Coal - Hydraulic Transport of Broken Coal

In a study of the principal factors affecting the transport of coal-water mixtures through a centrifugal pump and a pipeline, the interrelation between solids concentration, velocity, and pressure drop was established for a minus 2-in. bituminous lump coal in concentrations up to 48% by weight. Optimum concentrations were found to exist for maximum capacity of a given pipeline and for minimum energy requirements per ton of coal. Coal size degradation by particle fracture took place in the pump; abrasion and attrition to form fines took place in both pump and line. A novel system of studying flow of solid-liquid mixtures in pipelines by the determination of relative sound intensities was developed. The hydraulic transport of minerals is in part an established art and in part a relatively new field of industrial technology. The established art developed especially where the mineral was under water, where water was used in hydraulic mining, or where large quantities of water had to be pumped from the mining site to expose the mineral. Power requirements and limited life of pumps and pipelines, under such conditions, were relatively unimportant. Examples may be found in dredging, and in hydraulic mining and transportation of phosphate rock.' In the design of a coal pipeline the most needed information relates to flow characteristics, power requirements, pressure drop, size degradation, and size segregation as a function of solids-water ratio and size distribution of the mineral. A considerable amount of information has become available concerning pressure drop and energy requirements.2'3 These topics were therefore not studied intensively. Coal degradation, however, has not been clearly delineated. Lammers and coworkers4 showed that coal may be severely degraded in size but did not distinguish between degradation produced in the pump and in the line. It is the primary purpose of this paper to outline techniques used to acquire some of the much needed design data. A full report of the investigation is to be published by the Bureau of Mines at a later date. APPARATUS AND PROCEDURE The apparatus for circulation tests (hereafter referred to as Type III tests) consisted essentially of a loop and a centrifugal solids handling pump, with attendant instrumentation, and coal weighing and feeding equipment. It also included an adequate water supply, as shown in Fig. 1. The selection of 6-in., schedule 40, carbon steel pipe was based on the top size of coal to be used. Assuming that the top size of coal should not exceed 1/3 the inside diameter of the pipe, a 6-in. pipe would accommodate 2-in. coal, a realistic size for transport from the mine face. An 872-ft loop was constructed first. Later a few tests were made with a lengthened circuit of 1361 ft by superimposing an additional loop on the original one. All bends used were of 3-ft radius. A noisemeter microphone, taped to the pipe at various points, but generally about 50 ft downstream of the pump, was used to sense segregation of the coal and the length of slugs of coal in water. To measure the stream velocity, radioactive sources were encapsulated in plastic cubes. The specific gravity of the blocks was adjusted to 1.3 and 1.8 to simulate low ash and high ash coal particles. Their passage through the pipeline was detected by a Geiger counter. Because the repeated circuits of the Type III tests did not permit coal degradation in the line to be distinguished from that produced by the pump, the two