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    Paterson - Historical Review Pipeline Transport PDF

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    of 15
    ee 2011— RJ na AB Fut oe ‘The pipeline transport of high density slurries —a historical review of past mistakes, lessons learned and current technologies AGLC. Paterson Paterson & Cooke, Sth Ait Abstract ‘There is gat lof misinformation #9 the indus om punping hig dens. viscous suviex, These mconcepneas come “wccepted Whe” as tine gos and ot ee Wier and at worst stop, the ‘nplemennatan of appropriate recluse. Unfornmtely the root of these misconceptions is often de te perience gine on prs understns. designed ar inplemened sews. Adoances i technology et “il be rend Py aexpting thatthe mises of the pas xan be ec and learned frm. Unfortunately this docs ne redhat or inst tha 8 essa thang, The objective of this pope Is 0 tales toys isnes by ac he istiea develpment uf high der pomp and why the probly of the past arc not necesariy he sane problems of tty. It accepted that many of the jindametal problems eamnt be roles, ant conta improvement nave processing will meu tha ne calles Sl arse, Pavone, thre er htt aonertoning of how to dea with he isues practically by asin the Tons develope bn pnp pilin tele 1 Introduction Sly pumring is a wll established technology, tothe extent tat it now widely use as the prefered rnethod of tasporting wineral concentrates, Long distance slur pipeline systems are widely used and {enerlly have an encellent rack recor of high avaabiiy. exellent safety and favourable economics when Compared 4 conventions balk transport ssstoms. However. pumping mineral concentrates hundreds of Kilometres seen fo be less challenging than pumping paste a hickened tains Few kilometres. Despite the many swecesses of slutry pipelines using high pressure pumps, tbere isa general reluctance within the vase dspoal engineering community to embrage new technology. Generally te excuses given ate high "stem cos, potently snsfe high pipeline pressures, and compex maintenance that isnot sted {0 @ Iining opeation. Obviously costs are always relevant and ste specific, but good cngineering. and Understanding of what being. pumped deals wih, and resolves, any excuses given for technical This seminar paper will deal with some ofthe cannon seasons why NeW sluny pipeline technology for thickened tangs disposal systems iso adopted nd presen the case for embracing new teciology when ie is appropriate, AP enviromental pressines incase, and intelligent water usage becomes emia, ‘operations rat fal to deal with sch sues ase at risk of losing thsi moral” Hieence to pera as public ‘opinion et sil 2 Technology acceptance Ic takes tine for new technologies to be adopted as commen patie, an this seems to be especially te of paste and tekened tangs disposal, This ina be due to many reasons, such as challenges to conventional ‘nist. reastanee to change scepiist of lai, aid fall poof of success that takes time du slow Uitake of th eciology This typical of the well nse technology diffision curve hat show that degice ‘oF acceptance canbe broken dv follows (Figure I) + eatin he elansogy whe create awarenens, presenting smal poteentags Iss than 2.5%, + ary adopters who commit to dhe technology, representing about 13% + Ear and ate majority who prove the echoology thugh widespread use, resenting 64% of Encbiy tose eee tesa ft tien ASG Patece ‘+ Hesiant accepters the as 16%, who Filly ascept the change and adopt he tehnology Paste and thiskened tilings disposal asa complete solution is probably now just being accepted by the ay Imajrity, orly having been properly emplayed by a few carly adopters workdvide. Regionally some ‘countries are showing a higher acceptance fate than others, bat the vast majonty of sew projets are ‘developed using conventional technology with step wise adoption of te new technologies, Proving | ttogaating | ‘Appearance | Gaining ‘ad | commitment | tectrology! andgrowng | awereness 1 tater majocty Level of acceptance exiy oseces wrovaos | Lage Time Figure Technology difusion (Rogers, 1962) Ic isnot the sim of his paper to position paste and thickened tailings disposal asa completely accepted technology, bt to demonstrate tat te current state ofthe ain pun and pipeline technology is based on a Jong earning curve and must aot he seen a8 harrier to implementing ol soliton, 24 arly setbacks ‘arly shy pipeline innovation was deat a serious setback in the United States by the elton fobhy an it js «story werth recounting. Argably modem slurry pipeline engineering began withthe fst major lng Listaee oe pipeline