CFD investigation of pressure drop reduction in hydrotransport of multisized zinc tailings slurry through horizontal pipes. (19th May 2023)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Krishna, Ram; Kumar, Niranjan; Gupta, Pankaj Kumar
• Is Part Of: International journal of hydrogen energy. Volume 48:Number 43(2023)
• Page Start: 16435
• Page End: 16444
• Publication Date: 2023-05-19
• Subjects: Slurry transport -- Multisize slurry -- Swirl-inducing pipe -- Pressure drop -- CFD -- Zinc tailings; Hydrogen as fuel -- Periodicals; Hydrogène (Combustible) -- Périodiques; Hydrogen as fuel; Periodicals; 665.81
• DOI: 10.1016/j.ijhydene.2023.01.116
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0360-3199

Abstract

Abstract: Zinc is an important metal useful in hydrogen production. Mining of zinc also involves zinc tailings disposal using pipeline transportation which is an energy- and water-intensive process. In this study, the multisized slurry of zinc tailings is modeled using CFD to investigate the flow field characteristics in a straight horizontal pipe fitted with swirl-inducing sections. The primary objective was to study the pressure drop by adding swirl-inducing pipe of different numbers of lobes to the conventional pipe. Nine configurations of multi-lobed swirl-inducing pipes were studied for transport characteristics of solids at three flow rates and three overall solids concentrations. Eulerian-Eulerian modeling with the RNG k-ε turbulence model is employed for simulations. The numerical model is validated for pressure drop against available experimental results, and excellent agreement is achieved. The study shows that 10-lobed swirl-inducing section fitted to the conventional pipe reduces the pressure drop by nearly 35%, offering the potential for further exploration. Highlights: Swirl-inducing motion is utilized for reducing settling of solid particle in pipeline. The slurry is modeled as multi-sized particles considering six size classes. Nine configurations of lobed swirl pipes for dense slurries. The 10 lobed swirl-inducing pipe is found to reduce pressure drop by approximately 35% as compared with the conventional pipe.