Chinese Journal of Chemical Engineering 27 (2019) 1921–1932

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Chinese Journal of Chemical Engineering

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/CJChE

Review

Review on the applications and developments of drag reducing polymer

in turbulent pipe flow
M.A. Asidin, E. Suali *, T. Jusnukin, F.A. Lahin
Faculty of Engineering, Universiti Malaysia Sabah, Jalan UMS, 88400 Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: Drag reduction phenomenon in pipelines has received lots of attention during the past decades due to its
Received 19 December 2017 potential engineering applications, especially in fluid transporting industries. Various methods to
Received in revised form 4 March 2019 enhance drag reduction have been developed throughout the years and divided into two categories;
Accepted 11 March 2019
non-additives method and additives method. Both categories have different types of methods, with dif-
Available online 21 March 2019
ferent formulations and applications which will generally be discussed in this review. Among all the
methods discussed, drag reduction using polymer additive is as one of the most enticing and desirable
Keywords:
methods. It has been the subject of research in this field and has been studied extensively for quite some
Pipe lines
Drag reduction
time. It is due to its ability to reduce drag up to 80% when added in minute concentrations. Reducing drag
Polymer additives in the pipe will require less pumping power thus offering economic relieves to the industries. So, this
Drag reducing agents paper will be focusing more on the use of polymer additives as drag reducing agent, the general formu-
lations of the additives, major issues involving the use of drag reducing polymers, and the potential appli-
cations of it. However, despite the extensive works of drag reduction polymer, there are still no models
that accurately explain the mechanism of drag reduction. More studies needed to be done to have a better
understanding of the phenomenon. Therefore, future research areas and potential approaches are pro-
posed for future work.
Ó 2019 The Chemical Industry and Engineering Society of China, and Chemical Industry Press Co., Ltd. All
rights reserved.

1. Introduction achieved by adding only minute amount of selected materials

One of the major issues faced by oil and gas industry is fluid
transportations. It is one of the most energy consuming sectors
because of the turbulence inside the transported fluid. The turbu-
lence makes the fluid particles move in chaotic manners which
redirect the pumping energy to multiple directions. Thus, friction
occurs and leads to drag. Drag is the pressure head losses inside
a pipe that cause the flow rate to decrease. To overcome the
decreasing flow rate, more pumping stations are installed along
the pipeline to supply energy and uphold the desired flow rate
[1]. Consequently, the installation of pumping stations is costly
and not economically feasible. Another method to overcome this
problem is by reducing the drag inside the pipe. This method is
called drag reduction (DR). Abdulbari et al. [2] defined DR as the
science of flow improvement by reducing the frictional pressure
drop across a pipe or channel. Truong [3] stated the primary pur-
pose of DR is to prolong the laminar flows inside the channel by
delaying the onset of turbulent flows. This reduction can be
⇑ Corresponding author.
E-mail address: suali@gmail.com (E. Suali).
known as drag reducing agents (DRA) to the system. The most
acknowledged method to reduce drag is by the use of polymeric
additives. Bryan Atkinson Toms first identify polymers as drag
reducing agent in 1949. He found that the addition of 10 ppm poly
methyl-methacrylate to mono chlorobenzene can reduce the tur-
bulent skin friction drag by 30–40% [4]. This finding leads to exten-
sive research on drag reduction (DR) and how to use the potential
of DR to the industries. The engineering interest on the concept of
DR is mainly due to its ability to reduce pumping power and
improve pipeline capacity. Aside from fluid transportation, DRA
have also found applications in several engineering systems, such
as firefighting [5], district heating and cooling [6], petroleum load-
ing and offloading as well as in refineries [7] and others. Recent
development on DRA includes the implementation on multiphase
pipe flow system. Al-Sarkhi et al. [8] found that the addition of
polyethylene oxide into an oil–water mixture flow reduces the
pressure gradient and reduces the degree of turbulence mixing.
The DR achieved is 65% with only 10–15 ppm concentration of
DRA added into the mixture. The addition of DRA in the multiphase
flow can alter the spatial dispersion of the fluids and affect the
boundaries between different flow patterns. These abilities spark

