SLURRY PIPELINE TECHNOLOGY

AND ITS POTENTIAL USE IN THE

PHILIPPINES

September 200
 Presentation Outline

• Short History
• Fluid Concepts
• Advances

September 200
Major Systems

September 200
Andrew’s Slurry Pipeline Test Facility

September 200
Historical Leaders

September 200
 Typical Slurry Pipeline Applications
Mineral Ore Transport System
• large volume transport
• low to medium pumping head
• medium distance pipeline (20 to 50 km)
• used when a mine plant and concentrator can not be located near the ore bodies due to
terrain difficulty, or when the mine plant and concentrator is installed near the tailings
impoundment site.
Tailings Disposal System
• high volume solid transport
• low head to transport mine tailings to impoundment.
• Short distance pipelines (up to 5 km to 60 km)
Concentrate Transport System – A vital part of the mining system, as a poor delivery
system can affect the mines ability to market its product effectively.
• low volume transport
• at high pressure lines
• Long distance pipelines (25 to 1,000 km)

September 200
Advantages of Slurry Pipeline

Slurry pipelines are economic

September 200
Advantages of Slurry Pipeline
Slurry pipelines are economic

September 200
 Advantages of Slurry Pipeline
Slurry pipelines are safer and more reliable
Long Distance Slurry Pipeline Availability

1.00
0.99
Availability

0.98
Typically, long distance slurry
0.97 pipelines are very reliable.
The plot shows that 0.50
0.96 probability corresponds to
0.9925 availability.
0.95
0.94
0.00 0.20 0.40 0.60 0.80 1.00
Probability
September 200
 Advantages of Slurry Pipeline
Slurry pipelines are more environment-friendly
environment
May be buried
ROW is quickly reclaimed

September 200
 Advantages of Slurry Pipeline

Slurry pipelines can traverse difficult terrain

Rugged terrain

Steep slopes
September 200
 Technical Considerations for Pipeline Design
acility Location
Site Elevation
Terminal Elevation
Pipeline Route
Ideal Pipeline Route & Profile
Constructability

Initial Proposed Route

Final Route

Site Location
Elev. 750m

September 200
 Technical Considerations for Pipeline Design
Initial proposed route profile

Cost Est
Est:: $ 65.95 M

Initial Proposed Route

CONCENTRADUCTO DE HIERRO ATACAMA
Final Route Trazado Concentraducto
1500

1400

Cost Est
Est:: $ 42 M Final Route
1300

1200

1100
SM1
1000

900

800
msnm

700

600

500

400

300
VS1
Site Location
Elev. 750m
200 Punta
Totoralillo
100

0
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 70 75 80 85 90 95 100 105 110 115 120
km

September 200
Technical Considerations for Pipeline Design

Slurry Properties
Slurry Classification:
1) Homogenous – slurries are only pseudo-homogenous
pseudo and not truly
homogenous due to force of gravity and settling characteristics;
2) Heterogenous – the concentration of the slurry particles varies greatly from
top to bottom of the pipe’s cross section; and
3) Complex – not completely homogeneous nor heterogeneous

September 200
 Technical Considerations for Pipeline Design
Slurry Properties
Slurry Properties considered:
a) For carrier Fluid (usually water but may be alcohol, liquid CO2, oil and fuels:
• Density
• Viscosity
• Bulk Modulus
• Vapor Pressure
b) For Solids
• Density (specific gravity)
• Shape
• Particle Size Distribution
• Surfactants
c) Mixture (Slurry)
• Settling characteristics
• Rheological characteristics

September 200
Slurry Properties
Rheogram comparison of selected constitutive equations for rheological models associated with
lurries. The most common rheological models used for conventional slurries are the Newtonian
model and Bingham-Plastic.

September 200
 Technical Considerations for Pipeline Design
Slurry Properties
Slurry types based on physical properties:
1) Conventional Mineral Slurries – prepared as a consequence of their beneficiation process with a high
degree of concentration and particle size control.
2) Conventional Tailings - lack the high degree of concentration and particle size control. Therefore, the
tailings pipeline designer prepares for many scenarios using heterogeneous and homogeneous models in
order to account for all possibilities.
3) Non-conventional Slurries - are highly concentrated and are non-Newtonian, with most being significantly
non-Newtonian (e.g., fuels).
4) Thickened Tailings (paste) - It has the advantage of disposing of highly concentrated tailings and therefore
reduces the storage volume required. Also, it eliminates the need to install water reclaim systems.

September 200
Slurry Properties
The relationship between solids specific gravity and “conventional” slurry top
particle size and solid’s volume fraction.

