Hydraulic calculation of gravity transportation pipeline system for backfill slurry

Taking cemented coal gangue pipeline transportation system in Suncun Coal Mine, Xinwen Mining Group, Shandong Province, China, as an example, the hydraulic calculation approaches and process about gravity pipeline transportation of backfill slurry were investigated. The results show that the backfill capability of the backfill system should be higher than 74.4 m3/h according to the mining production and backfill times in the mine; the minimum velocity (critical velocity) and practical working velocity of the backfill slurry are 1.44 and 3.82 m/s, respectively. Various formulae give the maximum ratio of total length to vertical height of pipeline (L/H ratio) of the backfill system of 5.4, and then the reliability and capability of the system can be evaluated.