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cjche.2019.03.003
1004-9541/Ó 2019 The Chemical Industry and Engineering Society of China, and Chemical Industry Press Co., Ltd. All rights reserved.
1922 M.A. Asidin et al. / Chinese Journal of Chemical Engineering 27 (2019) 1921–1932
the interest in wider area of applications such as oil production and
heating and cooling system [9].
There are two main categories of drag reducing method; drag
reduction through additives and non-additives. Both categories
have several types of methods, with different formulations and
applications which will be discussed briefly in this review. Among
the methods discussed, drag reduction using polymer additive is
one of the most enticing and desirable methods. This paper will
focus more on polymer additives as drag reducing agent, the gen-
eral formulations of the additives, major issues involving drag
reducing polymers, and the potential applications of it.
2. Non-Additive Drag Reduction
Additive drag reducing agent no doubt is the most popular
method in current industries. However, many concerns are raised
about the environmental impact and safety of the chemical addi-
tives since they are derived artificially and not biodegradable. As
a result, numerous researchers shifted to non-additives or passive
flow control technique. The most known methods for non-additive
drag reduction are riblets, dimples, oscillating walls, compliant
surfaces, and microbubbles. These methods are not using any for-
eign substances for the drag reduction enhancement. The methods
are either modifications to the wall surface or ejection of bubbles
to the system. Oscillating wall is an active wall control technique
while the others are passive wall control technique.
2.1. Riblets
Riblets are small protrusions on wall surface and consist of lon-
gitudinal microgrooves which correspond to the flow direction
[10]. These grooves can reduce frictional drag and increase the sur-
face area for momentum and heat transfer. Riblet is inspired by
observing the teeth like feature on shark scale surface called den-
ticles, which can lift vortices, lower the transverse shear stress and
drag on the shark body [11]. Fig. 1(a) shows the most common
designs for riblets while Fig. 1(b) shows an example of the grooves
on the scales from the body of Carcharhinus plumbeus species.
Geometric characteristics of the riblets influence its drag reduc-
tion ability. Studies by Walsh from 1980 to 1990 at NASA Langley
Research center concluded that up to 8% drag reduction can be
obtained when the dimensionless s+ and h+ are less than 25 wall
units where the dimensionless s+ and h+ are riblet spacing and rib-
let height [10]. Wilkinson [14] stated that symmetrical v-shaped
Fig. 1. (a) General shape of riblets [12]. (b) Example of shark scale from
Carcharhinus plumbeus species. Scanning electron micrograph of the posterior
margin of scales (a) from a 88 cm TL female (specimen no. 37), (b) from a 188 cm TL
female (specimen no. 57). [13].
groove is the ideal design with 8% drag reduction achieved, with
the s + = h+ = 15 wall units. Baron [15] achieved the maximum
effect of drag reduction when the riblet spacing is about 10 to
15 units. Riblet spacing wider than 30 wall units results in the
increase of drag [16]. Fig. 2 shows the streamline for ridge-
shaped grooved microchannel flow with different width to height
ratios. The figure shows most vortices occur within the riblets
which suggests the pressure drop decreased.
From the figure, when Re = 20 and s/h ratio = 4, the vortices
formed only occupy half the space between the riblets which sup-
posed to help in reducing pressure drop. However, the extended
flow in the other half causes frictional resistance. The dominant
aspect between both conditions will determine the change in pres-
sure drop. In this situation, the frictional resistance is more domi-
nant and overcomes the drag reduction that occurs. Therefore,
from the result, choosing the right value of width to height ratio
while considering the Reynolds number of the flow can produce
a significant amount of drag reduction. Riblets with smaller width
to height ratio are suitable for lower Reynolds number flow and
larger Reynolds number needs larger width to height ratio [17].
The correlation between protrusion height and spacing is reviewed
by Bechert and Hage [18] stated that the height configuration
h = 0.50s where s is the lateral spacing produced 9.9% turbulent
shear stress reduction.
2.2. Dimples
Successful application of dimples on golf ball inspired imple-
mentation on drag reduction. Dimples are deformations on the
walls which mirror roughness structures to stimulate turbulent
boundary layer. It delays flow separation, produces small wakes
and lowers the drag formations [19]. Fig. 3 shows an example of
dimpled surface design for drag reduction.
Recent study on fluid flowing pass a dimpled circular cylinder
shows that dimples are effective in reducing mean drag and the
strength of vortex from the cylinder [21]. Flow inside a wind tun-
nel passing a dimpled surface shows up to 20% drag reduction with
specific dent configurations and flow conditions. However,
increase in drag is also observed for other configurations [22]. This
finding suggests that different flow conditions need different dent
configurations to achieve ideal drag reduction. Butt et al. [23] con-
ducted a study of fluid flow in wind tunnel passing cylinders with
hexagonal patterns and the result shows a decrease in drag coeffi-
cient suggesting less drag. However, the low drag reduction shows
the patterns cannot be characterized as roughness structures. Since
most of the studies conducted on dimples are focusing on heat
transfer, the studies on its effect to pressure drop remain insuffi-
cient. Most of the dimple drag reduction studies show no signifi-
cant change in the pressure drop when compared with a flat
surface [20,24]. Lienhart et al. [24] also concluded that dimples
are suitable for improving heat transfer but have no significant
contribution to reducing drag. More studies of dimple performance
on enhancing both heat transfer and pressure drop shows the same
results [25].
2.3. Oscillating walls
Oscillating walls were developed based on the concept of sup-
pressing turbulence by a sudden span wise pressure gradient
applied on the near-wall turbulent flow field. At suitable velocity,
frequency and amplitude, the wall oscillation can promote DR.
Quadrio and Ricco [26] found that maximum 44.7% drag reduction
and 7.310% net energy savings could be achieved using oscillating
walls. Choi et al. [27] investigates the DR effects of span wise wall
oscillation in an open-return, low-speed wind tunnel of 3 m long
and an oscillating plate located 2 m downstream of the tunnel.
 M.A. Asidin et al. / Chinese Journal of Chemical Engineering 27 (2019) 1921–1932 1923

Fig. 2. The streamline for ridge-shaped grooved microchannel flow with different width to height ratios [17].

Fig. 3. Example of dimpled surface designed to reduce turbulent skin friction drag
[20].

