Experimental and numerical analysis of flow characteristics of sand-water slurry in a horizontal pipe

Abstract EN

The transportation of the solid material using hydraulic transportation method is economically the best method.

the head loss occurs during transportation of slurry through horizontal pipelines and usually depends on the rheological behavior of slurry, slurry concentration, particle size, and influx velocity.

an experimental investigation has been performed using sand-water slurry flowing through the horizontal pipe section of a pilot plant test loop.

the head loss obtained from the experimental results was validated through CFD simulation using FLUENT.

the solid concentration of sand-water slurry and influx velocity used during both experiments and numerical simulation were in the range of 10–40% (by weight) and 1 to 4 m/s, respectively.

the numerical simulations were performed using five different turbulence models, and the results obtained using SST k-omega model were in close agreement with experimental results.

It is observed from both the experiment and numerical analyses that the pressure loss, granular pressure, volume fraction, and skin fraction coefficient during transportation of slurry through a horizontal pipe are functions of solid concentration and influx velocity.

the present study observed that as the flow velocity increases four times, the pressure loss is increasing more than 10 times.

uniform volume fraction at middle zone of outlet of the pipe is observed as both the slurry concentration and velocity of flow increase.