Simulation and Experimental Study on Drag Reduction in Viscous Food Sauce Pipeline Transportation Using Grooves

In the filling industry, production efficiency is often constrained by the high flow resistance encountered during the conveyance of viscous food sauces. Drawing on biomimetic drag reduction principles, this study investigates the application of grooved surface structures to mitigate conveying resistance. Numerical simulations were conducted using ANSYS Workbench to evaluate the flow resistance of viscous food sauces through pipelines with rectangular, V-shaped, arc-circular, and smooth internal surfaces. The results demonstrate that compared with smooth pipelines, all three grooved configurations reduce resistance. Among them, the rectangular grooves result in the most pronounced drag reduction, followed by V-shaped grooves, whereas arc-circular grooves result in the least improvement. Leveraging the combined benefits of V-shaped grooves in terms of both drag reduction and mechanical robustness, grooved pipelines with groove widths of ۱ mm, ۱.۵ mm, and ۲ mm were fabricated. Using a custom-built conveying resistance test rig, the flow resistance of three food sauces—tomato ketchup, fermented paste, and peanut butter—was measured at conveying velocities of ۵ mm/s, ۱۰ mm/s, and ۱۵ mm/s. The experimental results indicate that within the tested groove width range of ۱ mm to ۲ mm, the conveying resistance for all three sauces is generally lower than that observed in smooth pipes, confirming the effectiveness of the grooved structures in reducing flow resistance. This study provides both theoretical insights and practical guidance for optimizing pipeline design in the viscous food sauce industry.

کلیدواژه ها:

Viscous food sauces ، Bionics ، Pipeline transportation ، Computational fluid dynamics simulation ، Drag reduction