Their result shows 45% of DR when the amplitude and oscillation

frequency were adjusted to give an optimum speed of wall oscilla-
tion. They demonstrated that the turbulence intensities reduced by
the wall oscillation and skin friction drag is reduced when the
oscillation speed increases. Fig. 4 shows the schematic of span wise Fig. 4. Schematic of the span wise oscillatory turbulent channel [28].
oscillation for channel flow.
the boundary layer separation and alter the skin friction drag [35].
An extensive study was done by Choi and Clayton [29] to fur-
This method was pioneered by Kramer which modeled his experi-
ther understand the mechanism of DR with oscillating wall. They
ments based on his observations of swimming dolphins. Fitzgerald
stated that the span wise wall oscillation creates positive span wise
et al. [36] summarized that compliant coating can delay the transi-
vorticity at the edge of the viscous sublayer. The developed posi-
tion from laminar to turbulent flow interacting with the boundary
tive vorticity reduces the mean velocity gradient of the boundary
layer. Fig. 5 shows the cross section of the apparatus used by Kra-
layer near the wall. The span wise vorticity simultaneously reduces
mer [37] which consists of a heavy rubber diaphragm that is sup-
the stretching of the longitudinal vortices in the viscous sublayer
ported by a multitude of tiny rubber stubs.
to reduce their stream wise vorticity. Hence, the intensity of the
Unfortunately, Kramer’s 60% DR achievement could not be
vortices formed near the wall is weakened leading to a reduction
reproduced in other various experiments. The researchers were
of the turbulent skin friction drag. These results agree with an ear-
unable to produce the same results because of the differences in
lier study by Jung et al. [30] which stated that the decrease in the
experimental conditions. Undesirable factors such as the problems
intensity of near wall turbulent bursts in oscillated channel caused
faced for joining the compliant and rigid surfaces, or poor pressure
the reduction of turbulence inside the flow. Their findings on sup-
gradient also affect the DR performance of the surface [38]. Fuka-
pressing turbulence drag inside a wall bounded flow with one wall
gata et al. [39] showed that anisotropic compliant surfaces could
oscillated show 40% drag reduction. They also described that the
produce up to 8% drag reduction at very low Reynolds. However,
time sustained reduction of the wall shear stress caused the mod-
as the size of the flow domain increases, the DR performance also
ification in the turbulent flow. Various studies and findings either
decreases.
through numerical simulations [31–33] or experiments [29,34]
stated that the drag reduction effect is caused by the weakening
of turbulent producing events in the vicinity of the wall. 2.5. Microbubbles

Drag reduction using microbubbles is one of the three major air

2.4. Compliant surfaces lubrication techniques for drag reduction. The interest on
microbubble utilization is due to its minimal effects on the environ-
A compliant surface is an elastic wall that possessed the ability ment and low production cost. The most significant factor that influ-
to manipulate the onset of laminar to turbulent transition, control enced the microbubbles formulations is the size. Microbubbles have
1924 M.A. Asidin et al. / Chinese Journal of Chemical Engineering 27 (2019) 1921–1932
Fig. 5. Cross section of compliant surface by Kramer [37].
diameters of less than 100 lm compared to regular bubbles which
have diameters of 100 lm–1 mm [40]. Serizawa et al. [41] found
that microbubbles with mean diameter 40 lm prolonged the lami-
nar to turbulent transition process. There are many proposed meth-
ods for producing fine microbubbles at high density including
pressurized dissolution method [42], using a microfluidic device
[43], and using microfibers illuminated with lasers [44]. The mech-
anism of drag reduction using microbubbles is commonly explained
in the near wall region. Microbubbles injected in the boundary layer
reduce the air water mixture density and modify turbulent momen-
tum transport [45]. It lowers the Reynolds stress values at the
boundary layer region as the near wall local void fraction is
increased [46,47]. Many previous studies stated that the effective-
ness of drag reduction by microbubbles in the boundary layer is
determined by the void fraction in the layer. Void fraction is defined
as the ratio of gas occupied volume to the liquid occupied volume in
a vessel. There is a minimum critical height of void fraction neces-
sary to achieve drag reductions about 20% or higher. However, a
study by Ortiz-Villafuerte and Hassan [48] shows 10.1% of drag
reduction at low void friction which is 1.5% which is shown in Fig. 6.
The figure depicted that as the drag reduction increases, the
vorticity magnitude occurs closer to the wall which leads to the
conclusion that drag reduction by microbubble happens when
the turbulence structure inside the buffer region interacts with
the microbubbles. This finding is parallel to the 30% drag reduction
in void fraction as low as 1% reported in a previous study by
McCormick and Bhattacharyya [49].
2.6. Comparison and other applications of non-additive drag reduction
