag reduction efficiency change during the operation period , the drag reduction behavior is measured as a function of time, and the re sults obtained from this experiment are then correlated with Brostow's equa tion for polymer degradation. From this study, the drag reduction effect in duced by polymer additives is found to be applicable to the OTEC plant to r educe the pumping energy cost.