International Journal of Civil Engineering and (IJCIET), ISSN 0976 6308 INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OFTechnology CIVIL ENGINEERING AND

D (Print), ISSN 0976 6316(Online) Volume 4, Issue 3, May - June (2013), IAEME

TECHNOLOGY (IJCIET)

ISSN 0976 6308 (Print) ISSN 0976 6316(Online) Volume 4, Issue 3, May - June (2013), pp. 45-56 IAEME: www.iaeme.com/ijciet.asp Journal Impact Factor (2013): 5.3277 (Calculated by GISI) www.jifactor.com

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EFFECT OF PIPE INCLINATION ON THE PIPE FLOW HEAD LOSSES FOR DIFFERENT SAND CONCENTRATIONS
Mahmoud Ali Refaey Eltoukhy Faculty of Engineering, Shobra, Banha University, Egypt

ABSTRACT This paper presents results of an experimental study pertaining to the behavior of sand-water (two-phase) flows in inclined pipes, a phenomenon that is generally witnessed at the canal intakes which aligned at desert area, and dredging processes. The experiments were conducted in a modern hydraulics laboratory to study the effect of sand concentration and pipe inclination on the pipe flow head losses. The pipe inclination angle was varied from 0 to 90 in upward and downward directions and the sand concentration in water was regulated up to 15% by volume. It was concluded that the head losses of the downward sloping pipe flow are always lower than the head losses of the horizontal flow and these are always lower than the head losses of the upward sloping pipe flow, regardless of the concentration and inclination angle. The experiment results were analyzed in the light of earlier published data and useful empirical correlations have been developed to determine the head losses of horizontal flow, alongwith upward and downward sloping pipe flows. Keywords: head loss, sand - water mixture, inclined pipes, sand concentration INTRODUCTION Most of the applications of hydraulic transport in the past have been in the minerals industries. Generally, such industrial facilities are located in remote areas with insufficient road or rail infrastructure. Therefore, pipeline transport has been preferred and recognized as the most cost effective method of transporting huge quantities of minerals over long distances, across difficult terrain. The solid particles invariably being heavier than the conveying liquid are transported in lower part of the channel. This unique pattern has been a subject of special study and is presented in this paper. The effect of flow velocity, sand concentration and the sloping pipe inclination angle on the head loss were investigated. The
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International Journal of Civil Engineering and Technology (IJCIET), ISSN 0976 6308 (Print), ISSN 0976 6316(Online) Volume 4, Issue 3, May - June (2013), IAEME head losses determined for the horizontal portion of the pipeline were compared with correlations found in the literature. A pipe loop system was built, allowing variation of flow velocity, sand concentration and pipe inclination. OVERVIEW OF THE PRIOR PUBLISHED DATA Wasp et al., (1999) found that the flow of solid-liquid slurries in pipes differs from the flow of homogeneous liquids in a variety of ways. The complete range of velocities is possible with liquids, whereas nature of the flow, i.e., laminar, transition, or turbulent, can be characterized based on the knowledge of physical properties of the fluid and the pipe system. The characterization of slurry flow is not as simple as for liquid flow mainly for two reasons: firstly the properties of the solid particles to be accounted for are superimposed on the properties of the liquid, and also the effect of the particles on the mixture properties; secondly, depending on the particular conditions, a range of slurry behavior is possible. Kaushal et al (2005), and Kaushal and Tomita (2007) carried out experimental study for concentration of distributions in slurry pipeline by using - ray densitometer. Their measurements show that, pressure gradient profiles of equivalent fluid for finer particles were found to resemble with water data except for 50% concentration, however, more skewed pressure gradient profiles of equivalent fluid were found for coarser particles. Experimental results indicate absence of near-wall lift for finer particles due to submergence of particles in the lowest layer into the viscous sub layer and presence of considerable near-wall lift for coarser particles due to impact of viscous-turbulent interface on the bottom most layer of particles and increased particleparticle interactions. Richardson, et al., (1999) found that, in homogenous flow systems, the presence of the solids can have a significant effect on the system properties, usually resulting in a sharp increase in viscosity as compared to that of the carrier fluid. In heterogeneous flow systems, solids are not evenly distributed and in horizontal flow, pronounced concentration gradient exists along the vertical axis of the pipe, even at high velocities. Particle inertial effects are significant, i.e., the fluid and solid phases to a large extent retain their separate identities, and the increase in the system viscosity over that of the carrier liquid is usually quite small. Heterogeneous slurries tend to be of lower solid concentrations and have larger particle