Improving the rheological characteristics of fly ash water slurry using aqueous extract of Diascorea hispida

ABSTRACT

Transportation of high-concentration slurry is a specialized field that requires a deep understanding of the rheological behavior of slurry. Fly ash, a fine, powdery residue of pulverized coal combustion in power plants, is transported in pipelines as a slurry with water as a carrier medium and flow-improver additives. The current research aims to compute the rheological properties of the fly ash-water slurry by adding 0.1 to 1 g/mL of Diascorea hispida extract as a natural drag reducer or flow improver. In addition to the effect of D. hispida, other parameters such as temperature, addition of fly ash, and fly ash-bottom ash mixture on the rheological performance of fly ash-water slurry have been investigated. The economic effect of the developed dispersant, D. hispida, has been examined by applying Darby – Melson combined equation by varying the slurry flow rate from 1 m/s to 3 m/s at a fixed 250 mm pipe diameter. The slurry head loss, solids conveying rate, hydraulic power need, and specific power consumption at different .D hispida concentrations were calculated.

KEYWORDS:

• Fly ash
• Diascorea hispida
• high concentration slurry
• head loss
• bio-additive

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Pritijyotsna Mohapatra

Pritijyotsna Mohapatra completed her M.Sc. from Bhadrak (Auto.) College, Bhadrak, F.M University, Odisha, India. She works as an Assistant Professor at Radhakrishna Institute of Technology and Engineering, BPUT, Odisha. Her current research interest is on Fly ash utilization.

Umakanta Behera

Dr. Umakanta Behera completed his Ph.D. in mining engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology (Indian School of Mines), Dhanbad. He works as an Assistant Professor, at the Department of Mining Engineering, Government College of Engineering, Keonjhar, Odisha, India. His research area covers mine backfilling, pipeline slurry transportation like coal–water, crude oil-water, iron ore-water slurry and fly ash-water, and mineral beneficiation.

Manas Ranjan Senapati

Dr. Manas Ranjan Senapati earned his PhD from Utkal University, Bhubaneswar in 1993 and did his post-doctoral research as a CSIR Research Associate. He is working at present as a Professor and HOD of Chemistry at Trident Academy of Technology, Bhubaneswar. His areas of interest include solution chemistry & green and sustainable chemistry.

Debadutta Das

Dr. Debadutta Das completed his Ph.D. in chemistry from the Department of Chemistry, Sambalpur University & CSIR- IMMT, Odisha, India. He is currently working as an Assistant Professor at Buxi Jagabandhu Bidyadhar Autonomous College, Odisha, India. His current research focuses on green chemistry, catalyst reactions, biocatalysis, natural products, bioorganic, and industrial processes.