For the safe and economical design and operation of freight pipelines it is necessary to know slurry flow behaviour in inclined pipe sections, which often form significant part of pipelines transporting solids. Fine-grained settling slurry was investigated on an experimental pipe loop of inner diameter D = 100 mm with the horizontal and inclined pipe sections for pipe slopes ranging from –45° to +45°. The slurry consisted of water and glass beads with a narrow particle size distribution and mean diameter d50 = 180 μm. The effect of pipe inclination, mean transport volumetric concentration, and slurry velocity on flow behaviour, pressure drops, deposition limit velocity, and concentration distribution was studied. The study revealed a stratified flow pattern of the studied slurry in inclined pipe sections. Frictional pressure drops in the ascending pipe were higher than that in the descending pipe, the difference decreased with increasing velocity and inclination. For inclination less than about 25° the effect of pipe inclinations on deposition limit velocity and local concentration distribution was not significant. For descending pipe section with inclinations over –25° no bed deposit
was observed.
Narrow particle size distribution basalt pebbles of mean particle size 11.5 mm conveyed by water in the pipe sections of different inclination were investigated on an experimental pipe loop, consisting of smooth stainless steel pipes of inner diameter D = 100 mm. Mixture flow-behaviour and particles motion along the pipe invert were studied in a pipe viewing section, the concentration distribution in pipe cross-section was studied with the application of a gamma-ray densitometer. The study refers to the effect of mixture velocity, overall concentration, and angle of pipe inclination on chord-averaged concentration profiles and local concentration maps, and flow behaviour of the coarse particle-water mixtures. The study revealed that the coarse particle-water mixtures in the inclined pipe sections were significantly stratified, the solid particles moved principally close to the pipe invert, and for higher and moderate flow velocities particle saltation becomes the dominant mode of particle conveying.