sizes than homogeneous slurries. Raudkivi, (1989), found that in vertical pipes the velocity of solids for upward flow is less than the fluid velocity, but is greater for downward flow. The difference is approximately the value of the settling velocity. Coiado and Diniz, (2001), studied the solid-water flow in inclined pipes. Based on the collected experimental data, the adopted methods and the experimental conditions, it was concluded that the head losses values for the downward sloping pipes are always lower than the head losses for the horizontal pipe, and these are always lower than the head losses for the upward sloping pipes, regardless of the inclination angles and concentrations. Whereas, in case of downward sloping length of water-sand slurry flow, the presence of sand decreases the head losses values corresponding to the inclination angle and increasing concentration. C. Kim et al, (2008), made an experimental study on the transport of sand-water mixtures in circular and square pipelines, focusing on the economic transport of solid particles. The measured data of the hydraulic gradient, solid effect, and deposition-limit velocity for both circular pipe and square duct were compared and analyzed. The hydraulic gradient of water in the circular pipe was found larger than that in the square duct because of the secondary flow in the square duct. The hydraulic gradient of sand-water mixture in the
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International Journal of Civil Engineering and Technology (IJCIET), ISSN 0976 6308 (Print), ISSN 0976 6316(Online) Volume 4, Issue 3, May - June (2013), IAEME square duct was larger than that in the circular pipe. It was found that the hydraulic gradient of the slurry flow in the circular and square pipelines increases with the volumetric delivered concentration and Reynolds number. D.R. Kaushal, et al, (2012), simulated Pipeline slurry flow of mono- dispersed fine particles at high concentration numerically using Mixture and Eulerian two-phase models. It was found that, pressure drop predictions by both MIxture and Eulerian two-phase models for flow of water show good agreement with the experimental data. Whereas, in case of comparison between measured and predicted pressure drops at different concentrations, namely, 30%, 40% and 50%, the Mixture model fails to predict pressure drops correctly, the amount of error increasing rapidly with the concentration. However, Eulerian model gives fairly accurate predictions for pressure drop at all the efflux concentrations and for flow velocities considered in the present study. The published materials about two-phase (solid-liquid) flow are mostly related to horizontal pipe flow. There are a limited number of studies concerning the effect of pipe inclination on two-phase flow energy loss. In htis backdrop, this paper studies the effect of the pipe inclination on the pipe flow head losses for different sand concentrations, and presents its results in the forms of curves and equations to compute the head loss, given the sand water mixture flow velocity, the pipe angle of inclination, and the sand concentration in volume. EXPERIMENTAL APPARATUS The general layout of the apparatus is shown in Fig. 1. This apparatus is used to reach the objectives proposed in this paper. It consists of a pipe loop system, and was fabricated in the professional Hydraulics Laboratory. The sand water mixtures were prepared in the main tank, which had dimensions of 0.80 m length, 0.70 m width, and 0.80 m depth. The mixture was maintained homogeneous in the main tank by the use of an auxiliary pump. Then, the homogeneous mixture was pumped, through a pipeline with diameter of 0.75 m. The pipeline was made up of horizontal and inclined pipes. The head loss measurements for the sandwater mixture flow were carried out in the pipelines. The sand used in the experiment was uniform with median grain size d50 = 0.20 mm, and relative density of 2.67, with concentrations 15 % up in volume. The pipe inclination angle used was varied from 0o (horizontal position) to 90o (vertical position), for each upward and downward inclinations. During the sand water mixture flow through the pipeline, for different velocities and concentrations of the mixture, the following parameters were measured: a) the head losses in the horizontal, upward, and downward inclinations; b) the discharge; and c) the concentration of the sand in water. The discharge was measured by dividing a volume of the outlet mixture by the corresponding time. The concentration of the mixture was determined using a tank to measure the volume and one balance. Whereas, the head losses in the horizontal, upward, and downward sloping lengths were measured by differential manometer. EXPERIMENTAL WORK The experimental work consists of two main sets of experiments. The first set consists of 126 runs, and it used to measure the head losses through the upward inclination pipeline at different mixture velocities and for different sand concentrations. The angles of the pipeline inclination were 5o, 10o, 25o, 35o, 45o and
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International Journal of Civil Engineering and Technology (IJCIET), ISSN 0976 6308 (Print), ISSN 0976 6316(Online) Volume 4, Issue 3, May - June (2013), IAEME

