APPENDIX C

THE DETERMINATION OF SLURRY DENSITY BASED ON THE VOLUME AND

WEIGHT CONCENTRATION OF THE SOLID PARTICLES
C•2 APPENDIX C

APPENDIX C

THE DETERMINATION OF SLURRY DENSITY BASED ON THE VOLUME AND

WEIGHT CONCENTRATION OF THE SOLID PARTICLES

This section explains how the specific gravity of a slurry (SGM) is related to the solid's
particle weight and volume concentration.

Figure C-1 Variables related to the

calculation of the specific gravity of
a slurry.
Definitions:

VM is the volume the slurry mixture.

mM is the mass of the slurry mixture.
VL is the volume of the liquid portion of the mixture.
mL is the mass of the liquid portion of the mixture.
VS is the volume of the solid portion of the mixture.
mS is the mass of the solid portion of the mixture.
CV is the volume concentration of the solid particles in the mixture.
CW is the mass concentration of the solid particles in the mixture.
SGS is the specific gravity of the solids portion of the mixture.
SGL is the specific gravity of the liquid portion of the mixture.
SGM is the specific gravity of the mixture.

ρW is the density of water at standard conditions.

The total mass of the solid particles (mS) is:

m S = ρ S VS [C-1]

The density of the solid particles ρS can be expressed as:

ρ = SGS ρ
S W [C-2]
APPENDIX C C•3

The volume concentration of the solid particles is expressed by:

V S = CV VM [C-3]
By replacing equations [C-2] and [C-3] into equation [C-1] we obtain the total mass of the
solid particles mS :

m S = SGS ρ W CV VM [C-4]
Using a similar reasoning, the total mass of the liquid particles mL is:

mL = SGL ρW (1− CV ) VM [C-5]

Therefore, the total mass of the mixture mM is:

m M = mS + mL = SGS ρ W CV VM + SGL ρW (1−CV ) VM [C-6]

After simplification equation [C-6] becomes:

m M = ρ W VM ( SGS CV +(1−CV ) SGL) [C-7]

By definition, the specific gravity of the mixture is:

ρ mS + mL ρ VM (SGS CV + (1−CV ) SGL) [C-8]

SGM = = m = =
M W
M

ρ VM ρ
W VM ρW
W VM ρ W

After simplification equation [C-8] becomes:

SGM = SGL + CV (SGS − SGL ) [C-9]

The specific gravity of the mixture SGM was expressed in equation [C-8] as:

mS + mL [C-10]
SGM =
VM ρW

From equation [C-4] we know that:

ρ VM =
W
mS [C-11]
SGS CV

By substituting equation [C-11] into [C-10] we obtain:

C•4 APPENDIX C

mS + mL mS +mL [C-12]
SGM = = SGS CV
mS mS
SGS CV

By definition:

CW = mS [C-13]
mS + mL
Therefore

SGM = SGS CV [C-14]

CW

Typically the concentration by volume (CV), the concentration by weight (CW) and the
specific gravity (SGS) of the solid particles will be given or known for a particular slurry.
This is enough information to calculate the specific gravity of the slurry (SGM) using
equation [C-14]. The specific gravity of the carrier fluid can be calculated from equation
[C-9] if required.

Often the purpose of the slurry mixture is to transport solid particles in a fluid form to a
discharge point further away. In that case, we are mainly interested in the amount of tons
per hour of solids that are transported.

The mass flow rate is given by:

M = ρ S CV q = SGS ρW CV q

()  USgals.  60 min  
3
tn 62.34 lbm ft tn
M = SGS × × CV × q  × ×  ×
h ft
3
 min  h  7 . 48 USgals .  2000 lbm
After simplification, the mass flow rate is:

()
M tn = 0.25 SGS CV
h
 USgals. 
q
 min 

[C-15]