method
The shift to non-additive alternatives for drag reduction is
mainly due to its environmentally friendly property. Moreover,
the drag reduction by non-additive methods is very suitable for
pharmaceuticals and food processing industries since they are
not toxic and do not contain substances that are harmful to human
health. Regarding DR performance, all non-additive methods
reduce drag to some extent. Among all the methods listed, riblets
are the most studied. However, the maximum drag reduction per-
centage achieved is only 8%. It is shallow compared to 80% drag
reduction achieved using additive methods. Geometrical charac-
teristics influence the performance of riblets. The drag reduction
is proportional to the size, but the riblet configuration that can pro-
duce the maximum drag reduction was difficult to be produced.
The most common problems faced by these methods are the high
installation cost and no general agreement on the DR mechanism
on these methods.
Most of the studies on dimples discussed its effect on heat
transfer and pressure drop. Studies on the effect of dimples on a
wall to heat transfer and pressure drop show that dimples con-
tribute to a significant increase in both aspects compared to
smooth surface [50]. However, further enhancement on the heat
transfer coefficient results in the increase of drag. An investigation
by Leontiev et al. [51] showed that the dimpled surfaces provide
the mean heat transfer enhancement St/St0 = 1.15-1.21 and the
mean increase in the drag cx/cx0 = 1.10–1.53, depending on the
dimple arrangement density. The amount of drag reduction
achieved by using dimples is so small that it can be neglected mak-
ing it uncertain whether it is suitable for DR or not.
Choi et al. [52] confirmed that their viscoelastic coating made of
silicone rubber reduced up to 7% drag reduction at low free-stream
velocities. However the formulation of compliant surface needs to
have a right combination of material properties to be able to
demonstrate turbulent drag reduction. They stated that the exper-
imental error of the skin measurements was about ± 4%. Coating
with a larger loss coefficient can result in an increase in skin fric-
tion. The complexity of installation and maintenance processes
makes it undesirable to reduce drag and more experiment is
needed to have more understanding on this method. The same
problems are faced by using oscillating walls to reduce drag.
The microbubble drag reduction is more applicable to ships
than fluid flow in pipelines due to its persistence of effect down-
stream. Most research on microbubbles concludes that the DR only
persists for a certain distance past the point of injection. The
microbubbles coalesce and form bigger diameter bubbles further
downstream. Bubble with a diameter exceeding 1 mm will dimin-
ish the effect of DR and larger than that will cause drag to increase.
An investigation by Kitagawa et al. [53] on the effect of wall wetta-
bility on the microbubble behavior rising along a nearly vertical
wall shows that high wall surface wettability caused low bubble
attachment to the wall which results in low bubble–bubble coales-
cence. These findings may shed ways to overcome the downstream
effect faced by microbubbles during pipe flow. McCormick and
Bhattacharyya [49] reported that the effectiveness of microbubbles
in reducing drag diminished as the Reynolds number of the liquid
increased with the same gas injection rate. More recent studies on
the relationship between Reynold Numbers and drag reduction by
microbubbles obtained the same result [54]. Despite all the studies
and investigations on these various methods, there are still no big
advancements concerning their performance and drag reducing
abilities.
However, all of the methods mentioned above are used in var-
ious applications. One of the most common applications is for the
enhancement of heat transfer from heated surface to working fluid
whether liquid or gas [55–57]. Same goes to dimples which are
mainly investigated for heat transfer. The most well-known utiliza-
tion of dimples is on the golf ball which makes the ball experience
smaller drag forces than those on smooth balls of the same diam-
eters and weights [58]. Transportation sectors use these methods
to lower drag experienced by marine vehicle and achieve higher
speed for the same propulsion power [59]. With suitable injection
rates and bubble size, microbubbles can lower fuel consumptions,
gain more speed on ships by reducing drag up to 5%–8% [60,61].
Riblets have possibility up to 8%–10% drag reduction on high speed
trains and trucks [62]. Compliant surface can modulate flow
induced noise and skin friction drag as well as prevent boundary
layer separation. In biomedical applications, microbubbles are
used for drug delivery straight to the targeted area and the inves-
tigations show promising results [63]. Table 1 shows the compar-
ison and summary of the non-additive drag reduction methods.
3. Additive Drag Reduction
Fluid inside a pipe is flowing in the turbulent state. The turbu-
lent eddies in the fluid flow caused energy loss while pumping or
better known as drag. The amount of pressure drop shows the drag
 M.A. Asidin et al. / Chinese Journal of Chemical Engineering 27 (2019) 1921–1932 1925

