Effect of temperature on the rheology of concentrated fiber suspensions

The effect of temperature on the apparent rheological properties of concentrated synthetic fiber suspensions was investigated experimentally. Aqueous suspensions of viscose rayon, acrylic, and nylon 6,6 fibers of various fiber concentrations, sizes, and shapes were used. At a fixed shear rate, the apparent viscosity of all the suspensions decreased reversibly with increasing temperature. The steady-state flow behavior is well described by the Bingham fluid model where the yield stress is a decreasing function of temperature and follows an Arrhenius dependence with an activation energy in the range of 2–80 kJ/mol, which is the same order of magnitude as that reported for 20 wt. % fibrous biomass suspensions below 55 °C. The fiber suspensions exhibited a negative plastic viscosity at low temperatures, and as the temperature was increased, the plastic viscosity became less negative. This temperature-dependent rheological behavior is qualitatively similar to that observed for concentrated fibrous biomass suspensions. The fiber suspensions formed heterogeneous networks where the state of aggregation depended on the experimental conditions and thus affected the macroscopic rheology.