(101a) Transport of Critical Minerals in Slurry Pipelines - Effect of Pipe Diameter and Solid Properties

Critical minerals (such as nickel, zinc, and iron) are in great demand for next-generation energy technologies that produce, transmit, store, and conserve energy thereby reducing carbon intensity. However, without maximizing the efficiency and minimizing the energy needed to transport critical minerals, the carbon intensity of critical minerals transportation will increase. Currently, semi-empirical correlations that predict the minimum flowrate for critical minerals transport (such as Mantz correlation and Oroskar & Turian correlation) exist in open literature. However, each of these empirical correlations have only been tested against and proven for a range of experimental parameters and hence, have over-predict or under-predict (by an unknown margin) for real-world industrial conditions (such as conditions appropriate for critical minerals mining and transportation). The objective of this project is to determine minimum flow rate needed to transport solid particles of various types, densities, and sizes, and pipe diameters. With new data collected, this project will attempt to benchmark existing correlations and validate if the correlations can be applied reasonably for critical minerals transport and/or identify potential gaps that may need to be addressed so that transport of critical minerals in mining operations can be appropriately designed and operated with improved energy efficiency and lower-carbon intensity.