Fig. 6. The z component of the mean vorticity field (a) for the case of drag reduction of 10.1%, (b) for the case of drag reduction of 27.5%, and (c) for the case of drag reduction
of 41.8% [48].

inside the fluid flow. Drag reduction agents are chemical additives Table 1
mixed with the transported fluid which produces smaller pressure Summary of the biopolymers that were experimented as alternatives to existing
additives
drop compared to flow without the addition of those agents. Low-
ering drag can lessen the energy loss and reduce the cost for pump- Biopolymer Reference Max Sources
ing. Drag reduction agents are highly viscoelastic. It is usually a DR

hydrocarbon so that the additions of these agents have no effect  P. cruentum Gasljevic et al. [126] 15% Marine microalgae
on the physical properties of refining processes or refined products.  R. maculata
 S. capsulata
The mixture of DRA and solvent will produce a solution which is
 C. stigmatophora
viscoelastic, time-independent, and shear degradable, and a non-  k-DNA Lim et al. [67] 20% Natural resources
Newtonian fluid [64]. The most common solution for drag reduc- Choi et al. [127]
tion is by adding minute concentration of drag reducing agent  Okra mucilage Hayder and Rosli [128] 71% Natural resources
 Cocos nucifera Salehudin & Ridha [129] 38% Natural resources
(DRA) into the transported liquid. It is the oldest known method
 Banana Peel Kaur et al. [130] 22% Natural resources
for drag reduction and remains a relevant area of to date research.
The big interest on drag reducing additives is because of its practi-
1926 M.A. Asidin et al. / Chinese Journal of Chemical Engineering 27 (2019) 1921–1932
cality in various applications and industries. The first successful
application of polymeric DRA is in the Trans-Alaska Pipeline carry-
ing crude oil across Alaska. The addition of DRA raised the crude
throughput by up to 30% [65]. Since then, DRA had been applied
in other industries such as firefighting, water disposal, sewer sys-
tems and biomedical system. The applicability of each of the meth-
ods depends on various fundamental factors such as their
solubility in the transported fluid. To interfere with turbulent fluc-
tuations and suppress vortex formation, the additives should have
sufficient mass or extended length with good rigidity and elastic-
ity. This section will discuss surfactants and solid suspensions.
The mechanism of drag reduction using polymer will be discussed
in detail in the next section.
3.1. Surfactant
The addition of surfactants has the ability to reduce turbulent
friction factor significantly [66]. It can be classified into non-ionic
and ionic. Ionic surfactants consist of cationic surfactants. Non-
ionic surfactants are semi-polar, zwitterionic, and single bond sur-
factants. Surfactants are favorable as drag reducing agent because
of the self-assembling nature of the amphiphilic surfactant mole-
cules. The surfactant particles can self-repair to form a thread-
like micelle after undergoing mechanical degradation [67]. These
micelles are self-assembled, which form rod-like structures with
a diameter roughly doubled the size of a surfactant molecule and
can get thousands of times regarding length [68]. The micelles
are believed to be responsible for the drag reduction ability of sur-
factant solutions [69]. The presence of surfactants inside the pipe
can change the strength and structure of turbulent burst near the
walls [70] and can alter the vortex structures and formation inside
the flow [71]. Fig. 7 shows the schematic phase diagram for surfac-
tant solutions Zakin et al. [72].
They summarized that the surfactant molecules would aggre-
gate and form 2 structures when the temperature exceeds the
Krafft point and exceeds the critical micelle concentration (CMC).
The surfactant molecules form spherical micelles after exceeding
the CMC and with further increase of the solution concentration
to be over the CMCII, surfactants become rod-like micelles. Recent
studies also discuss the relationship between the temperature and
the concentration of the surfactant solution. Dosunmu and Shah
[73] reported that increasing concentration promotes rod-like
micelle formation and the zero-shear-rate viscosity increases when
the temperature is within the range of 297 K and 311 K. Suali et al.
[74] investigated the drag reducing effect of different concentra-
tions of glycolic acid ethoxylate 4-nonyl phenyl ether in closed
loop circulation system at room temperature. The result shows
that CMC occurred within 100–200 ppm of the surfactant solution
and achieved up to 14% drag reduction.
Fig. 7. Schematic phase diagram of surfactant solution [67].
3.2. Solid suspensions
Solid suspensions are considered as insoluble additives and
consist of 2 types, fibrous suspension, and non-fibrous suspension.
These suspensions are economically feasible since their raw mate-
rials are obtained from natural resources. Non-fibrous suspensions
are solid particles with low length to diameter (l/d) ratio. Fibrous
solid suspensions have longer l/d ratio and similar properties to
dilute rod-like polymer as well as micelles in surfactant solution
regarding ratio. Vaseleski and Metzner [75] did a research on 3 dif-
ferent types of fibrous suspensions and their DR ability. They found
that the maximum DR of rayon is 18%, nylon is 8% and asbestos is
70%. Among other materials that have been investigated are col-
loidal crystals [76], chrysotile asbestos [77], iron powder [78]
and slag powder [79]. Recently, researchers have been finding fiber
suspensions from natural resources since the synthetic fibers and
asbestos contain synthetic chemicals. These synthetic chemicals
can pollute the environment if drained without proper treatment.
Kubo & Ogata [80] investigate the DR effect of bamboo fiber and
found that it can reduce drag up to 20%. Wulandari et al. [81] found
that the addition of coconut fiber suspension to fluid flow inside a
horizontal circular pipe produces about 7.6% DR in Reynolds num-
ber around 25000. They found that the DR increases as the concen-
tration of coconut fiber suspension increases. Abdulbari and Yunus
[82] studied alumina and sand suspensions and also stated that the
drag reduction increases as the concentration of the solid suspen-
sion increases. They combined SLES surfactant with the solid sus-
pensions and found out that the addition of surfactant increases
the drag reduction to 44% compared to 34% without the surfactant.
These findings agree with the earlier investigation by Ellis [83] and
Radin et al. [84] where asbestos suspensions are mixed with sur-
factant before injecting into the system and produce up to 44%
drag reduction. Lee et al. [85] concluded that over 95% of drag
reduction is produced when both types of additives were used
together. They proposed that the two additives may interact differ-
ently with the turbulent flow. Fig. 8 shows the mechanism of DR by
using fiber suspensions proposed by Wulandari et al. [81] in their
paper.
At low velocity, plug flow develops where the fiber interacts
with the pipe wall and forms a fiber network on the wall. From
Fig. 8(a), the plug flow inside the pipe causes friction between
the fiber suspension and the wall which causes the friction coeffi-
cient to increase. When the velocity increases, annulus of water
fluid forms between the fibers and pipe wall as shown in Fig. 8
