Three-dimensional modelling of oil sand multiphase flow in at face slurry system Online publication date: Fri, 10-Aug-2018
by Enzu Zheng; Jozef Szymanski; Chaoshi Hu
International Journal of Oil, Gas and Coal Technology (IJOGCT), Vol. 19, No. 1, 2018
Abstract: Optimisation of both hydraulic transportation efficiency and production costs are a necessity in the extraction of Athabasca oil sand deposits. There is currently a desire to extend hydraulic transport systems to production faces in oil sand mines using a mobile at face slurry system (AFSS). AFSS consists of multiple pipelines connected with flexible joints, a system which creates slurrified minerals from the mining faces for transportation to processing plants. This paper develops mathematic models governing friction loss associated with AFSS. Modelling of slurry flow is conducted using ANSYS-FLUENT. An arrangement of flexible pipe loops imitating the AFSS was set up to test the accuracy of modelling results. For slurry with a specific gravity of 1.44, solid volume fraction of 0.27, and a velocity of 4 m/s, the simulated pressure gradient associated with an AFSS with a diameter of 0.762 m is 220 Pa/m, compared to 158 Pa/m for the existing stationary system. [Received: March 15, 2016; Accepted: July 27, 2016]
Existing subscribers:
Go to Inderscience Online Journals to access the Full Text of this article.
If you are not a subscriber and you just want to read the full contents of this article, buy online access here.Complimentary Subscribers, Editors or Members of the Editorial Board of the International Journal of Oil, Gas and Coal Technology (IJOGCT):
Login with your Inderscience username and password:
Want to subscribe?
A subscription gives you complete access to all articles in the current issue, as well as to all articles in the previous three years (where applicable). See our Orders page to subscribe.
If you still need assistance, please email subs@inderscience.com
Our Blog 
Follow us on Twitter 
Visit us on Facebook