Production cost and efficiency optimization for the Athabasca oil sands is a key to securing North America’s energy supply. Current oil sands production cost is about $13/bbl compared with $1.25/bbl for conventional crude oil. The effort to reduce production cost must focus on truck haulage because it contributes the dominant component of the production cost of about 26%. Toward this objective, hydraulic transportation has become a competitive means for materials handling. There is a desire to extend the hydraulic transport system to production faces using mobile train of flexible pipelines to optimize the system efficiency and cost. This flexible arrangement introduces a unique set of hydraulic transport problems, which must be addressed through rigorous modeling and analysis. This paper provides multiphase oil sand slurry models in flexible pipelines. New mathematical models are developed to characterize the multi-phase flow of oil sands slurry. The models combine the effects of dispersed particles and the carrier continuous phases. The coupled equations of each field are solved numerically for flexible pipe configuration. The models yield the productivity and deliverability of bitumen slurry between two mine facilities. The flexible arrangement allows modeling in elbow-type joint at different angles and in conventional linear pipelines, enabling adaptation of pipelines to various mine outlays. Numerical examples are presented to show the applicability of the new model and to ascertain optimum operational conditions of the flexible pipes in mine layouts.
Skip Nav Destination
e-mail: frimpong@ualberta.ca
e-mail: oayodele@ualberta.ca
e-mail: szymanski@ualberta.ca
Article navigation
January 2004
Technical Papers
Oil Sands Slurry Flow in Flexible Pipe
Samuel Frimpong,
e-mail: frimpong@ualberta.ca
Samuel Frimpong
School of Mining and Petroleum Engineering, Civil and Environmental Engineering Department, 220 CEB, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada T6G 2G7
Search for other works by this author on:
Oluropo Rufus Ayodele,
e-mail: oayodele@ualberta.ca
Oluropo Rufus Ayodele
School of Mining and Petroleum Engineering, Civil and Environmental Engineering Department, 220 CEB, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada T6G 2G7
**
Search for other works by this author on:
Jozef Szymanski
e-mail: szymanski@ualberta.ca
Jozef Szymanski
School of Mining and Petroleum Engineering, Civil and Environmental Engineering Department, 220 CEB, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada T6G 2G7
Search for other works by this author on:
Samuel Frimpong
School of Mining and Petroleum Engineering, Civil and Environmental Engineering Department, 220 CEB, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada T6G 2G7
e-mail: frimpong@ualberta.ca
Oluropo Rufus Ayodele
**
School of Mining and Petroleum Engineering, Civil and Environmental Engineering Department, 220 CEB, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada T6G 2G7
e-mail: oayodele@ualberta.ca
Jozef Szymanski
School of Mining and Petroleum Engineering, Civil and Environmental Engineering Department, 220 CEB, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada T6G 2G7
e-mail: szymanski@ualberta.ca
Contributed by the Fluids Engineering Division for publication in the JOURNAL OF FLUIDS ENGINEERING. Manuscript received by the Fluids Engineering Division Dec. 6, 2002; revised manuscript received Sept. 21, 2003. Associate Editor: D. Siginer.
J. Fluids Eng. Jan 2004, 126(1): 133-138 (6 pages)
Published Online: February 19, 2004
Article history
Received:
December 6, 2002
Revised:
September 21, 2003
Online:
February 19, 2004
Citation
Frimpong, S., Ayodele, O. R., and Szymanski, J. (February 19, 2004). "Oil Sands Slurry Flow in Flexible Pipe ." ASME. J. Fluids Eng. January 2004; 126(1): 133–138. https://doi.org/10.1115/1.1637929
Download citation file:
Get Email Alerts
Cited By
Experimental Investigation of the Effect of Rake on a Bluff Body Equipped With a Diffuser
J. Fluids Eng (April 2025)
Related Articles
Scale-up Technique of Slurry Pipelines—Part 1: Turbulence Modeling
J. Energy Resour. Technol (December,1986)
Double-Species Slurry Flow in a Horizontal Pipeline
J. Fluids Eng (January,2004)
Distribution of Sand Particles in Horizontal and Vertical Annular Multiphase Flow in Pipes and the Effects on Sand Erosion
J. Energy Resour. Technol (June,2011)
Flow Patterns of Ice/Water Slurry in Horizontal Pipes
J. Fluids Eng (May,2004)
Related Proceedings Papers
Related Chapters
Drilling of Engineering Ceramics with Combination of Ultrasonic Vibrations and Abrasive Slurry
International Conference on Mechanical and Electrical Technology, 3rd, (ICMET-China 2011), Volumes 1–3
Pipeline Integrity and Security
Continuing and Changing Priorities of the ASME Boiler & Pressure Vessel Codes and Standards
Influence of Inorganic Permeants upon the Permeability of Bentonite
Hydraulic Barriers in Soil and Rock