(b). The size of the annulus increases as the velocity increases,
reducing the shear on the pipe wall resulting in the decrease of
friction loss. Drag reduction starts to happen in this phase but it
is still very low. When the velocity increases even higher, the
annulus will become turbulent and mixed flow regime between
the fluid and fiber suspensions begins. In this mixed flow regime,
the fibers tend to spread and flow relatively parallel to the test pipe
as shown in Fig. 8(c) and water layer develops near the pipe wall.
This causes a decrease in friction on the wall and leads to maxi-
mum drag reduction.
3.3. Comparison and other applications of additives DR method
Despite the alternatives introduced for reducing drag, the use of
additives is still preferable because of its simplicity. No additional
cost is needed for installation or maintenance as there for the other
methods. However, one of the biggest concerns on the effect of
using additives is the environmental impact of its residue making
its application restricted to certain industries such as food process-
ing and pharmaceutical. For instance, the inability of cationic sur-
factants to undergo anaerobic degradation leads to possible toxic
effect of the surfactant upon the relevant anaerobic microorgan-
 M.A. Asidin et al. / Chinese Journal of Chemical Engineering 27 (2019) 1921–1932
Fig. 8. Mechanism of DR of fiber suspensions [81].
isms [86]. Nonetheless, these additives are still applicable to a wide
range of application such as gas–liquid and liquid–liquid flow sys-
tems. Surfactants are widely used in Japan for district cooling and
heating for reducing pumping power o flow [87], used to aid in the
prevention of the agglomeration of ice slurries [88] and to enhance
thermal recovery of heavy oil [89]. Solid suspensions are applied in
various industries such as food processing, pulp and paper indus-
try, reinforcing composites, and textile [90].
The major advantage of surfactants and solid suspensions com-
pared to polymer is their resistance to mechanical degradation.
Mechanical degradation of polymer happens after a period of time
when the shear stress increases as the Reynolds number increases.
The polymer additive loses the drag reduction ability after degra-
dation occurs. Surfactants also undergo mechanical degradation
but it has a unique ability to self-repair and form micelles.
Although surfactants regain is DR ability after forming micelles,
it can lose its DR ability completely under extreme shear condi-
tions. However, higher concentrations of solid suspensions are
needed to achieve similar drag reduction performance as polymer
additives which then leads to clogging or additional separation
process to separate the solids from the flow. Surfactants cause
foaming and precipitation when added into the flow since they
are basically soap. The positively and negatively charged surfac-
tants also sensitive with the free ions exist in the media.
4. Mechanisms of Drag Reduction Using Drag Reducing Polymer
Most studies on the mechanisms of drag reduction by polymer
additives only explain the phenomenon in certain respective fields.
No universally accepted model would explain the whole phe-
nomenon completely because of the complex nature of turbulent
flow and the variables and parameters used in each experiment.
This section contains a discussion of theoretical hypotheses or pos-
sible mechanisms rather than a closed theory since the compli-
cated nature of turbulence is nearly impossible to predict. In the
simplest model, the interaction of the polymers is related to the
Fig. 9. Illustration inside the pipeline during turbulent flow [85].
1927
size of the turbulence structure. Turbulence is determined by the
size distribution of vortices formed in the flow. Drag reduction is
the result of the interaction between the fluid molecules and the
ensemble of additives embedded in an area of the local flow field.
The most common theory among the researchers is the theory of
polymer elongation. An initial review by Lumley [91] postulated
that polymer-induced DR occurred due to the increased exten-
sional viscosity during the stretching of randomly coiled polymers
under fluctuating shear rate. Higher extensional viscosity damp-
ened the turbulent energy in the buffer layers, and thus resulted
in lower turbulent energy dissipation and friction. Fig. 9 shows
the illustration inside the pipeline during turbulent flow. The poly-
mer additives can suppress the formation of turbulence in the buf-
fer layer. It will result in the restraining of turbulent eddy
development [9].
Further research by Lumley [92] provides evidence that the
drag reducing effect of the polymer is caused by the elongation
of its molecules inside the flow. He proposed that the fluctuating
strain rate caused the molecules to expand outside the viscous
sublayer which increased the effective viscosity and dampened
small dissipative eddies. Therefore, the drag reduction happens
inside the buffer layer between the laminar and viscous sublayers.
Virk [93] suggested that polymer molecules interfere with the tur-
bulent bursting processes and macromolecular extension is
involved in the drag reduction mechanism. Stiffening effect by
extended linear macromolecules and molecular entanglements
interferes with eddy formation, thus reducing frictional drag [94].
Toonder et al. [95] stated that extended polymer by the flow
changes the turbulence structure leading to drag reduction. How-
ever, elasticity seems to play a counterproductive role in the drag
reduction process. They stated that the onset drag reduction was
determined by the elastic properties of the polymer before it
extended.
Brostow [96] discussed the mechanism of drag reduction based
on the model that he made in 1983 as depicted in Fig. 10. The fig-
ure represented a flowing unit of polymer domain with some
1928 M.A. Asidin et al. / Chinese Journal of Chemical Engineering 27 (2019) 1921–1932
Fig. 10. Mechanism of drag reduction. Average distance between chain sequences
on the outside of the domain oriented along the flow is d; average widths of good
and poor sequences are dg and dp in obvious notation [96].
shape disturbance due to turbulence. He proposed that the solvent
(transported fluid) and macromolecule chains form a solvate that
helps to defend the solvent molecules from turbulence, thus reduc-
ing the drag.
Brostow et al. [97] discussed further on the model and stated
that polymer chain has good sequences which parallel to the flow
direction causing most solvent molecule to attach to the sequence.
The solvent molecule will move in the same direction to the flow,
and the sequences that are not quite aligned with the flow will
become aligned. Thus, partial elongation of the domain will occur.
On the other hand, poor sequences are oriented more or less per-
pendicularly to the flow. These poor sequences will undergo con-
traction as the elongation happened.
One aspect that was mentioned the most in Brostow’s review
paper is solvation. Brostow stated that the solvation is more signif-
icant to drag reduction than viscosity. Kim et al. [98] mentioned in
his research on the effect of polymer–surfactant interaction to tur-
bulent drag reduction that the effect of the polymer is described by
its elastic modulus based on the model. Solvation occurs not only
in turbulent flow only but also in laminar flow. A generalized equa-