system fr Ohi Consolidation Coal that was 172 km and pumped 1.3 MT of coal per year. Commisioned in 1957, it operated for abou six years and proved tobe a cheap and viable alternative bulk sanspon mod. This forced the railways to rece tifa and he system was eventally shu down The project ved the way for Presidem Kennedy co promote the ides of lng distance oa pipelines in 1962 to help the ailing coal industry. "How shiny pipelines save consumer dallas” sone ofthe headlines from catly Kennedy brochures. tn 1964 Peabody Mine negotiated a controversial agreement with the Nevajo and Hop tribes, owing the company mineral rights and use of an underaround aque. Having the required ‘water meant that coal slurry pipeline could be considered and the Black Mes coal sly pipeline was onsiricted. Since the pipeline began operating in 1970 uni i was shut down in 200S there was continual vironmental pressure regarding the ground water usage and i effec on the local communities, [Nonethees he pipeline itself operated very successfully, pumping 48 MT per year of cal fom the mine to the Mohave Generating Station n Sothern Nevada, distance of 435 km, Following the commissioning ofthe Black Mose Projes, Energy Transportation Systems Ine. was formed in 1973 o deve op, bull and operate coal slurry pipelines that Would supply coal to various States in the US. Some 2,250 km of pipeline were planed, through Wyoming, Colorado, Kansts, Oklahoma and Arkansas "ranporting yp to 30 MT per year. This clearly represented major thet tothe wel entrenched raway network. Uliately, the project was stopped inthe fate 1970 because of activist railroad lobbying that bared sly pipelines from crossing railway servitues, effectively blocking lng distance pipelines inthe USA. This was a major blow tothe future ofthe sluy pipeline because had sch project gone ahead, slury pipeline technology would have reached is caren level many yeas ele. ago Kayo ane 3 Early innovators aw Aer eval pumping pioneered the way for conventional sur systems, the bene oF pumping High Sonceataian mists vane open cary In the Ibo it wa pssle 10 ann viseous coal Sluice at high solids eoncenatone and lw tasport velocities. A grat deal of research was done inthe oat mining msi. fist pioneered hy Elliot and Glidon (1970). who idemled the sabilised Now oncep! hereby the lager sid panicles ace support hy the yc stress ofthe high-concentation Snes Earie o vets potion ofthe lun. Te term *sabll wa is use by Later eta (1978) to desese these particular enl-watr slurries. Vscomver tess indicated the fealty of wansporting wool suis at the salle sab contin, An asonanieevalation comparing conventional coal sary anspor ie hetroasnccus lowe concentration) ta slab-To indicated the considerable advantages of high caneenitation Pusmping technology. The stifle apprasch yielded the nos potential in fry ecomomicvihiy as a ew aentive tthe standardised cr conventionally accepted methods of val anspor, Duckworth and Pall (1983) performed series of texts on the ranspyt of corse coal at hh concentations and ‘smelt the staeflo condition as possible ithe veil o Mid eamierf -Newtonian and hs a Yield stress fege enough to support the tp size patie (the sly yield stress rust be greater th the Submerged weigh ofthe ages parti in the slur) igh concentration non-Newconian slurry flow development “The development of stbslo Te tothe application of this technolowy 10 ater eninerl sly type inthe ring ist, stich a8 paste apd tickenod taligs, The predominant features of tis Mow regime are generally repute as 1. Large pails ave suspended by the viscosity and yield tres ofthe fine pantictefnater mitre 2. Tere iv predominantly high percentage of Fin parila the sly 3. Uniform concetation and velocity profiles. 4 Uniform, well sade patistsize distribution, 5. Generally n-Newonian and hommgeneos. Unfarnaely some of these assumions and bones originally espouse. ume ett» be incosec. In ticular the seemingly ebvius assumption those lures that appear to he sgl in she tie condo will notsvte ina pipeline 32 Paste backfill Doup level mining resend ise? asthe next arena far pushing the lis of pumping mines sere book for underground suppor. Te trtional hydraulic baci systems shat were widely used 1p the 1970s an 19RD al ram shortens ot least he excessive antount oF water being put ack it the ‘ine The Bod Grund Mine in Gennmy was one ofthe fist opcatons fo use high density Boe in 1979 fant may operations soot felled. 