Slurry Transportation An Overview
Robert Cooke PhD, Member of the Society of Mining, Metallurgy and Exploration Fellow of the Southern African Institute of Mining and Metallurgy
Paterson Paterson & Cooke, Denver Colorado
[email protected], Tel 303 867 2264 1580 Lincoln Street, Suite 1000, Denver CO 80203
DOE Slurry Retrieval, Pipeline Transport & Plugging and Mixing Workshop January 14-18, 2008 Orlando, Florida
DOE Slurry Retrieval, Pipeline Transport & Plugging and Mixing Workshop, January 2008
P r es es e n t a t i o n O u t l i n e
Slurry properties
System applications
Design consideratio considerations ns for yield stress slurries slurries
Engineering Engineering slurry slurry systems
DOE Slurry Retrieval, Pipeline Transport & Plugging and Mixing Workshop, January 2008
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S l u r r y P r o p e r t i es es
DOE Slurry Retrieval, Pipeline Transport & Plugging and Mixing Workshop, January 2008
100 % 90 % 80 % g n i s s a P e g a t n e c r e P e v i t a l u m u C
70 % 60 % 50 % 40 % 30 % 20 % 10 % 0% 1 µm
10 µm Tailings
Kimberlite
Heavy Mineral Concentrate
100 µm Particle Size Kimberlite
1000 µm
10000 µm S and
Platinum Tailings
DOE Slurry Retrieval, Pipeline Transport & Plugging and Mixing Workshop, January 2008
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100 Pa
320 Pa
200 Pa
500 Pa
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S y s t em A p p l i c a ti o n s : M i n er al In d u s t r y
Product Transportation
Mining
Mineral Processing
Surface Tailings
Underground Backfill
DOE Slurry Retrieval, Pipeline Transport & Plugging and Mixing Workshop, January 2008
Hydraulic Ore Hoisting
2” rocks 250 t/h 3300 feet vertical 3625 PSI (250 bar) DOE Slurry Retrieval, Pipeline Transport & Plugging and Mixing Workshop, January 2008
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M a r in e M i n i n g
16” rocks 1000 t/h 600 feet vertical 53 000 GPM DOE Slurry Retrieval, Pipeline Transport & Plugging and Mixing Workshop, January 2008
M i n e r al P r o c e s s i n g
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M i n e r al P r o c e s s i n g
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M i n e r al P r o c e s s i n g
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M i n e r al P r o c e s s i n g
60
) y r r 50 u l s e g 40 r a h c 30 s i d P J 20 m ( d 10 a e H
0 0
100
200
300
400
500
600
Flow Rate (m3/h)
DOE Slurry Retrieval, Pipeline Transport & Plugging and Mixing Workshop, January 2008
Concentrate Transport
PIPELINE AVAILABILITY 100 99 98 97 96 % 95 94 93 92 91 90 95
96
97
98
99
00
01
02
Required to transport 15 MT/Year @ 68 % solids
DOE Slurry Retrieval, Pipeline Transport & Plugging and Mixing Workshop, January 2008
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P as t e a n d T h i c k e n e d T a i li n g s Paste
) a P ( s s e r t S d l e i Y
Slurry Cake
Thickened Tailings
100
20
Solids Concentration (%) DOE Slurry Retrieval, Pipeline Transport & Plugging and Mixing Workshop, January 2008
Surface Tailings
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Surface Tailings
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T h i c k en e r t e c h n o l o g y
Conventional
High Rate
Ultra High Rate Paste
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U n d e r g r o u n d B ac k f i l l
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Yield Stress Slurries
Operating velocity • Laminar or turbulent flow
Laminar flow operation
Residual pressure in pipeline
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10 Paste (47% vol, 71% mass) )8 m / a P k ( t 6 n e i d a r G e r4 u s s e r P
Turbulent Flow
Laminar Flow
Thickened Tailings (30% vol, 53% mass) Clear Water
2 Laminar Flow 0 0
1
2 Mixture Velocity (m/s)
3
4
DOE Slurry Retrieval, Pipeline Transport & Plugging and Mixing Workshop, January 2008
3.5 150 mm pipe loop data: Floculated heavy mineral tailings 3.0 ) m2.5 / a P k ( t n 2.0 e i d a r G 1.5 e r u s s e r P1.0
41%m 40%m 38%m 37%m 35%m
0.5
0.0 0
1
2
3
4
5
6
Pipeline Velocity (m/s)
DOE Slurry Retrieval, Pipeline Transport & Plugging and Mixing Workshop, January 2008
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D es i g n C o n s i d e r at i o n s : F ri c t i o n L o s s 3.5
3.0
pH = 5.6
n o i t i d d a e m i L
) 2.5 m / a P k ( t n 2.0 e i d a r G 1.5 e r u s s e r P1.0
pH = 6.6
150 mm pipe loop data: Floculated heavy mineral tailings 40% by mass
0.5
0.0 0
1
2
3
4
5
6
Pipeline Velocity (m/s) DOE Slurry Retrieval, Pipeline Transport & Plugging and Mixing Workshop, January 2008
Copper Tailings
2.5 s / m ( y 2.0 t i c o l e V t i 1.5 s o p e D 1.0 y r a n o i t a 0.5 t S
150 mm 50 mm
0.0 40%
50% 60% 70% Solids Concentration (% by mass)
80%
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DOE Slurry Retrieval, Pipeline Transport & Plugging and Mixing Workshop, January 2008
L a m i n a r F l o w : P a r t i c l e Se t t le m e n t
Rugby Limestone pipeline • Laminar flow operation • 92 km long, 250 mm diameter • Over 36 hours, 0.106 kPa/m to 0.121 kPa/m
Feed
Discharge
56.5%m
54.5%m
1.1% > 300 µm
trace
150 µm > 2.8% > 300 µm
trace
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L a m i n a r F l o w : P a r t i c l e Se t t le m e n t
Belovo-Novosibirsk pipeline (Siberia) • Laminar flow operation (stabilized coal) • 262 km (164 mile) long, 530 mm diameter • Pipeline blocked during commissioning • Pressure gradient increased with time • Stationary deposit on pipe invert • Instabilities were not observed during loop tests using a 200 mm pipeline
