Numerical simulation and comparative analysis of pressure drop estimation in horizontal and vertical slurry pipeline

Abstract

Transportation of solids with water as a carrier in the form of slurry through long length pipelines is widely used by many industries and power plants. The transportation of slurry through vertical pipeline is a challenging task and require modification to overcome the pressure loss and power consumption requirements. In this perspective, numerical simulation of three-dimensional horizontal slurry pipeline (HSPL) and vertical slurry pipeline (VSPL) carrying glass beads solid particulates of spherical diameter 440 µm and density 2,470 kg/m3 is carried out. The 3D computational model for horizontal and vertical slurry pipeline is developed for a pipe of 0.0549 m diameter and analyzed in available commercial software ANSYS Fluent 16. The simulation is conducted by using Eulerian multiphase model with RNG k-ɛ turbulence closure at solid concentration range 10 – 20% (by volume) for mean flow velocities ranging from 1-4 ms-1. It is found that the pressure drop rises for both HSPL and VSPL with escalation in mean flow velocity and solid concentration. The predicted pressure drop in VSPL is found to follow the same pattern as with HSPL but higher in magnitude for all chosen velocity and solid concentration range. The obtained results of predicted pressure drop in HSPL are validated with the available experimental data in the literature. A parametric study is conducted with the aim of visualizing and understanding the slurry flow behavior in HSPL and VSPL. Finally, the results of solid concentration contour, velocity contour, solid concentration profiles, velocity profiles and pressure drop are predicted for both the slurry pipelines.