Sustainable Mining and Metallurgy

Most of the high concentration tailings slurry show the characteristics of Bingham body, and most of them belong to the composite flow state. This paper introduced the calculation method suitable for the critical flow rate and friction loss of large proportion and high concentration tailings slurry transportation. On this basis, the critical velocity and friction loss were calculated for an iron ore tailings slurry transportation case with a tailings density of 3. 1 t / m ³ , transportation concentration of 56% , transportation distance of 8 500 m, and transportation height difference of 470 m. The critical velocity of the pipeline under normal conditions is 2. 656 m / s, and the friction loss is 0. 038 5 mH₂O/ m. After calculation, the steel-rubber composite pipe with an outer diameter of 377 mm and an inner diameter of 329 mm was selected, and four diaphragm pumps with a flow rate of 320 m ³ / h and a lift of 15 MPa were used for the conveying pumps. The transportation of tailings slurry shows that the hydraulic elevation line of pipeline operation is less than the maximum allowable hydraulic elevation line; the outlet pressure of the diaphragm pump is less than the rated pressure of the diaphragm pump. The research in this paper can provide reference for similar high-concentration high-lift tailings pipeline transportation projects.