198K a South African mine (Webbsiock etal, 1998) used aeuu Tiere! al past meaiurical tings as backil, which wold we terme paste i. Atgualy the bulk ofthe development in paste ill wax one Cans by Ineo Lined that el othe fist Canadian paste ill ‘lant st Garson Ming in 194, tn Asta Hemty Mie ws th Fist to yse paste il tccesfly in 997, nd thee mines began ofall. Easy paste baci pipe low fests were conducted using simple re-civulatng loops dkiven by coneste Piston pps These flow loops delivered ypial data as shown in Fite 2 Clearly the How betaviour oF these wateras i liar at heh sola concertations. When hese systems were installed caret seting ‘of sli inthe horizantal pipes di ot see to hea probe. “Typist af ean indies, comnan cation snd crosspalination of eehsoy bes not happen a fen as in shold. The work done on paste hackil was spovifclly foeusse on finding a solution fr ele tunlrground spt, and the pipeline test work was ty done to sh tht he Materia oul he pumped and vanspovted. The fet Tat this meteral dd pot present pumping challenge was oot considered usu 1 the test experince clearly demonstrate that these Wisco macs aul be anspor by pipeline. Mepprintanse thn era sas — a ise uo ptt, Ade Boon Insc ine Sra cg tao ne Sti oi, Ths was ley dient om what oes ad expensed whe pumping tavinar How mints would be sane tine bef these eran eer sae ‘ieere2 types measored data froma past back r-ieoating up 33 Paste thickeners Timi Gra ens erg wrk doe by. Rainy at Fonte’ Ki Che Mine ring dita, ts wa the Tat opecton wo aap we npc cre nied Ce discharge tar ale I was cones aa fist ad ufone et heart mean trataed et OME sae Wee ot ly appara cw ike Mane consist ‘deatre material. The challenges associated with the disposal of bau tsctnology by Alea in the T970s (Doucet and Perel 34 Pumping and pipeline systems These ea aN wally ive the pase dct to the unergcnd spe sing verial boreholes, lees sect ery hed wo rams he mace hence ‘undergiound, A typical va) oo te ae a Fshsen tal, 2007) amps posh and hee ta stopes kn rr ap NS yam use igh pres enerey dant sane a Figure 3.10 sre ta the pipeline operates ily pressed so ae sina ak pangs sca in wa nd ity pase ack eens wn ste pe pon Pumps. These fod chic Hyon ee in Bd NE Vous mar, and low vone spas TAeE Pampers Sted pee valves ae use fr Ter saree Pa are pata, aes wih 3 ving tbe vale anangemt The ays have peal ow rate ‘capacities of up o 280 my?h ata discharge presse o 10: Se se Pace 208, Par, Asta Figere3— High pressure energy dssipaters to contol flow rate in a past system o To pnp larger volumes at higher gressre, piston diaphragm pumps are used for paste and dhiskened fais systers, The imitation on these pumps usualy the maxim deve capacity that can be installed ‘na single pump. For high pressure applications and frge ose rte, this means that several pumps in parle are needed 3S Acceptance levels These innovative developments have made it possible to dewater slurs to high solids concentrations, and ste Beil hs Become nega to many underground mini operations. Why thee isnot de same level acceprance for surface pumping of thickened and paste tang 5 mostly due tothe following preparation spp sss perceived complexity of operation of preparation plant and purnping equipment + poor snderstanding of pipeline flow behaviour at intermediate solids concentrations inka igh capital costs asociated with high pressure pumps Derostion sues ave generally aloe to meet the lea ste conditions 4 Early adopters 44 Further setbacks The arly innovative work showed trinendous promise snd application for high concentration nn cetonian sluny tansport however, expeeition excceded understanding and. some serious setbacks ecard. The mos! fundamental eror sth assumption that materials that ae aparently homogeneous in a Sate. or quiescent condition, will not sete nthe pipeline. Certainly this appated tobe tr whe pursing ese buchfll but under other soditions pipeline Now was na so simple, as demonstrated bythe following wa well known operations. 411 Suabitised coal transport The ast demate example ofthis was the application of stable technology used to design a build the kin Blavor Novosibirsk coal sly pipeline. This $30 mm ppeine was designed to transport 3 milion fy tonnes of cea per year The desi sry yi stress was lo 1-13 Pa, and the pipeline was dsiened iveperate at 01-09 mvs. Dasing commissioning ony 3.000 tones of coal were transported tnd ongoing “patina problems and blockages were Irequent, esi in the closure of he pipeline afer less thn for Yew of apration (Comper etal 2010). fs importante note that during contmssoning, the ow rates ‘Mere meh fower than the design, ad the syst operated at velocities of 0.1 rvs, probably on the 'ASimpion it would be safe to do soa no setting was expected dung laminae Nw. Deter 412 Limestone ransport