Archives of Mining Sciences

Abstract

Determination anD application of pressure loss in long Distance pipeline transportation of paste slurry BaseD on pipe loop experimentindustrial size pipe loop tests were conducted to determine the effect of paste mass concentration, cement content, conveying pipe diameter and conveying volumetric flow rate, on the pipeline pressure loss of paste slurry. The tests were conducted to determine the pressure losses in the backfill system at a Copper Mines major ore body. Results show that the pressure loss of paste slurry increases with the increase in mass concentration, and when the mass concentration exceeds 70%, the pressure loss will increase sharply and would be an exponential function of paste mass concentration; as the cement content increases, the pressure loss would decrease at first and then increase with the maximum pressure loss at 11% cement content; the pressure loss increases with the increase in conveying the volumetric flow rate accordingly, while the growth rate of pressure loss will increase after the volumetric flow rate exceeds 50 m 3 /h; the pressure loss of paste slurry decreases sharply with the increase in pipe diameter, i.e., the larger pipe diameter, the smaller pressure loss; lastly, the paste conveying parameters were determined as mass concentration of lower than 70% (pressure loss: 2.55 MPa/km), cement content of 5% to 11%, inside diameter of conveying pipe of 150 mm and the maximum allowable pipeline pressure of 6 MPa.