Numerical Study of Pressure Drop Calculation for Newtonian Slurry Through a Multi-segmented HDPE Pipeline

Abstract

Slurries, basically regarded as two–phase (solid–liquid) mixtures of ore and the carrier medium, generally water, are transported through underground pipelines. The rheological properties of the slurry also do play an important role in defining the salient parameters of hydraulic transport such as head loss and pressure drop in slurry pipelines. CFD has provided an upper hand in mathematical modelling and flow simulation, as it provides accurate and dependable flow simulation results. This article primarily focuses on determining the pressure drop across the ends of the pipeline, as the slurry flows through it, and to establish a graphical depiction of the various simulations made using different set of conditions. The pressure drop was found to be ranging between 4.27 and 6.53% when the angles of bend of the pipeline system was increased, while the same was found to be hovering around 4.91−8.3% when the inlet velocity was increased. 4.12−7.65% was the range amid which the values of pressure drop varied when the concentration of solids in the slurry were increased, while for an increasing diameter of cross section of the pipeline, the pressure drop was in the range of 5.15−12.91%.