tion was developed by Manzhai et al. [99] based on this theory.
They proposed that the enhancement of volumetric flow rate when
a DRA is added in a flow is a function of external shear stress, tem-
perature, volumes of macromolecular coils with immobilized sol-
vent and their volume fraction, and also the intrinsic coil
elasticity. They claim that the model can be used to describe the
drag reduction regarding intermolecular interactions and to fore-
cast the early conditions of drag reduction. They also used the
equation to provide an explanation on the dependency of polymer
solutions with temperature [100]. Some theories suggested that
the condition of the pipe wall also influences the drag reduction
phenomenon. Experimental findings from Marhefka [101], Ptasin-
ski [102], Angelis et al. [103] and Escudier et al. [104] suggest that
the near-wall region has a significant role in the formation of drag
and also the drag reduction in turbulent flow.
5. Characteristics of Drag Reduction Using DR Polymer
As mentioned, flow inside a pipe is turbulent. The turbulent
eddies in the fluid flow caused energy loss while pumping or better
known as drag. Drag is indicated by the amount of pressure drop in
the fluid flow. Drag reducing agents are chemicals that are injected
into the pipeline to reduce energy loss which produces smaller
pressure drop compared to flow without the addition of those
agents moving at the same flow rate.
Drag reducing agents are highly viscoelastic and usually a
hydrocarbon so that the additions of these agents do not affect
the physical properties of refining processes or refined products.
The mixture of DRA and solvent will produce a solution which is
viscoelastic, time-independent, shear degradable, and non-
Newtonian fluids [64]. Drag-reducing polymers (DRP) are long
chain macromolecules with high molecular weight, have fast dis-
solution rate and slow degradation rate. Fig. 11 shows three basic
methods for polymer addition inside a pipe. There are (a) a homo-
geneous solution where the polymer was mixed with the solvent
and disperses uniformly before added into to flow, (b) injecting
the polymer into the center or at the near wall at a concentration
which disperses completely by turbulent diffusion, and (c) the
polymer is injected into the center of a turbulent flow at high
enough concentration that is a single coherent, unbroken polymer
thread at the injector and flow continuously [105].
The drag reduction performance depends on the mixture veloc-
ity, concentration, water fraction, and molecular weight of the
polymer [8]. The most efficient drag reducing polymers have a lin-
ear structure, with maximum extensity and excellent solubility for
a given molecular weight [3,106]. The performance of polymer in
reducing drag is corresponding to its molecular weight. Higher
molecular weight can produce greater drag reduction for a partic-
ular concentration and Reynolds number [107]. For low molecular
weight polymer solution, for example, toluene shows more moder-
ate drag reduction and less efficient compared to high molecular
weight solution [108]. A polymer with high molecular weight pro-
motes longer chain structure which indicates the strength of the
polymer. The longer macromolecular chain will provide more
interaction during flow. This property goes hand in hand with
the extensibility of the polymer. An experiment by Nakken et al.
[109] concluded that polymer extension plays a significant role
in drag reduction. Large polymer extensibility and high Weis-
senberg numbers are required to obtain significant levels of drag
reduction [110]. Benzi [111] stated that the polymer concentration
effect on the drag reduction can be qualitative and quantitative
because of the maximum stretch ability of the polymer.
6. Major Issues of DR Polymer
Mechanical degradation is a depolymerization reaction, and the
activation energy for the process to occur is from the mechanical
action on the polymer. When degradation happens, the effective-
ness of polymer additives is reduced. It is due to the dependence
on molecular weight [112]. Early experiments on mechanical
degradation stated that the chain scission occurs around the chain
midpoint which shows that the polymer molecules are highly
extended when they break [113]. Moussa and Tiu [114] suggest
that most of the degradation takes place at the entrance region
because of the high extensional straining of polymer molecules.
They stated that the mechanical degradation increases as the num-
ber of passes increased which satisfied the previous finding by Ting
and Little [115]. Fig. 12 shows the degradation of Polyox solution at
several concentrations by Ting and his colleague.
Choi et al. [116] investigate the mechanical degradation of high
molecular weight polymers under turbulent flow conditions using
a rotating disk apparatus. Several factors were examined including
molecular weight, concentrations, and molecular structure. Their
investigations are made using one single exponential decay model.
They compared the date for polysaccharides, PAAM and PEO and
concluded that the single decay model is not universally accept-
able for all drag reduction degradation behavior. High molecular
weight polymers are more susceptible to shear induced degrada-
tion, and polymers with linear chain structure are more vulnerable
than branched polymers [117].
Other than mechanical degradation, polymer additives are also
prone to chemical degradation. When chemical degradation
occurs, the polymer structure changes due to the chemical reac-
 M.A. Asidin et al. / Chinese Journal of Chemical Engineering 27 (2019) 1921–1932
Fig. 11. The three methods for polymer addition into turbulent flow adopted from Smith et al. [99].
Fig. 12. The degradation of Polyox solution at several concentrations adopted from
Ting and Little [110].
tions between the polymer and other substances inside the fluid,
for example, in the presence of metals or any free radicals when
oxygen is present. Even high salinities or calcium concentrations
in the transported media could trigger such chemical degradation
[118]. Its resistance to temperature is also a drawback for the uti-
lization of polymer additives. Zhang et al. [119] investigated the DR
performance of poly(AM-co-AA) in RDA under different situations,
and one of them is temperature. They found that DR activity
decreases with increasing temperature related to the increase of
thermal motion of molecules at elevated temperatures, leading to
the breakage of the intermolecular interaction.
As the industries are shifting towards green technologies, issues
have been raised about the environmental impact of polymer addi-
tives since it is derived artificially and not biodegradable [118]. The
additives may contain chemicals that might be toxic and haz-
ardous to the environment. Some of its residues are toxic and envi-
ronmental pollutants making it harmful to living organism and
environment. Furthermore, the chemicals in these additives are
not suitable for industries where fluid properties and parameters
are crucial for product quality. Additional stages are required to
make it appropriate for the industries and might be costly and
hence nullify the cost savings of additives [38].
7. Other Use of DR Polymer
There are a few more successful implementations of polymer
additives in oil and gas industry aside from the transportation of