Rubber pipe

Tank

auxiliary pump main pump

Fig. 1. The Apparatus Layout 90o. The sand concentrations used for each angle of inclination are 5 %, 10 %, and 15 % in volume. The second set of experiments consists of 118 runs, and the pipeline inclination angles were as that of the first set except that, the pipeline inclination was downward. Fifty runs were carried out to measure the head losses through the horizontal pipeline at three different sand concentrations. The horizontal pipeline runs results, are analyzed with the upward and downward pipeline inclination's results. In the light of above conclusions, the sand water mixture velocity should be greater than the deposition limit (critical) velocity, which is the mean mixture velocity at the limit of stationary deposition. From Durand (1953) and Gibert (1960) for the used sand, the mixture velocity should be greater than 1.88 m/s in all runs to maintain that the sand particles are always in suspension state. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION Two empirical equations were developed to calculate the head losses of the watersand mixture as a function of flow Froud's number, Fn, the sand concentration, C, and the inclination angle, , of upward and downward flows in inclined pipes. The equations were developed by several curve fittings. First of all, the apparatus was calibrated through comparison of the measured head losses in a horizontal pipeline with that measured by E. M. Coiado, (2001), Fig. (2), which shows that the measured and Coiado results are almost identical. FLOW THROUGH UPWARD INCLINATION PIPELINE For the first set of experiments, the sand water mixture was pumped through the pipeline which was laid in upward inclination positions. The used pipeline inclination angles are 0o (horizontal position), 5o, 10o, 25o, 35o, 45o, and 90o (upward vertical position). The head losses were measured in the pipeline in each inclination position for three sand concentrations, i.e., 5%, 10%, and 15%.

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International Journal of Civil Engineering and Technology (IJCIET), ISSN 0976 6308 (Print), ISSN 0976 6316(Online) Volume 4, Issue 3, May - June (2013), IAEME The results of the flows through upward inclination Pipeline were analyzed. The effect of each sand-water mixture velocity represented in Froude's number, Fn, the pipeline angle of inclination, , and the sand

0.35 0.3 Hydraulic Gradient, (i) , 0.25 0.2 0.15 0.1 0.05 0 2 3 4 5 Present Coiado, 2001 6 7

