Suppressing turbulence and enhancing liquid suspension flow in pipelines with electrorheology

Flows through pipes, such as crude oil through pipelines, are the most common and important method of transportation of fluids. To enhance the flow output along the pipeline requires reducing viscosity and suppressing turbulence simultaneously and effectively. Unfortunately, no method is currently available to accomplish both goals simultaneously. Here we show that electrorheology provides an efficient solution. When a strong electric field is applied along the flow direction in a small section of pipeline, the field polarizes and aggregates the particles suspended inside the base liquid into short chains along the flow direction. Such aggregation breaks the rotational symmetry and makes the fluid viscosity anisotropic. In the directions perpendicular to the flow, the viscosity is substantially increased, effectively suppressing the turbulence. Along the flow direction, the viscosity is significantly reduced; thus the flow along the pipeline is enhanced. Recent field tests with a crude oil pipeline fully confirm the theoretical results.