DOE Slurry Retrieval, Pipeline Transport & Plugging and Mixing Workshop, January 2008
L a m i n a r F l o w : P a r t i c l e Se t t le m e n t
Will particles settle? • Small-scale tests under sheared conditions
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L a m i n a r F l o w : P a r t i c l e Se t t le m e n t 450 74.6 s-1
37.3 s-1
400 350 300
) m m 250 ( t h g 200 i e H
Initial distribution of + 45 µm particles
150 100 50 0%
5%
10%
15%
20%
25%
30%
Percentage > 45 µm
DOE Slurry Retrieval, Pipeline Transport & Plugging and Mixing Workshop, January 2008
L a m i n a r F l o w : P a r t i c l e Se t t le m e n t
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L a m i n a r F l o w : P a r t i c l e Se t t le m e n t o
o o
K B y
y
V o
K B
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L a m i n a r F l o w : P a r t i c l e Se t t le m e n t Copper Tailings
2.5
150 mm
s / m (
y 2.0 t i c o l e V 1.5 t i s o p e D 1.0 y r a n o i t a t 0.5 S
50 mm
0.0 40%
50% 60% 70% Solids Concentration (% by mass)
80%
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L a m i n a r F l o w : P a r t i c l e Se t t le m e n t Under what conditions will the particles be transported?
Thomas (1977) • Deposition occurs at a constant pressure gradient regardless of pipe size.
Gillies et al (1999) • Pressure gradient of about 2 kPa/m required to transport sand particles in a viscous Newtonian oil.
Gillies et al (2007) • Propose that the criterion for transport is based on the ratio of the mean wall shear stress to the mean surficial particle stress.
This is an area of ongoing research
DOE Slurry Retrieval, Pipeline Transport & Plugging and Mixing Workshop, January 2008
R es i d u a l Pr e s s u r e 20
18 Pressure before valve station 16
14 .
12
) a P M ( 10 e r u s s e r P 8
main valve open
1st bypass valve open 6 Pressure after valve station 4 2nd bypass valve open 2
All valves closed
0 07:55:12
08:24:00
08:52:48
09:21:36
09:50:24
10:19:12
10:48:00
Time
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E n g i n e er i n g S lu r r y S y s t em s
Design criteria / basis
Slurry test requirements
Minor losses
Pump performance
Hydraulic tools • System curve • Hydraulic gradeline
Transient conditions
P&ID Review
Pigging
Instrumentation DOE Slurry Retrieval, Pipeline Transport & Plugging and Mixing Workshop, January 2008
Design Criteria / Basis
Client/owner requirements
Site conditions
Material properties
Design methodology
Standard and codes
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Slurry Test Requirements
Information regarding the design of a slurry system is based on knowledge of the slurry flow behavior. The sources of information include: • Practical experience • Empirical correlations or information • Two layer predictive models • Historical test data • Specially commissioned project specific test work
Yield stress slurries: • There is no method for predicting the rheology of high concentration slurries. • The behavior of flocculated slurries is complex.
DOE Slurry Retrieval, Pipeline Transport & Plugging and Mixing Workshop, January 2008
When is Test Work Required?
Test work is expensive: • Sample collection (for green fields projects this may require that samples are generated from ore). • Time delays to project. • Actual test work costs.
Test work reduces risk: • Reduced design factors (over design) • Reduced potential for design failures or extensive post commissioning modifications
It is the responsibility of the Designer to balance Information Required versus Risk
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M in o r L o s s e s
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Pump Peformance
Performance derating Pump suction conditions Pump blockage
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C en t r i f u g al P u m p E x p l o s i o n s
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C en t r i f u g al P u m p E x p l o s i o n s
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S y s t em C u r v e
d a e H
Pipeline system curve Centrifugal pump head-discharge curve
Hw
Operating Point
H c i t a t S
Qw
Flow Rate
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Hydraulic Gradeline d a e H g / y 2 t i 2 c V o l e V
D A E H P M U P L A T O T D A E H C I T A T S
Entrance loss
H y d r a u l i c g r a d e l i n e E n e r g y l i n e
d a e H c i l u a r d y H
Exit loss
P = ρgh
Valve loss DOE Slurry Retrieval, Pipeline Transport & Plugging and Mixing Workshop, January 2008
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DOE Slurry Retrieval, Pipeline Transport & Plugging and Mixing Workshop, January 2008
C h o k e S t at i o n
DOE Slurry Retrieval, Pipeline Transport & Plugging and Mixing Workshop, January 2008
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P&ID Review
DOE Slurry Retrieval, Pipeline Transport & Plugging and Mixing Workshop, January 2008
Pigs
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Instrumentation
Simple Control and Measure
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Conclusion
“The conviction was that the key to the design of slurry systems which would operate reliably lay, not in the selection of exotic materials or the design of special equipment, but in the u n d er s t an d i n g and control of the slurry environment” EJ Wasp
DOE Slurry Retrieval, Pipeline Transport & Plugging and Mixing Workshop, January 2008
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