Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Das, Tanmoy, Lester, Daniel, Stickland, Anthony, Eshtiaghi, Nicky
Format: Preprint
Published: 2025
Subjects:
Online Access:https://arxiv.org/abs/2506.04443
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1866913081495388160
author Das, Tanmoy
Lester, Daniel
Stickland, Anthony
Eshtiaghi, Nicky
author_facet Das, Tanmoy
Lester, Daniel
Stickland, Anthony
Eshtiaghi, Nicky
contents Sedimentation of particulate suspensions in horizontal pipes can lead to formation, growth and consolidation of a solid-like bed which can severely retard pipeline performance. As stagnant flow conditions frequently arise during industrial processes, critical operational questions are: (i) at what rate and extent does sedimentation proceed, and (ii) can the sedimentation dynamics be predicted from conventional suspension characterisation methods? We address these questions by characterising the sedimentation properties of an aqueous Kaolin suspension via batch settling tests and comparing predictions from 1D sedimentation theory with experiments in a horizontally oriented cylindrical pipe. We show that particulate sedimentation can be accurately predicted, indicating that the estimated sedimentation properties are representative material properties, and that transient effects such as gravity currents are not significant. Conversely, we find that the consolidation of the sediment is not well predicted by 1D theory, suggesting that the stress state is not 1D and likely involves contributions from the pipe walls. These stagnant cylindrical pipe results provide a basis for the development of methods to predict pipeline sedimentation under more general (laminar and turbulent) flow conditions.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2506_04443
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Sedimentation of particulate suspensions under stagnant conditions in horizontal pipes
Das, Tanmoy
Lester, Daniel
Stickland, Anthony
Eshtiaghi, Nicky
Fluid Dynamics
Soft Condensed Matter
Sedimentation of particulate suspensions in horizontal pipes can lead to formation, growth and consolidation of a solid-like bed which can severely retard pipeline performance. As stagnant flow conditions frequently arise during industrial processes, critical operational questions are: (i) at what rate and extent does sedimentation proceed, and (ii) can the sedimentation dynamics be predicted from conventional suspension characterisation methods? We address these questions by characterising the sedimentation properties of an aqueous Kaolin suspension via batch settling tests and comparing predictions from 1D sedimentation theory with experiments in a horizontally oriented cylindrical pipe. We show that particulate sedimentation can be accurately predicted, indicating that the estimated sedimentation properties are representative material properties, and that transient effects such as gravity currents are not significant. Conversely, we find that the consolidation of the sediment is not well predicted by 1D theory, suggesting that the stress state is not 1D and likely involves contributions from the pipe walls. These stagnant cylindrical pipe results provide a basis for the development of methods to predict pipeline sedimentation under more general (laminar and turbulent) flow conditions.
title Sedimentation of particulate suspensions under stagnant conditions in horizontal pipes
topic Fluid Dynamics
Soft Condensed Matter
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2506.04443