Froude's Number, Fn

Fig. 2. Apparatus Calibration, for C = 10%, and pipe inclination angle 10o upward concentration, C on the head losses in the pipeline was developed. It was found that the hydraulic gradient increases with increasing sand water mixture velocity. For example, for C = 10% and = 35o, if the sand water mixture velocity increases from 3.3 m/s to 5.2 m/s, the hydraulic gradient increases from 0.27 to 0.37, meaning thereby that increase of 57.5% in the mixture velocity results in increasing 37% in the hydraulic gradient, as indicated in Fig. (3). Another runs of experiments were carried out through varying the sand concentrations up to 15%, to study the effect of sand concentration on the head losses in upward pipeline inclination. It was found that increase in the sand concentration results in increasing hydraulic gradient. For example, for pipeline inclination angle of 25o and sand water mixture velocity of 3.75 m/s, changing sand concentration from 10% to 15%, the hydraulic gradient changes from 0.21 to 0.265, thereby showing that 50% increase in sand concentration yields 26% increase in the hydraulic gradient in the pipeline, as shown in Fig. (4). The effect of pipeline inclination angle was studied by changing from 0o (horizontal pipeline) to 90o (vertical pipeline). Experiments showed that the hydraulic gradient of the pipeline increases as its upward angle of inclination increases, Fig. (5). For example, at sand concentration C = 10 %, when the upward inclination angle increases from =10o to 45o, the hydraulic gradient increases from 0.199 to 0.296, implying that increase of 35% in upward inclination angle of pipeline results into 49% increase in the hydraulic gradient.
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International Journal of Civil Engineering and Technology (IJCIET), ISSN 0976 6308 (Print), ISSN 0976 6316(Online) Volume 4, Issue 3, May - June (2013), IAEME

0.6 0.5 Hydraulic gradient (i) , 0.4 0.3 0.2 0.1 0 2

=0 Up 5 Up 10 Up 25 Up 35 Up 45 Up 90

2.5

3.5

4.5

5.5

Froude's Number, Fn

Fig. 3 Variation of the hydraulic gradient with the sand water mixture velocity for C= 10% and = 35o
0.4 0.35 Hydraulic Gradient, (i),i 0.3 0.25 0.2 0.15 0.1 C=5% 0.05 0 2 2.5 3 3.5 4 4.5 5 5.5 C = 10 % C = 15 % 6 6.5

Froude's Number, Fn

Fig. 4 Effect of sand concentration on the hydraulic gradient, for = 25o and v = 3.75 m/s (Upward)

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International Journal of Civil Engineering and Technology (IJCIET), ISSN 0976 6308 (Print), ISSN 0976 6316(Online) Volume 4, Issue 3, May - June (2013), IAEME
0.4 0.35 0.3 0.25 0.2 0.15 0.1 0.05 0 0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1 1.2
Sin Fig. 5 Effect of the upward pipe inclination angle on the hydraulic gradient, i for C= 10% With a view to accomplish the objectives set for this study, several curve fittings were done and sound relationship was established between hydraulic gradient and the affecting parameters, i.,e., the Froude's number, the pipeline inclination, and the sand concentration, Fig. (6). With parameters factor I UP on the horizontal axis and the hydraulic gradient on the vertical axis:

Hydraulic Gradient, (i), i

I UP = 0.0574

v gD

+ 0.1091sin 0.25 C 0.0779

(1)

Where: v : sand water mixture flow velocity, (m/s) : pipeline angle of inclination C: sand concentration in water (% in volume). The hydraulic gradient, i , may be calculated for any I UP for a given sand water mixture velocity, the pipeline inclination angle, and the sand concentration from Fig. (6). Through curve fitting for data in Fig. (6), the following equation was obtained:
i = 1.0669 I UP 0.012 (2)

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International Journal of Civil Engineering and Technology (IJCIET), ISSN 0976 6308 (Print), ISSN 0976 6316(Online) Volume 4, Issue 3, May - June (2013), IAEME
0.6

0.5 Hydraulic Gradient, (i), i

0.4

0.3

0.2

0.1

0 0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6

I UP Fig. 6 Upward pipe flow hydraulic gradient variation with the affecting parameters

By substituting the value of I UP from Equation 1 into Equation 2, the hydraulic gradient can be directly calculated as under:

i = 0.0612

v gD

+ 0.1164 sin 0.2667C 0.0951

(3)

