Hydraulic gradient prediction for solid-water mixture flow through horizontal pipelines of different diameters and roughness and solids concentrations

• Published in: Journal of water and land development pp. 267 - 272
• Main Author: Osra, Faisal A.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: Polish
• Published: 01.07.2021
• ISSN: 2083-4535; 2083-4535
• DOI: 10.24425/jwld.2021.137686

In wastewater treatment plants, large pumps are often used to accommodate unknown hydraulic properties of solid-water mixture flow. The use of large pumps translates into higher purchasing and operating costs. Wastewater mixture is pumped with solids of different types and concentrations through pipelines. The design of these ducts is mainly based on the hydraulic laws of solid-water mixture which is represented by a corrected friction coefficient corresponding to the concentration of solids in water. This paper experimentally studies hydraulic properties of solid-water mixtures in pipelines by the varying Froude number (Fr), which represents the velocity mixture, solid concentration, pipeline diameter and pipeline material type-roughness coefficient. The experiments have been conducted in the wastewater treatment plant where six solid concentrations can be found ranging from 2 to 12% by weight. The pipe diameter ranges between 100 to 300 mm. It has been found that both the friction coefficient and the hydraulic gradient ameliorate with the increase of the pipeline roughness and the solids concentration in the water mixture, whereas the Fr drop with the diameter of the pipeline. The results are translated into curves and equations to predict the corrected pipeline friction coefficient and the hydraulic gradient of the solid-water mixture flow through horizontal pipelines at various solids concentrations, roughness and diameters.