Developing Power-Law Fluid Flow in The Entrance Region of a Parallel Plate Channel

A Master of Science thesis in Chemical Engineering by Sadia Rehman entitled, “Developing Power-Law Fluid Flow in The Entrance Region of a Parallel Plate Channel”, submitted in March 2024. Thesis advisor is Dr. Rachid Chebbi. Soft copy is available (Thesis, Completion Certificate, Approval Signatures, and AUS Archives Consent Form).

Abstract

Non-Newtonian fluids are used in different processes including heat exchangers, extrusion processes and chemical production. Numerous significant industrial fluids exhibit non-Newtonian properties. Many non-Newtonian fluids are modelled as power-law fluids. Research on the laminar flow of power-law fluids in the entrance region of parallel plates has been conducted by previous investigators using a variety of methods. The main objective of this research is to model power-law fluid flow in the entrance region of parallel plate channels using the inlet-filled region concept. The problem is solved using a modified boundary layer integral method and the results are validated against published data. The results for the inlet and filled regions include velocity, pressure drop and boundary layer thickness profiles in addition to the inlet and filled region sizes as functions of the power-law index. The present model results asymptotically reach the fully developed velocity profile, friction factor and centreline velocity values for power-law fluids and demonstrate strong consistency with published Newtonian fluid flow results in the entrance region of parallel plates.