SLURRY ENGINEERING/PIPELINES
Tailings transport
Developments in Tailings Pipeline
Transportation by Robert Cooke and Joshua
Stowe of Paterson & Cooke, USA, was presented
at TAILINGS 2018 in Santiago, Chile, July 2018. It
reviews developments in the design and
implementation of tailings pipeline
transportation systems. The discussion focuses
on pipeline operation with a stationary bed,
pipeline operation in laminar flow, bed height
detection instrumentation and leak detection
systems.
The conventional slurry pipeline design
approach is to select a pipeline diameter which
ensures the pipeline operates in turbulent flow
without a deposit for all expected operating
conditions. Recent improvements in the
Ausenco contends that “challenging economic
conditions and increasingly strict
environmental regulations demand tailings
pipeline systems that travel longer distances,
at higher concentrations and with longer
design lives”
reduced relative to other transportation modes,
yielding a significant cost savings. Pipelines do
not require a large labour pool. A very large 500
km pipeline with two pump stations for example
only requires about 120 workers for operation.
“However, some specialty staff members are
needed including technicians, which must have
good hydraulics and pumps knowledge. The
equipment in general is differentiated, mainly
positive displacement pumps which demand
specialised maintenance labour training. With
well-structured and well-planned maintenance,
the pipelines can have an operating availability
of around 98%.
“Pipeline operational risks are well below the
other competing transportation modes such as
rail and truck. It should be noted that slurry
pipelines have been operating in Brazil for more
than 35 years and have a record of very few
personal injuries.
Considering a practical energy consumption
example for a hypothetical iron concentrate
pipeline, leaving the Minais Gerais iron
quadrilateral for the southeast coast of Brazil,
he examines what the energy consumption per
tonne transported would be.
“Of course the answer depends on several
factors. However, taking into account a
transport capacity of 20 Mt/y, the energy
consumption represents approximately $ 0.55/t
transported – or less than a dollar a tonne.
“The operational cost is a very important
factor when deciding on the most suitable
product transportation means. The financial risk
of choosing a relatively low capital cost
transportation system, but with high operating
costs which can heavily escalate over time can
be costly to the business in the future.”
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DECEMBER 2018 | International Mining 15