Particle Top Sized vs. Solid's SG

2.5 0.50 Particle Size is

0.45 controlled so that:
2.0 0.40
1) it will maintain
ParticleTopSize, mm

0.35 predictable and

stable flow

VolumeFraction
1.5 0.30
conditions,
0.25
2) it will it not wear th
1.0 0.20 pipe bottom,
0.15 3) it can be shutdown
and restarted.
0.5 0.10

0.05

0.0 0.00
1.0 2.0 3.0 4.0 5.0
Solid's SG

Particle Top Size Volume fraction

September 200
 Effect of Hedstrom Number
10.000

1.000 He = 0

0.100 Rec

0.010

0.001
1.00E+01 1.00E+02 1.00E+03 1.00E+04 1.00E+05 1.00E+06 1.00E+07
Re

September 200
 Technical Considerations for Pipeline Design
Slurry Properties Reduced Viscosity vs. Concentration

120

pH=10:
100 Blue Line = Reduced h / m w/o flocculant, h / m (69%) = 66
Red Line = Reduced h / m with flocculant, h / m (69%) = 67
.
80
Reduced Viscosity

60

40

20

-
0.50 0.55 0.60 0.65 0.70 0.75

Conc, wt. frac.

w /o h/m w ith h/m

September 200
 Technical Considerations for Pipeline Design
Slurry Properties Yield Stress vs. Concentration

500

450 pH=10:
Blue Line = Yield Stress w/o flocculant, Ty(69%) = 140 d/cm2
400 Red Line = Yield Stress with flocculant Ty(69%) = 260 d/cm2
Green and Black line are rheogram interpretation variations.
350
Yield Stress, dyne/cm2

300

250

200

150

100

50

-
0.50 0.55 0.60 0.65 0.70 0.75

Conc, wt. frac.

10w /o ty Ave 10w ty 10w C1 3point ty 10w C1 2point ty

September 200
 Technical Considerations for Pipeline Design
OPERATING RANGE
Upgraded Pipeline
2.00

Throughput 1.90
Excess capacity range at 97.4% System Availability @ 64% Cw
Phase 3 Maximum Throughput 1.75 M t/y @
64%, 168.2 m³/h & 95% Availability

1.80
As rule of thumb, pipeline transport

A n n u a l T h r o u g h p u t , D r y T o n n e s x 1 ,0 0 0 ,0 0 0
Phase 2 Maximum Throughput 1.50 M t/y @ 64% & 144.0 m³/h
s required if: 1.70

1.60
• Throughput capacity is over Phase 1 Maximum Throughput
700,000 dtpa (1,900 tpd) 1.50
1.30 M t/y @ 64% & 125.0 m³/h Phase 3

regardless of route 1.40

Constant Flow Line
1.30
• Restrictive environmental laws Phase 2

1.20
• Social impact on large 1.10
Phase 1 Phase 3 Nominal Throughput 1.45 M t/y @ 62%

communities Phase 2 Nominal Throughput 1.20 M t/y @ 62%

1.00
Phase 1 Nominal Throughput 1.06 M t/y @ 58%
• Usually a restrictive route not 0.90
Minimum Throughput for all Phases at 1.02 M t/y @ 58%
readily accessible by vehicular 0.80
transport 100 110 120 130 140 150 160 170 180 190 200
FLOW RATE, m³/h

60% 62% 64% 58% Serie2 Serie6 Serie7 Serie8

September 200
 Technical Considerations for Pipeline Design
Slurry Minimum Velocity
Transition Velocity – associated
with homogeneous flow. Where
solids in the slurry exhibits settling
tendency, slurry flow must be
maintained in the turbulent
regime. Calculation considers the
following:
• Critical Reynold’s Number
• Determine Hedstrom Number.
Deposition Velocity – associated
with heterogeneous flow where
a gradient exists in the distribution
of solid particles across the cross
section of the pipeline. These
slurries involve fast settling
solids (coarse particles) that
would require turbulent flow for
re-suspension.
September 200
September 200
 Hydraulic gradient (friction
Slurry Hydraulic Gradient Plot losses) versus line velocity
for a selected slurry test. A
Bingham plastic rheological
model is used. A comparison
is shown for the carrier fluid
(water a Newtonian fluid) and
calculated losses based upon
slurry homogeneous properties
Hydraulic Gradient, m/km

