Industrial Fluid Mechanics (MCEN4001)

Semester 2, 2016

Industrial Fluid Mechanics

(MCEN4001)
Assignment
Heterogeneous Slurry Flow

Iron ore has to be transported to the next process section located 3 km away from the crushing
site. The initial output of crushing unit is a mixture of sand and ore which is later classified in
an upward flowing classification column. The solid content (i.e. underflow of classifier
column) is considered as Product-A and is to be transported in slurry form. The slurry consists
of pulverised solid content having 46% mass concentration with water as the carrier fluid,
flowing through a 250 NB pipeline. Solid content has undergone laser analysis for evaluation
of particle size distribution, with the results presented in Figure 1.

50

Percentage (%)

40

45

30
20
10

23
13

12

0
0-100 100-200 200-300 300-400 400-500

Particle diameter range (m)

Figure.1. Particle size distribution, Product-A

The client requires a solid delivery rate of not less than 10,000 tonnes per day.
As the design engineer you are required to evaluate and design a suitable slurry pipeline.
You will need to complete the following tasks:

Plot CD versus particle Reynolds number,

Determine the maximum allowable sand particle diameter for all sand to be removed
in the classifier overflow,
Plot pressure drop versus flow rate of slurry
Specify a suitable flow rate and justify your selection.

Industrial Fluid Mechanics (MCEN4001)

Semester 2, 2016

The client is also requires an alternative design scenario to be evaluated. In this case, the ore
Product-A is subjected to an additional crushing process such that the particle diameters in
each size range are halved (i.e. 100-200 m -> 50-100 m, remaining at 12% of the sample)
obtaining Product-B. This crushing process demands 0.5 kWh/tonne of iron ore. Considering
energy demand for the crushing process and the hydraulic power required to transport the
slurry, answer the following design questions:

Which product (Product A or Product B) gives more efficient transport for the same
flowrate as previously calculated.
If flow rate reduction is permitted, does the preferred product change?

The pump station utilised for this slurry pipeline has a hydraulic efficiency of 78%
(suggested for water) and an electrical efficiency of 85%.

Determine the required electrical power to pump the slurry for each of the
scenarios above.

Material and Fluid Properties:

Water density:

w=1000 kg/m3

Water viscosity

w=0.001 Pa.s

Iron Ore Density:

o=3830 kg/m3

Sand Density:

s=2700 kg/m3

Notes:

Drag coefficient and settling velocity is calculated using the Archimedes approach (
Ar number)
Archimedes Number
Range
Ar < 24
24 < Ar < 2100
2100 < Ar < 1.4106
Ar > 1.04106

Coefficients
a
b
576
208
21.5
1.5

-1
-0.45
-0.193
-0.0251

Pressure drop is to be calculated using the Durand-Wasp method,

The minimum permitted flow rate is at least 10% higher than the deposition velocity
The solid mass flow rate should not be less than the minimum solid delivery rate, in
any design scenario
There is an example MATLAB script on Blackboard illustrating the process for
determining the pressure drop using the Durand-Wasp method for multiple particle
fractions. This will assist all the calculations, but you will need to modify it to suit the
assignment.

Industrial Fluid Mechanics (MCEN4001)

Semester 2, 2016

Assessment:
This assignment is worth 25% of the total mark for this unit. The assignment should be
presented in a report format and should contain the following elements (at a minimum):

Title Page
Design Criteria
Theory (Only an overview is required, not derivations or detailed examples)
Results (Include graphs of head loss curves for the investigated scenarios)
Discussion
Recommendations and Conclusions
References
Appendices
(Sample calculations, data and any other material which is not a necessary part of the
main text, but still of relevance to the report. You must include sufficient details of
your calculations to allow your results to be reproduced)

Due Date:
The assignment is due on Thursday 10th November 2016, at 12 noon.
Note that you must submit one hardcopy to the assignments
office and one electronic copy through Blackboard Turnitin.
As per the unit outline late submissions will not be accepted and may result in a fail grade for
the unit.