During early operation of the 92 km long, 252 mm dianster pipeline, limestone sluty pipeline im Rusby England, i was observed that the pipeline pressure gadien increased slowly. and that there was discrepancy between the solids concentration entering and leaving the pipeline (Cooke, 2002) Analysis done hy the mine athe time showed tht the coarser paticles were stings the pipeline and sccumulating on the inven. The pipeline had to be reguatly ished with water to maintia the pump station discharge pressure blow 10 MPa, The pipeline operated at a veloxity of 11m, and the ert transition velocity between laminar and rrbulet flow was also estimated at 11 mis (Wasp, 1999) Small changes in the slurry propetes would have resulted in unstable operation 3s the ow regime varied from laminar turbulent fw. ‘The Trinidad Tnestone pipeline pune limestone with s yield stress of 26 Paa distance of 10k. Solids setlng onthe pipeline invert caused punp sation discarge pressures to ise, and the system had to be Fused sing pigs every two days, The system operated a velocity of 2 mi, well Below the estimated critical veloity of 3.9 ms (Wasp, 1999), “These carly setbacks led many inthe long distance piping industry to believe that operating in laminar flow regimes wis not feasible 42° Karly successes ‘As mentioned, paste backfill systems were shown to operate without setling at low velocities, and the ‘mining industry began to investigate thickened and paste tailings fr surface disposal. Many of the ely thickened tilings systems chose fo operate at densities hat could utilise low prevsurecentefigal pumps ‘This meant thatthe flow regime was mosly turbulent, and problems associated With laminar How operation id nt occur. This was perhaps not because there Was an awareness of the issues associated with lamin No, and was possibly more due to a cautious epproach to adopting @ new technology. As these carly thickened alings systems, such as Mt Keith and Peak Goll Mine, showed that there were distinc benefits to depositing at increased solids concentration, interest grew in pamping at higher densities. At high dense, the flow behaviour is very dependent onthe tilings properties and as solids concentration increases these ‘effects are more pronounced, In pauls, material with «high percentage of fine patel, of high clay ents, become significantly mare viscous. 421 Red mud disposal, Australia ‘The importance of understanding the low heviour and eheolgy of thickened tilings was highlighted by ‘the werk done in Australia onthe dsposl of bauxite resid. The pumping systems at Kwinana refinery se both centrifugal and positive displacement pumps that are selected depending on the beaching requirements and pipeline lengths. As cenefugal pumps shea the mail more than the postive displacement paps, the viscosity ix rediced and the deposition ie alfected. In order to obtain proper dying and stacking of the reside, repadess of the sear history, minimum viel test vas required atthe deposition sie. The Slump cone proved tobe a simple means estimate the clange in lrty yield suoss (Pashia ta, 1996) of ‘he material deposited ant the beach Boge etl. (2002) demonstrated thatthe disposal requirements should be the staring poin for estimating the upstream pipeline, umping and preparation systems asthe change in flow parameters due co shear inthe pump and pipeline have a significant eect on the Beaching properties of | the materi 422 Kimberley Combined Troment Plant, South Af Since 2003 the De Beers Combined Treatment Plant (CTPi hasbeen depositing high density thickened slury ‘using the ental discharge placement philosophy. The sytem, described in detail by Houman and Johnson (2003) and Johnson and Viti (2003), comprises fou past thickener that produce a high density underflow thats pumped using thre piston diaphragm pumps to te disposal site 5-5 km away. The system operas in laminar flow and blockages during commissioning and early operation occured when excessive coarse Imateral entered the pipelie. The yield stress of the slurry being pumped varies considerably. from ‘ppronimately 50-125 Pa, depending onthe shear history of the material andthe parce size disibution tnd clay faction. The sytem punnpe mitre of coarse and fine mistrial, with a combined tp size of rom, This course faction remains suspended! in the minte when Iefl vo sce in @ quiescent sae However, when pumping the shtry Now behaviour changes dung the pipeline transit tine due to @ Combination ofthe effet of shear and seting of the coarser partes othe pipeline invert Altiough fpr sete on the invert. they continue to smove thro the pipeline ina staid