crude oil in the Trans-Alaska Pipeline. 40.64% drag reduction was
1929
achieved with low polymer concentration in Iraqi crude oil conduit
[120]. The addition of 60 ppm of the DRA (poly-alpha olefin) on the
flow lines for crude oil located in the western Egyptian desert
(Fagour field) owned by Khalda Petroleum Company produces
36% drag reduction [121]. Drag reduction benefits the firefighting
industry by reducing the frictional resistance through hoses. The
use of poly(ethylene) oxide only changes the flow characteristics
of the water and not those properties that are essential for fire-
fighting. The presence of poly(ethylene) oxide also improves the
stability of the foam used to distinguish Class B fire [5].
The fundamentals of drag reduction are also applied in district
cooling and heating system. 10% drag reduction is reported in an
experiment to optimize the energy consumption in district cooling
system [6]. Research on the application of polymer in nuclear dis-
trict heating system by Kim et al. [122] found that the addition of
20 ppm of PEO with a molecular weight of 4  106 to the system
get maximum 50% drag reduction. The first installation of polymer
dosing station in Bristol sewage system shows up to 70% increases
in sewer velocities using Polyox WSR-301 with concentrations
ranging up to 60 ppm [123].
In the medical field, synthetic polymers have been known to
improve impaired blood circulation. However, it is less favored
compared to the drag reducing methods such as microbubbles
due to its toxicity. Poly(N-vinyl formamide) is tested for clinical
use because of its low toxicity and acceptable biocompatibility. It
can reduce resistance to turbulent flow in a pipe as well as vascular
resistance in vivo [101]. Researchers also have shifted to natural
organic polymers as new alternatives for drag reduction. For
instance, Aloe vera based drag reducing polymers have high poten-
tials in clinical applications [124].
8. Future of DR Polymer
The progression on new findings of drag reduction has
improved a lot these past decades. One of the ideas is by mixing
the DR polymer with other DR methods. For instance, the drag
reduction efficiency of poly(acrylic acid) mixed with sodium dode-
cyl sulfate is found to be higher than the drag reduction of pure
poly(acrylic acid) [92]. The mixture of non-ionic high molecular
polymer — poly(ethylene oxide) and the cationic surfactant — cetyl
trimethyl ammonium bromide combines and intensifies positive
features of their pure polymer and micellar equivalents, resulting
in efficient DR in a wider range of the Reynolds numbers [125].
The concerns about the toxicity and environmental impact of
conventional polymer additives not only sparked the develop-
ments of non-additive drag reduction alternatives but also inspired
researchers to switch to natural and organic additives from the
environment. Biopolymers refer to those substances produced by
living organisms such as polysaccharides, natural gums, mucilage,
and chitosan. Table 1 shows the summary of the biopolymers that
were experimented as alternatives to existing additives.
These biopolymers are environmentally friendly, and some
have greater resistance to mechanical degradation. Kenis et al.
[131] have done a research on the mechanical degradation resis-
1930 M.A. Asidin et al. / Chinese Journal of Chemical Engineering 27 (2019) 1921–1932
Fig. 13. DR of commercial guar gum, purified guar gum, and grafted guar gum in a
pipe flow adopted from [129].
tance of some natural polymer compared to synthetic polymers.
They concluded that the mechanical degradation resistance occurs
in the following sequence PAM > XG > PEO > GG. This result shows
that industrial polysaccharides such as xanthan gum (XG) show
resistance to mechanical degradation compared to flexible poly-
mers [96]. Singh et al. [132] investigated on the commercialized
xanthan gum and found that the maximum drag reduction
achieved is up to 60% and the drag reduction increases as the con-
centration increases. Their findings are shown in Fig. 13.
Even though there are some detailed understandings in theory
of the mechanism of polymer, a model of the phenomenon is still
required. The modern advanced technologies nowadays can be uti-
lized to conduct tests of the existing predictive model whether by
numerical simulations or experiments. New tests using advanced
technologies can help to improve the models and better capture
the physics of the problem. These new predictive models should
tackle the onset of DR by relating it with polymer relaxation time
and eddy turnover time. Two challenging tasks are to incorporate
inhomogeneity in the polymer concentration field and polymer
degradation into the models [133].
9. Conclusion
Drag reduction can be produced through various methods
which are divided into additive and non-additive methods. The
additive methods produce higher drag reduction compared to
non-additive methods. Only small amount of polymer can provide
up to 80% drag reduction making it the most desirable way to date.
Nonetheless, studies on non-additive methods still attract interests
from many researchers because of its environmentally friendly fea-
ture and its potential in industries where fluid properties and
parameters are essential for product quality such as pharmaceuti-
cal and food processing. Even though there are some major issues
with polymers such as mechanical degradation and toxicity, it is
still engaging to researchers due to its high DR ability. The
advancement of the technologies of drag reduction is growing
rapidly. There are many findings on the field that can contribute
to having a better understanding of the phenomena. Despite all
the research done, universally accepted mechanism of drag reduc-
tion is still far beyond completion mainly because of the complex
nature of turbulent flow. One of the reasons is the varieties of con-
ditions and parameters used in each study that sometimes contra-
dict each other. Any studies on the particular field can help to add
more significant data and contribute to the literature. Understand-
ing the fundamentals of drag reduction is crucial to yield the vast
potential of applications of drag reduction. Drag-reducing poly-
mers have been widely applied to various fields such as oil and
gas, firefighting, sewage system, district cooling system and
biomedical sectors. Some of them are the utilization in microchan-
nel and nanofluids. Future research should focus more on advanc-
ing the real potential of these methods. Even though the methods
are not perfect individually, the combination of these methods may
have been proven to have bigger potential in drag reducing perfor-
mance and also economically. New technologies can be created by
integrating the benefits of each method and understanding their
challenges. The central idea here is that the future of drag reduc-
tion does not only remain in the mainstream methods that have
already been examined but also require researchers to challenge
the established ideas and beliefs to seek new answers and tech-
niques for enhancing DR.
Acknowledgment
This work was supported by the Ministry of Higher Education,
Malaysia [grant number FRG0416-TK-1/2015] and UMSGreat fund-
ing from Universiti Malaysia Sabah [grant number GUG0052-TK-
2/2016]. Sincere gratitude to fellow corresponding authors for
guidance and persistent support.
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