science

Slurry pipeline

Slurry pipeline is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Slurry pipeline rather than just read about it. In short: A slurry pipeline is a specially engineered pipeline used to move ores, such as coal or iron, or mining waste, called tailings, over long distances. A mixture of the ore concentrate and water, called slurry, is pumped to its destination and the water is filtered out.

Key takeaways

Slurry pipeline belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Slurry pipeline to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Slurry pipeline from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

A slurry pipeline is a specially engineered pipeline used to move ores, such as coal or iron, or mining waste, called tailings, over long distances. A mixture of the ore concentrate and water, called slurry, is pumped to its destination and the water is filtered out. Due to the abrasive properties of slurry, the pipelines can be lined with high-density polyethylene (HDPE), or manufactured completely from HDPE Pipe, although this requires a very thick pipe wall. Slurry pipelines are used as an alternative to railroad transportation when mines are located in remote, inaccessible areas, often requiring complex slurry pipeline design to avoid unnecessary wear. Canadian researchers at the University of Alberta are investigating the use of slurry pipelines to move agricultural and forestry wastes from dispersed sources to centralized biofuel plants. Over distances of 100 kilometres pipeline transport of biomass can be viable provided it is used in processes that can accept very wet feedstocks such as hydrothermal liquefaction or ethanol fermentation. Compared to an equivalently sized oil pipeline, a biomass slurry pipeline would carry around 8% of the energy.

Process The concentrate of the ore is mixed with water and then pumped over a long distance to a port where it can be shipped for further processing. At the end of the pipeline, the material is separated from the [slurry] in a filter press to remove the water. This water is usually subjected to a waste treatment process before disposal or return to the mine. Slurry pipelines offer an economic advantage over railroad transport and much less noise disturbance to the environment, particularly when mines are in extremely remote areas. Pipelines must be suitably engineered to resist abrasion from the solids as well as corrosion from the soil. Some of these pipelines are lined with high-density polyethylene (HDPE). Typical materials that are transferred using slurry pipelines include coal, copper, iron, and phosphate concentrates, limestone, lead, zinc, nickel, bauxite and oil sands. Slurry pipelines are also used to transport tailings from a mineral processing plant after the ore has been processed in order to dispose of the remaining rocks or clays. For oil sand plants, a mixture of oil sand and water may be pumped over a long distance to release the bitumen by ablation. These pipelines are also called hydrotransport pipelines.

History Early modern slurry pipelines include The Ohio 'Consolidation' coal slurry pipeline (1957) and the Kensworth to Rugby limestone slurry pipeline (1965) The 85 km Savage River Slurry pipeline in Tasmania, Australia, was possibly the world's first slurry pipeline to transport iron ore when it was built in 1967. It includes a 366m bridge span at 167m above the Savage River. It carries iron ore slurry from the Savage River open cut mine owned by Australian Bulk Minerals and was still operational as of 2011.

Planned projects One of the longest slurry pipelines was to be the proposed ETSI pipeline, to transport coal from Wyoming to Louisiana over a distance of 1036 miles (1675 km). It was never commissioned. It is anticipated that in the next few years some long distance slurry pipelines will be constructed in Australia and South America where mineral deposits are often a few hundred kilometers away from shipping ports. A 525 km slurry pipeline is planned for the Minas-Rio iron ore mine in Brazil. Slurry pipelines are also being considered to desilt or remove silts from deposits behind dams in man-made lakes. After the Hurricane Katrina disaster there were proposals to remedy the environment by pumping silt to the shore. Proposals have also been made to de-silt Lake Nubia-Nasser in Egypt and Sudan by slurry pipelines, as Egypt is now deprived of 95% of its alluvium, which used to arrive every year. These projects to remedy the environment might alleviate one of the major problems associated with large dams and man-made lakes. ESSAR Steel India Limited owns two >250 km slurry pipelines in India; the Kirandul-Vishakhapatnam (slurry pipeline) and Dabuna-Paradeep pipeline.

See also Coal slurry pipeline Edward J. Wasp

Notes

References Miedema, S.A., Slurry Transport: Fundamentals, a Historical Overview and The Delft Head Loss & Limit Deposit Velocity Framework. http://www.dredging.org/media/ceda/org/documents/resources/othersonline/miedema-2016-slurry-transport.pdf

External links Baha Abulnaga, Slurry Systems Handbook - McGraw-Hill 2002. Bonapace, A.C. A General Theory of the Hydraulic Transport of Solids in Full Suspension Ravelet, F., Bakir, F., Khelladi, S., Rey, R. (2012). Experimental study of hydraulic transport of large particles in horizontal pipes. Experimental thermal and fluid science. Ming, G., Ruixiang, L., Fusheng, N., Liqun, X. (2007). Hydraulic Transport of Coarse Gravel — A Laboratory Investigation Into Flow Resistance.

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Slurry pipeline

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Slurry pipeline claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Slurry pipeline before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Slurry pipeline ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Slurry pipeline

In research: Slurry pipeline appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Slurry pipeline in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Slurry pipeline is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Mining equipment, Pipeline transport, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Slurry pipeline outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Slurry pipeline in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Slurry pipeline means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Slurry pipeline out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Slurry pipeline in simple terms?

Why does Slurry pipeline matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Slurry pipeline?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Slurry pipeline.