laminar Now rine (Pall eta 2004), Using » paste disposal sytem resulted jn a overall water consumption of approximately 04 mt which onsierably better han conventional kinberlie tailings disposal stems har consume Oto 1.01 423 Osborne Mine, Ausraia {n 2003 Osborne Mine in earhwestem Quovnstand converted her tilings disposal system toa thickened tuiings deposition site using and advancing cone strategy (MePhail ard Bren, 2007) The system uses ‘conventional cena! pumps a the slur isnot viscous and can be pumped a solids oncentations of up {oKOPC by mass although nora operation i at approximately 65% by mass. Good conto and operation of tne syste has ieant tht the Beach angles are mained and water savings grester than 40% have been schived 5 Large scale adopters Based on the successes of early thickened and paste aligs dopostion systems, there are several large projects undcrvay that uilse this technology, bol are yet to be commissioned, Two significant projets, Esperanza and Chine te woth comparing asthe pumping requirements ar vty diferent SA Esperanza Esperanza is 8 copper gold mine currently under constuction in Chiles arid Antofigsta region. The mine ‘vill proces approxinstely 101,000 tonnes of ore pet day, andavalbility of water ia key issue. n oe ‘tigate the reguierens Tr fresh wate, the mine fusing seawater Tor processing punped 145 km from. ‘he cons tothe mine site, and hs adopted igh density thickened tings disposal technology. In August 209 Fspetanza was avarded the Avorn prize in Chile forthe mos innovative mining operation Tor these ‘ater saving inatives, highlighting the irspotance being placed on such natives, “The paste tilings ae very viscous with high yield sess and wil be deposited om a central discharge area thats relatively close tothe process pat. As the disposal site develops. the pumping distances wl increase toa maximum of approximately | kin. eta from Luppaew and Moreno (209) shows tat the lt yield Sires varies from abut SO Pa at 66%4r 0 200 Pa at 70%. ‘As the pumping distances ate clatively short, several centfagal pumps in sere, located i a single pump Staion athe hekoner, wil be use to ranypor the thickened ailing the large diameter pipeline, For the reported iol stress vals the flow rogime wl be lamina. 52 Chinaleo ‘Chinaleoin Penis curently developing the Toromocho Peoject hat will press 117,000 tonnes per day of byes This projects very similar to the Esperanen project and both will use high devsity thickened alin however the pumping ystems ae very diferent, At Toomoche the thickened srry needs to be pumped “pl a distance of approximately 47 hn, The tailings Wil be thickened using four 43 m diameter paste thickeners, and pumped tothe disposal site. The zeured pump sation discharge pressure retement 2 MP. These pressures cannot be provided by arg centrifugal pumps of his size that wstally have casing Tintations of 2. MPa, al sone istanes upto § MPa. Ths teas that three centrifugal pup stations ‘would be need as spaced about 1.6 km spat. Posie displacement pumps ean prexlae high pressures, bat normaly have imitations inthe Now eapacty Recent developments in dive technology now enable single pumps with drive capacities of up 1 2,600 KW ivan Rijseick eal 2010}, theoretically baling the numberof pstondphragis pumps needed. Inte ast "lecadethe maxim hydaic power pe pap has tore than doubled an this wins fewer punps an be the P- Grae (ston comm. 2010) prediets tha hy 2015 pumps with hives of up to 3 MW will be ‘a ionin apr igh ety a BS ane care nce tsilabl, with the possiblity of 4 MW drives. Figure 4 shows data fiom van Rijswic et al. 2010) and ‘Gerais (wvten comin. 2010) that show a similar steady increase in power capacity pe puny <| nnn ro - Fm 0g Lew eos i 200 my bee | wo 3 § x wo I bw | 160 1055 1570 1975 1080 1055 180 1886 zon0 206 2010 20 Figure 4 Historical increase in hydraulic power of piston diaphragm pumps after van Rijswick eta 2010) (courtesy of Weir Minerals) and P: Geracais (written comm, 2010) courtery af ‘Aker Wirth) Rayo and Fuentes (2009) reported on a study fora 230,000 tonne per day disposal facility for Codeleo- Chiles Tale Mine that would nest! 25 positive displacement ciphragm pumps in parallel, ech with 1.3 MW drives. Using punps of this size at Chinaleo would have meant similar high number of pump being needed, operating in parallel, to produce the required fow and pressure, however, new pup 'echnology enabled Chinaeo to ue 10 lenge para in parle van Ranch als 2010) ‘eehnology advances such a this will provide impetus to the seceptance and use of thickened tilings

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