(homogeneous fluid) and

vehicle properties (complex
Pipeline Safe fluid). Note as the line velocity
Operating Range increases, the homogeneous
and vehicle calculations become
indistinguishable. For buried
long distance systems, such
as concentrate pipelines, the
“safe” operating range is above
Deposition Velocity the deposition velocity. For
short systems such as tailings
disposal, the normal operating
range need not be as
conservative.
Transition Velocity

Line Velocity, m/s

Liquid Properties Hom ogenous Prope rtie s

Vehicle Properties Data Set #1
Data Set #2 Data Set #3
September 200
 Technical Considerations for Pipeline Design

Friction Loss Calculation

Homogeneous Flow – For homogeneous flow, Darcy’s equation is utilized for determining friction loss.
However, the friction factor for flowing in the turbulent regime is determined by the use of Colebrooks
equation.
Heterogeneous Flow – requires a more complex calculation as both homogeneous and hetergeneous
conditions are evaluated. Most practices utilizes Wasp methodology for this calculation.
Steady State Hydraulic Calculation
The Steady State Calculation is performed based on the committed pipeline profile, slurry minimum velocity
and calculated friction losses. This calculation will determine the required pipeline diameter, wall thickness,
pumping head and any choking requirements.
Transient Hydraulic Calculation
The transient hydraulic calculation is performed to confirm that the pipeline’s maximum allowable operating
pressure (MAOP) is not exceeded under transient condition. Since, this is involves a dynamic propagation o
pressure, this is better performed through graphical computer simulation.

September 200
 SLURRY PIPELINE DESIGN

Major elements for a slurry pipeline:

Usually • the slurry preparation facilities such as a mineral

provided concentrator
by others
• carrier liquid supply (e.g. water)
• slurry surge storage at the preparation facility
• the mainline with pump stations, valve stations, and in
some cases energy dissipation stations
• communications and control system
• intermediate slurry storage facilities (if required)
• Terminal slurry storage facilities

September 200
 Materials for pipelines
PUMPS

Piston Pump

Plunger Pump
Piston-Diaphragm Pump

September 200
 Materials for pipelines

Slurry Valves
Low Pressure

High Pressure

September 200
 Materials for pipelines
Pipe materials
Steel. Carbon steel is the principal pipe material used,, relatively inexpensive and easily obtained. The pipeline design
can choose from many grades of steel. Usually for low and moderate pressures Grade B material is used. For high-pressure
high
applications, high test line pipe material is used. These grades can vary from API 5L X42 to X70.

Rubber. Rubber is still the most commonly used in pipes, pumps, and other process equipment. It has provided good
service for slurries that are uniformly abrasive.

High Density Polyethylene (HDPE). HDPE is a good corrosion resistant material.

material It can be used on its own as
the primary pipe when internal pressures are less than 1500 kPa. For high pressure applications it is used as an effective
liner inside steel pipes.. In this manner the corrosion resistance properties, and somewhat abrasion resistance properties,
are combined with the strength of steel. Pipelines with pressures well over 21,000 kPa are using HDPE liners

Polyurethane. Polyurethane has gained a reputation for toughness against abrasion.

abrasion Even for abrasive conditions
such as for cutting and gouging, polyurethane performs well. Generally it is more expensive than HDPE or rubber but it can be b
shown to be cost effective for many applications.. It finds use as pipeline liners and also it is used for coatings and liners for
variety equipment, valves, and components.

September 200
 Materials for pipelines

Energy Dissipation via choking:

September 200
 Centrifugal Pump Station

Valve / Choke Station

ositive Displacement Pump Station

September 200
 Slurry Pipelines in the Philippines

• Slurry pipelines are not new in the

Philippines, although of limited use
• Slurry pipeline technology has advanced
while local mining industry slackened
• Any major mining operation should consider
utilizing pipelines

September 200
 Potential use in the Philippines

To convey concentrate from inland copper or iron mines

September 200
50 km

September 200
September 200
50 km

September 200
Potential use in the Philippines

To convey Ni ore from minesite to plant

September 200
RAMU NICKEL LATERITE DEPOSIT

September 200
RAMU NICKEL LATERITE DEPOSIT

September 200
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September 200
 Calapan
80 km

Sta. Cruz

September 200
 Potential use in the Philippines

To aggregate contiguous deposits

September 200
 Sipalay

Hinobaan

20 km Colet

September 200
CONCLUSION

September 200
 OUR OFFICES AROUND THE WORLD

BRASS USA (BEI)

BRASS CHILE
(BCSA)

BRASS CHINA
(BBeijing)

BRASS DO BRASIL
(BDBrazil)

BRASS PHILIPPINES
(BTI)
September 200