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.

1.
Frimpong
,
S.
,
Changirwa
,
R. M. M.
,
Asa
,
E.
, and
Szymanski
,
J.
,
2002
, “
Mechanics of Oil Sands Slurry Flow in a Flexible Pipeline System
,”
Int. J. of Surface Mining
,
16
(
2
), pp.
105
121
.
2.
Changirwa, R., Frimpong, S., Szymanski, J., Coward, J., McTurk, J., and Batty, P., 2000, “Collaborative Research on the At-Face Slurrying (AFS) Technology—NSERC-Syncrude-U of A: AFS Recommended Options,” Progress Report # NSERC/SCL/CRD00001 Submitted to Syncrude Canada Limited. January 2000.
3.
Edward
,
J. K.
,
McLaury
,
B. S.
, and
Shirazi
,
S. A.
,
2001
, “
Modeling Solid Particle Erosion in Elbows and Plugged Tees
,”
ASME J. Energy Resour. Technol.
, December, pp.
277
284
.
4.
Addie, G. R., 1982, “Slurry Pipeline Design Manual by GIW Industries Inc.,” pp. 1–4, Miller #2200 Rev. 6/01.
5.
McDonell, B., 2002, “Slurry Systems: Design and Equipment Selection With Examples From Syncrude’s Operation,” MIN E 420 Seminar (March 2002).
6.
Ghazi, H., 2002, “Measurement of Gas Content in Slurries,” M. Eng. Project, University of Alberta, Canada.
7.
Greenspan
,
H. P.
, and
Nigam
,
M. S.
,
2001
, “
A Note on Separation of a Bimodal Mixture in Pipe Flow
,”
Int. J. Multiphase Flow
,
27
, pp.
2015
2021
.
8.
Hewitt, G. F., and Hall-Taylor, N. S., 1970, “Annular Two-Phase Flow,” Pergamon Press, USA.
You do not currently have access to this content.