Coal slurry pipeline flow: a review of transport options

CIM Bulletin, Vol. 83, No. 942, 1990

C.A. Shook, University of Saskatchewan, R.G. Gillies and W.H.W. Husband, Saskatchewan Research Council

The current state of knowledge concerning pipeline transport of coal in water slurry form is summarized for the four categories: coal-water fuels, conventional fine coal slurries, coarse coals and stabilized mixtures of coarse and fine particles. Surface chemistry is of dominant importance for coal-water fuels and considerable progress in understanding the role of surf octants has been achieved in recent years. Little generalized research on the flow of conventional fine coal slurries has been done in the past 17 years, although innumerable conceptual designs and feasibility studies have been undertaken. Coarse coal slurries are fairly well understood but the model which explains their flow requires more data to be established fully. Stabilized flow mixtures should probably obey the same model as coarse coal slurries but experimental results for stabilized mixtures have not yet been incorporated in a comprehensive theory.

Keywords: Coal mining, Coal-water fuels, Slurries, Ore transport, Pipeline transportation.