Rheology of fibre suspension flows in the pipeline hydro-transport of biomass feedstock

Author ORCID Identifier

Mahdi Vaezi: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8649-1573

Publication Title

Biosystems Engineering

ISSN

15375110

Document Type

Article

Abstract

In the hydro-transport of biomass feedstock by pipeline to bio-refineries, the rheology of the biomass slurry directly impacts the specifications and, therefore the cost of pipeline components. In this study, the rheological characteristics of untreated fine wood chip slurries across a broad range of slurry temperatures (5–15 °C) and solids concentrations (3–15 wt% dry-matter) were experimentally studied. Slurry samples were pumped in a closed-circuit pipeline facility where slurry flow longitudinal pressure drops were simultaneously measured. The rheological characteristics of the samples were then measured using a rotational viscometer with a vane-in-cup geometry. At low slurry concentrations (˂6 wt% dry-matter), the biomass slurry exhibited Newtonian behaviour; however, non-Newtonian (shear-thinning) behaviour was seen at higher slurry concentrations. In order to approximate the corresponding rheological parameters, different well-known non-Newtonian viscosity models (power-law, Bingham, Casson, and Herschel-Bulkley) were applied to experimental data. In addition, a new approach for approximating the apparent viscosity of biomass slurries using longitudinal pressure drop measurements was introduced and validated. The method has not been previously applied to non-Newtonian biomass slurries under turbulent flow regimes.

First Page

284

Last Page

297

Publication Date

11-1-2020

DOI

10.1016/j.biosystemseng.2020.10.009

Keywords

Biomass, Non-Newtonian fluid, Pressure drop, Rheology, Slurry, Viscosity model

Department

Department of Engineering Technology

Link to Full Text

Share

COinS