Articles
Design and Engineering of Slurry Piping System Components
by Engineering Geek Expert in industrial engineering including piping,The mining and mineral processing industry as well as piping design services companies present overall pipeline design and operation challenges, from sophisticated slurry pipes to mine dewatering systems. In the design of any system, the classic requirements of dependability and availability remain fundamental drivers. However, in the face of rising production costs and environmental obligations, the necessity to address capital cost, efficiency, and optimization challenges is becoming more widespread.
This article will briefly talk about slurry piping systems, general design considerations, and their components design and engineering.
What is Slurry Piping System?
It includes slurry pumps, pipes, and valves, just like any other system. The slurry is not homogenous and introduces special considerations to these systems, unlike gas or liquid. As a result, slurry movement inside a pipe or pipeline system differs significantly, necessitating unique considerations. The slurry must surpass a critical deposition velocity to flow within a pipeline. The suspension of solid particles will not be maintained if the slurry flow velocity is insufficient. The following are some examples of slurry handling in the workplace:
- Particles of coal are suspended in water in coal washeries.
- Crystals are suspended in fluid during crystallization in the wax manufacturing process.
- Feed into any filtering system.
- Sludge encountered in wastewater treatment, pulp suspension encountered in papermaking.
- Circuits of Flotation, including launder flow and froth factor de-rating.
- Circuits for grinding.
- Circuits are being thickened.
- Circuits for processing water.
- Circuits of compressed air, including instrument and process.
- Systems for dust suppression and extraction
- Spraying systems for pressure and heap leach.
- Magnetite recovery techniques are used to recover magnetite.
- Circuits for dewatering.
- Circuits for heat exchange.
- Pulp suspension encountered in papermaking.
Design Considerations
The following general factors influence the system's design, including material selection.
- There is no solid deposition in the system.
- There is no change in slurry composition from the system's entrance to its output.
- Wear and tear, as well as erosion, are kept to a minimum.
- For slurry piping systems, short and direct routes are favored. It will guarantee that the pressure drop is kept to a minimum.
- Elbows must be 5D or higher.
- Instead of tee branch connections, use Y connections.
- Valves must be positioned in a horizontal position.
- Locate the valves as close to the manifold as feasible when using manifolds.
- Use flat-on-bottom eccentric reducers.
- From the top of the slurry, pipes provide steam and cleaning oil bleed connections from the top of the slurry pipes.
- Make space for cleaning to get rid of the solid build-up.
- Drainage should be provided at the ends of long lines.
- Ensure that such lines are cleaned properly.
- The valves to be utilized must have the largest possible port size. It must be full-port for ball valves.
- Place flushing connections as far away as possible from the Slurry pipeline's origin.
- Steel pipes with abrasion-resistant lining can extend the life of slurry pipes significantly.
- Slurry pipes' bottoms can quickly wear down due to prolonged exposure to the slurry.
- To avoid Wear, keep directional shifts to a minimum.
- Remove any dead patches where solids could accumulate.
Design and Engineering Component
The system components' design and engineering are covered by a piping design services company in the following sequence.
- Pressure drop and line sizing
- Special Considerations
- Slurry pumps are used to transport slurry.
- Instrumentation.
1. Pressure Drop and Line Sizing: It is an effective and crucial part of the design. The following are the basic design steps in this:
- Determine the slurry's characteristics: Slurries can be divided into two types: homogeneous and heterogeneous. The type of slurry dictates rheological qualities; hence characterization is critical.
Solid particles are uniformly distributed in a liquid media in a homogeneous slurry. High concentrations of particles with small (fine) particle sizes characterize such slurries. Sewage sludge and clay slurry are two common examples.
Non-Newtonian flow behavior (effective viscosity shifting with shear rate) is common in cement kiln slurries. The majority of them behave in a Bingham-like manner.Throughout heterogeneous slurries, the solids are not evenly dispersed in the liquid. Solids concentration is higher at lower levels and vice versa in a horizontal pipe. A low concentration of big particles characterizes such a slurry. A common example is phosphate rock slurry.Many slurries found in the industry can exhibit both homogeneous and heterogeneous behavior, such as mixed slurry. This is especially true when the Slurry contains particles of various sizes. In this case, dominating traits must be recognized, and a design approach must be followed to provide a safer design. A slurry of coal particles in water is an example of this sort.
- Determine the concentration of the slurry: A slurry may be difficult to transport or unstable at certain solid concentrations. In such cases, the solids concentration must be chosen for proper transportation. In this case, the solids concentration in a static settled slurry would be helpful.
Material concentrations in settling slurries can vary widely depending on the nature of the solid (10-50 %). Solids with a particle size of 0.4-0.5 microns can usually form a stable slurry with a solids content of up to 40%.
- Choose a pipe size for a test run: Since the velocity of Slurry through the pipe (volume/time) is known, pipe size will affect the velocity of slurry through the pipe.
Volume flow rate = Velocity x Cross section Area
- Determine the critical velocity: The process is a little more involved for heterogeneous slurries. Similarly, for homogeneous and non-Newtonian, the procedure is as per the standards.
- Compare the design and critical velocities: Vc is equal to 1.193 m/s and The velocity is 1.60 m/s. So, V-Vc = 1.6-1.193 = 0.417 m/s. The trial pipe size chosen should have a velocity of at least 0.3 m/s (V-Ve).
- Determine the design friction loss: It's typical to express friction loss in terms of 10 meters of piping. Equivalent lengths of fittings and other items must be considered for this reason.
2. Special Considerations:
It includes;
- For Slurry, horizontal line slants should not exceed the angle of repose.
- Provisions for pipeline flushing and draining, as well as hand cleaning.
- Use of wear-resistant materials or increased thickness
- Identifying areas that are prone to wear.
- Weld downstream
- Zone prone to wear
- Joints that make it simple to replace worn-out positions.
- Bends with a long radius are used.
3. Slurry pumps are used to transport slurry.
Numerous types, as listed below, can be employed.
- Centrifugal: Sump-type pumps could be utilized for very dilute slurries with solids concentrations up to 10 L. Low efficiency is to be expected in this situation.
- Plunger/piston-type positive displacement: It's employed when there's a lot of discharge pressure (about 40 bar). For abrasive slurries, a plunger design is preferred.
4. Instrumentation
- The use of instruments is constrained by the pressure of solids and the possibility of erosion. The following are some pertinent observations:
- Radiation density meters are used for measuring slurry concentration. Calibration may, however, be required regularly.
- If a side stream is pulled and then returned, magnetic flowmeters can measure it.
- Slurry flow rate can be easily determined with magnetic flowmeters.
Conclusion
There has been an increase in non-ferrous slurry pipes worldwide in recent years. These criteria are increasingly being used to evaluate the performance of piping system design, and a skilled designer will have taken these factors into account during the design process.
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About Engineering Geek 
Expert in industrial engineering including piping,
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Created on Mar 29th 2022 05:21. Viewed 217 times.
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