The liquid of aloe extract with shear-thinning Carreau fluids

In the analysis of plant extracts, rheological and heat transfer characteristics are of great significance for one to study regarding applications, such as in the biorheology or pharmaceutical industries. In this paper, we examine the aloe extract experimentally and test its rheological properties. To gain a better understanding of the extract's fluid properties, numerical simulations using FEM are performed on a square channel. Results show that, under a large shear rate, such a fluid behavior closely to the shear-thinning power-law fluid. Combining with numerical simulations, we analyze the influence of the Pr number and the material coefficient λ on the motion of the fluid. We also discuss the effects of other parameter values. •We studied the aloe extract experimentally and tested its rheological properties.•Results show that, under the large shear rate, it is close to the shear-thinning power law fluid.•To gain a better understanding of these fluid properties, a numerical simulation is performed on a square channel.•The influence of Pr number and material coefficient on the motion state of fluid are analyzed.