PIPEWAY ENGINEERING

Submitted to: Engr. Asna Ahmed

Registration #: 2017-TE-39
Submitted by: Zoeema Basit
Assignment 02

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION ENGINEERING AND

MANAGEMENT, UET LAHORE
Assignment
 Please specify at least 5 solid materials which can be transported by pipelines.
 Describe the classification of flow of those solids.
 Describe any Case Study of transportation of Solid Materials.

Transportation of solid materials:

The pipeline transportation is one of the five transport systems next to the road, rail, air, and water
transport. Pipelines provide an opportunity for safe and cost-effective transportation of liquid or
gas materials. In crowded urban areas, it is a great alternative for transport of solid materials as it
is a fast and eco-friendly one. Following are some solid materials that can be transported by
pipelines:

 Sand - Sludge transport (homogenous mixture of very small particles of high

concentration)
 Coal transportation
 Solid wastes
 Wood pulp
 Limestone (Lime slurry for soil stabilization)

In recent times, polyethylene pipes have proven to be very cost effective to transport copper, iron
ore, phosphates and gold concentrates. They have high resistance to slurry abrasion, prolonged
wear life, high ductility and toughness properties.

Classification of flow of solids by pipelines:

Gas – Solid Flows:

Gas–solid flow is concerned with the motion of suspended solid or droplet in the gas phase.
Depending on the particle number density, Gas-Solid Flows can be characterized as either being
dilute or dense.

A dilute flow is one in which the particle motion is controlled by the fluid forces (drag and lift).

A dense flow, on the other hand, is one in which the particle motion is controlled by collisions
Gas-solid system consists of following classification:

 Particle-laden flow: This is flow of discrete particles in a continuous gas.

 Pneumatic transport: This is a flow pattern that depends on factors such as solid loading,
Reynolds numbers, and particle properties.
 Fluidized bed: This consists of a vessel containing particles, into which a gas is introduced
through a distributor. The gas rising through the bed suspends the particles. Depending on
the gas flow rate, bubbles appear and rise through the bed, intensifying the mixing within
the bed.

Liquid-Solid Flows:
Liquid–solid flow is the transport of solid particles in liquid.

Slurry pipelines find a special place in industrial applications which require transportation of solid
particles through a pipeline. Flow-ability of these solid particles is achieved by mixing and
suspending them in water or other carrier fluids.

 Slurry flow: This flow is the transport of particles in liquids.

 Hydrotransport: This describes densely-distributed solid particles in a continuous liquid.
 Sedimentation: This describes a tall column initially containing a uniform dispersed
mixture of particles. At the bottom, the particles will slow down and form a sludge layer.
At the top, a clear interface will appear, and in the middle a constant settling zone will
exist.

Case study of transportation of solid materials:

A Study of the Factors Affecting Transporting Solid— Liquid Suspension

through Pipelines

Author: A. I. Abd Al Aziz, H. I. Mohamed

Paper No (DOI): 10.4236/ojfd.2013.33020
Link: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/272879971_
Published Online: September 2013

Introduction:
An experimental investigation was carried out on the transport of solid liquid mixture through
pipelines. The principal aim of this was to study how to transport slurries through pipeline systems.
The experimental tests include measurements of main parameters affecting transport of solid liquid
mixture, like sand slurry and mud slurry.
Test performance:
In the experimental work, different tests were performed to determine five variables namely:

1. Pressure gradient along the pipeline system.

Pressure measurements were determined by means of bourdon tube manometers. Special
connections were made in order to avoid wrong readings of manometers as a result of existing
solid material through the flow field.
2. Flow rate measurements.
Flow measurements were determined by measuring the flow rate during one hour operation from
suction tank to discharge tank.
3. Input concentration to pipeline
This test consisted of a number of steps to obtain the T.S.M (Total Suspended Material) which
represents the transported material through the pipeline system.

4. Output concentration from pipeline

This step consisted of same procedure that was adopted for input concentration.

5. Input grain size

The input grain size was determined using a set of standard screen meshes that are available in the
laboratories of the factory.

Results:
Preliminary results include the following general trends:

i. Increasing input concentration increases the pressure gradient, whereas decreases the
efficiency of solid transport.
ii. As specific gravity of solid material increases, the pressure gradient increases and the
efficiency of transport decreases.
iii. As mixture velocity increases, the efficiency of transport increases.
iv. Solids with fine grain size are preferred than with coarse grain size from the viewpoints of
pressure gradient and efficiency of transport.
v. The specific gravity of solid materials plays an important role in efficiency of transport and
also in pressure gradient. As specific gravity increases, the tendency to settle down
increases, which can lead to decrease in efficiency of transport and increase in pressure
drop.

Recommendations:
 The present work was carried out to investigate and deduce the dimensionless groups that
affected the transporting process, but the functional dependence was still unknown. So it
is recommended to use the data summed up here and define the governing equations.
 It is also recommended to carry out experiments to investigate how the slurry transport
affects the characteristics of the pumps.