Enhanced slurry transport efficiency and energy reduction through swirl-inducing pipes

Tailings are the waste material left after “mineral values” have been extracted from the ore. Proper tailings disposal should be economical and environmentally safe. This study reports significant increase in energy efficiency during hydro-transport of zinc tailings by integrating a swirl-motion-inducing pipe segment into the conventional pipeline. The computational model was rigorously tested against available experimental data on standard pipes. The zinc tailings slurry used has a wide particle size distribution, represented by multiple size classes, each having representative size and concentration. The study found that adding swirl-inducing pipe section to the conventional pipeline decreased specific energy consumption (SEC) by up to 35 % for transporting settling slurry, especially at moderate to high solids concentrations. Among the various configurations tested, the pipeline with a 10-lobed swirl-inducing segment achieved the lowest SEC across the operating conditions considered. These findings highlight the potential of swirl-inducing segments in improving energy efficiency for slurry transport.