FLOW THROUGH DOWNWARD INCLINATION PIPELINE

In the second set of experiments, the sand water mixture was pumped through the pipeline which was laid in downward inclination positions. The study parameter encompassed pipeline inclination angles 0o (horizontal position), 5o, 10o, 25o, 35o, 45o, and 90o (downward vertical position). Whereas, all measurements of head losses in the pipeline were carried out in each inclination position for the three sand concentrations, 5%, 10%, and 15%. The results were analyzed to determine the effect of each of sand water mixture velocity represented in Froude's number, Fn, the pipeline angle of inclination, , and the sand concentration, C on the head losses in the pipeline. The sand water mixture velocity effect on the head loss is shown in Fig. (7). It was found that the hydraulic gradient increases as the sand water mixture velocity increases. For example, for C = 10% and = 35o, if the sand water mixture velocity increases from 3.28 m/s to 5.2 m/s the hydraulic gradient increases
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International Journal of Civil Engineering and Technology (IJCIET), ISSN 0976 6308 (Print), ISSN 0976 6316(Online) Volume 4, Issue 3, May - June (2013), IAEME
0.35 0.3 Hydraulic Gradient, (i), i 0.25 0.2 0.15 0.1 0.05 0 2 3 4 5 6 7 Froude's Number, Fn

=0 Dow 5 Dow 10 Dow 25 Dow 35 Dow 45 Dow 90

Fig. 7 Variation of the hydraulic gradient with sand water mixture velocity for C= 10% and = 35o
from 0.024 to 0.175, showing that increase of 58.5% in the mixture velocity results in increase of 629% in the hydraulic gradient. Another set of experiments was undertaken to study the effect of sand concentration on head losses in downward pipeline inclination by varying sand concentrations up to 15%. The results showed that the sand concentration is inversely proportional with the hydraulic gradient. For example, for pipeline inclination angle of 25o and sand water mixture velocity of 3.75 m/s, changing sand concentration from 10% to 15%, results in changing the hydraulic gradient from 0.0778 to 0.063, showing that 50% increase in the sand concentration results in 19% decrease in the hydraulic gradient in the pipeline, Fig. (8). Also, the effect of the pipeline inclination angle on the pipeline hydraulic gradient was studied by changing from 0o (horizontal pipeline) to 90o (vertical pipeline). Experiments showed that the hydraulic gradient of the pipeline decreases as its downward angle of inclination increases, Fig. (9). For example, at sand concentration C = 10 %, when the downward inclination angle increases from =10o to 45o, the hydraulic gradient decreases from 0.129 to 0.048, showing that with downward inclination angle of the pipeline increasing by 35%, the hydraulic gradient decreases by 63%. The curve fittings were done for this set of parameters as well to determine relationship between the hydraulic gradient and the affecting parameters, i.e, the Froude's number, the pipeline inclination, and the sand concentration, which yielded promising results as shown in Fig. (10) and the underlying relationship, taking Parameters factor I Dwn on the horizontal axis and the hydraulic gradient on the vertical axis:
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International Journal of Civil Engineering and Technology (IJCIET), ISSN 0976 6308 (Print), ISSN 0976 6316(Online) Volume 4, Issue 3, May - June (2013), IAEME
0.25 C=5% C = 10 % C = 15 %

0.2 Hydraulic Gradient, (i), i

0.15

0.1

0.05

0 2 3 4 5 6 7

Froude's Number, Fn

Fig. 8 Effect of sand concentration on the hydraulic gradient, for = 25o and v = 3.75 m/s (Downward)
0.18 0.16 Hydraulic Gradient, (i), i 0.14 0.12 0.1 0.08 0.06 0.04 0.02 0 0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1 1.2

Sin Fig. 9 Effect of the Downward pipe inclination angle on the hydraulic gradient, i for C= 10%

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International Journal of Civil Engineering and Technology (IJCIET), ISSN 0976 6308 (Print), ISSN 0976 6316(Online) Volume 4, Issue 3, May - June (2013), IAEME

0.35 0.3 Hydraulic Gradient, (i), i 0.25 0.2 0.15 0.1 0.05 0 0 0.05 0.1 0.15 0.2 0.25 0.3 0.35

