Analysis of transport properties with varying parameters of slurry in horizontal pipeline using ANSYS fluent

The different slurry transport properties in horizontal pipeline are investigated using a steady three-dimensional hydrodynamic model based on the kinetic theory of granular flow. The flow velocity and solid concentration distributions of slurry transported by pipeline and their regularly changing trends with varying pipe diameter (D = 51.5, 54.9, 103, 263, and 495 mm), solid volume concentration (Cvf = 20%, 30%, 40%, and 50%), grain diameter (dp = 0.09, 0.125, 0.165, 0.27, and 0.44 mm) and flow velocities (v = 2, 3, 4, and 5 m/s) are studied. The simulation result shows that under heterogeneous regime, fine particles, smaller than the sum of thickness of the viscous sublayer and buffer layer are most concentrated toward the pipe bottom (maximum concentration at the relative location ymax ≈ 0.02 D) while the greatest concentration of coarser particles is away from the pipe bottom (ymax ≈ 0.1 D). The results obtained in this work provide a solid foundation for further study of the resistance mechanism and pipe wear and can be used as a reference for analyzing the mesoscopic processes of slurry transport by pipeline.