Recent advances on stabilization and rheological behaviour of iron ore slurry for economic pipeline transportation

Slurry transportation through pipelines is an environment friendly method. So, this alternative mode of transportation of raw materials through pipelines in the form of slurry will go a long way in reducing the problems of congested transportation network. The stable slurry is pumped over a long distance where the further processing may be carried out. Surface active agents (also called surfactants) are a class of compounds having both polar and non polar groups on the same moiety. On being adsorbed to minerals, they change the surface characteristics by affecting the interfacial behaviour of minerals. The viscosity, flotation, dispersion, wetting properties of minerals can be monitored with the proper selection of chemical additives. The stability and rheological behaviour of OWS has great indication towards the process of transportation. In this work, we have reported the stabilization of various types of slurries (particularly iron ore slurry) with their rheological behaviour and CFD analysis for economic pipeline transportation. (C) 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.