I Dwn Fig. 10 Downward pipe flow hydraulic gradient variation with the affecting parameters

I Dwn = 0.0585

v gD

0.0675 sin + 0.15 C 0.1346

(4)

The hydraulic gradient, i may be calculated for any I Dwn for a given sand water mixture velocity, the downward pipeline inclination angle, and the sand concentration. The relationship established by curve fitting for data in Fig. (10), is given as under:
i = 0.9848 I Dwn + 0.0031 (5) The following relationship is obtained by combining Equations (4) and (5), to calculate the hydraulic gradient given the values of sand water mixture velocity, the pipeline inclination, and the sand concentration:

i = 0.0576

v gD

0.0665 sin + 0.148 C 0.1295

(6)

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International Journal of Civil Engineering and Technology (IJCIET), ISSN 0976 6308 (Print), ISSN 0976 6316(Online) Volume 4, Issue 3, May - June (2013), IAEME CONCLUSIONS
This paper gives the results of an experimental study undertaken to determine the effects of sand water mixture velocity, the pipeline inclination angle upward and downward, and the sand concentration on the head loss in the pipeline. Based on the experimental data, the results of curve fitting, and the resulting mathematical expressions, the following conclusions are reached: 1. The head losses for the downward inclination of the pipeline are always lower than the head losses for the horizontal pipe, and these are always lower than the head losses for the upward sloping pipes, regardless of the inclination angles and concentrations. 2. For the downward inclination of the pipeline, the presence of sand decreases the head losses with increasing inclination angle and the sand concentration. 3. For the water-sand mixture flow in the horizontal pipe, the presence of sand increases the head losses as the concentration increases. 4. For the upward inclination of the pipeline water-sand mixture flow, the presence of sand increases the values of the head losses with increase in inclination angle and the concentration. 5. The curve fitting results and the corresponding equations developed can be used for calculating the head loss in the pipeline for given sand water mixture velocity, the pipeline inclination angle, and the sand concentration.

REFERENCES
1. E. M. Coiado and M. G. Diniz, (2001), "Two-Phase (Solid-Liquid) Flow in Inclined Pipes", J. Braz. Soc. Mech. Sci. vol.23 no.3 Rio de Janeiro. 2. D.R. Kaushal, T. Thinglas, Y. Tomita, S. Kuchii, and H. Tsukamoto, (2012), " CFD modeling for pipeline flow of fine particles at high concentration", International Journal of Multiphase Flow 43, 85100 3. Durand, R. (1953), " Basic solids in pipes Experimental Research", Proceedings International Hydraulics Conference, Minneaplis, MN, pp. 89 103. 4. Gibert, R. (1960), "Transport Hydraulique et Refoulement des Mixtures en Conduit", Anna1es des Pontes et Chaussees, 130e Annee, No. 12, et No. 17. 5. Kaushal D.R., Kimihiko Sato, Takeshi Toyota, Katsuya Funatsu, Yuji Tomita (2005), "Effect of particle size distribution on pressure drop and concentration profile in pipeline flow of highly concentrated slurry", International Journal of Multiphase Flow Volume 31, Issue 7, July 2005, Pages 809823 6. Kaushal, D.R., Tomita, Y., 2007, "Experimental investigation of near-wall lift of coarser particles in slurry pipeline using -ray densitometer" Powder Tech nol. 172, 177187. 7. Raudkivi, A. J., 1989 "Loose Boundary Hydraulics", Pergamon Press, New York 8. Richardson, J. F., Chhabra, R. P., Khan, A. R., 1999 "Multiphase flow ou nonNextonian fluids in horizontal pipes", Slurry Handling and Pipeline Transport. Hidrotransport 14. Maastrich. Netherlands. 9. Wasp, E. J.; Kenny, J. P.; Gandhi, R. L. 1999. "Solid-Liquid Flow Slurry Pipeline Transportation", Series on Bulk Materials Handling. International Standard Book Number. Trans Tech Publications. Germany.
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