Effect of Grain Size on the Rheology of Fly Ash Slurry

Abstract

Rheology is a very critical property of slurries in deciding the optimum solid concentration in slurry transportation system. Using advanced computerized rheometer, the rheological experimental investigations were performed and found that the slurry with lean solid concentration (10–40% by weight) consumes a huge amount of water and requires high energy power pumps. The rheological properties are strongly dependent on shear frequency, solid density, and distribution of particle size. With solid concentration, the plastic viscosity and yield stress increased. At higher solids concentrations, the experimental data fitted well with the Bingham plastic model. The results show that plastic viscosity and yield stress of the slurry samples get increased for the flow of finer solid particles. The viscosity of Bingham plastic depends primarily on the distribution of solid concentration and particle size.