An investigation on tailing slurry transport in Kooshk lead-zinc mine in Iran based on non-Newtonian fluid rheology: an experimental study

In the current research work, a piping system is designed for slurry transport to the tailing dam in the Kooshk lead-zinc mine, Iran. The experiments are carried out primarily to investigate the rheological behavior of the slurry at different densities and obtain a non-Newtonian model for the shear stress variation with the deformation rate. It is shown that the shear stress of concentrated slurry follows the plastic Bingham model. The results obtained also indicate the increasing trend of the yield stress and the apparent viscosity of the slurry with the density. Appropriate correlations are proposed for the apparent viscosity and yield stress as a function of pulp concentration. At the next step, the required design parameters such as the slurry flow rate, pressure drop, critical velocity, and minimum required head for flow initiation and head losses are calculated for different slurry densities and pipe sizes. The appropriate piping system is finally designed based on the experimental data and the calculated parameters. It is concluded that the 3 in diameter pipe can be used to deliver the slurry with solid concentrations between 44% < Cw < 60% by weight, without a pumping system.