ABSTRACT
Estimating load losses due to friction in closed pipes is an important task for solving many practical problems in the various branches of the engineering profession. Hydraulic projects and analyses of systems for transporting mineral products in suspension are two examples. Many consider the Swamee – Jain model a promising method for assesses load losses due to friction in closed pipes. In order to investigate the friction factor the Swamee – Jain model was employed for confined flow of a kaolin suspension with a concentration of solids in mass of 55% (suspension C), 60% (suspension B) and 65% (suspension A) in a galvanized iron pipe with 0.2; 0.3 and 0.5 meters in diameter with a flow ranging from 0.02 to 0.2 m3 per second. For all of the kaolin suspensions the increase in the solid content and the diameter of the pipe contributes towards increasing the friction factor for confined flow in the operational flow, providing an estimate of values for use in projects and for analyzing systems used for transporting kaolin.
Keywords:
kaolin; friction factor; rheology; Swamee – Jain model
