Effect of Bend Geometry on Erosion and Product Degradation in Pneumatic Conveying Pipeline Systems

Conveying hard and the abrasive materials has been one of the major operational problems in industrial situations. The erosion of plant components, especially the pipe bends by abrasive solid particles of a fluid stream makes installation of pneumatic conveying systems a very costly affair for industry. Most users have either lived with the problem or have employed expensive bend materials to reduce the bend erosion rate and prolong the life of bends. A number of operating variables such as the impact velocity and impact angle affect the erosion and product degradation process significantly in a dilute phase suspension flow. It is therefore important that the systems should be designed with the lowest possible velocity of conveying. Modification in the pipeline bend geometry by means of tapered (converging and diverging) sections can also be used for maintaining conveying air velocity constant along the entire length of pipeline.The current work presents erosion of G.I. bends examined in a pneumatic conveyor under two different arrangements of mild steel pipe and G.I. bends of 51mm and 102mm bore in a test loop of 40 m length. Silica sand particles having mean particle size of 212 μm were used as erodent for impingement on the bend surface. This paper discuss the results of comprehensive test program to study the effect of bend geometry on erosion and product degradation in pneumatic conveying pipeline systems . (