Critical flow velocity in slurry transporting horizontal pipelines

A new empirical equation is proposed for predicting critical flow velocity in slurry-transporting horizontal pipelines. An analysis of the settling velocity of solid particles, including the effect of solid particle concentration, is under-taken because of this parameter's importance. This study builds on a previous study carried out to consider the settling velocity of a single solid particle in clear-water condition, which is actually different from the real physics of the hydrotransport phenomenon of the solid particles. Two earlier proposed methods are applied to the calculation of the settling velocity of a solid particle, including the effect of solid particle concentration within the suspending fluid. The most appropriate method for slurry transportation among these two methods is discussed and used in the analysis of critical flow velocity. The new proposed equation is based on analysis of data from the experiments as well as data from the earlier studies. A unique feature of the proposed equation is that it can be applied to noncohesive, uniform, and nonuniform coarse solid particles. In a comparison of prediction accuracy with four existing relationships, the proposed equation was found to give significantly better agreements with the observed data. Therefore, it can be stated that the new equation can safely be used by designers in the problems of slurry transportation.