Effect of the Concentration of Sand in a Mixture of Water and Sand Flowing through PP and PVC Elbows on the Minor Head Loss Coefficient

Abstract

The article presents the results of tests of minor head losses through PVC and PP elbows for a flow of water and mixtures of water and sand with grain sizes of up to 0.5 mm and concentrations of 5.6 g·L−1, 10.84 g·L−1, and 15.73 g·L−1. The tests were carried out at variable flow velocities for three elbow diameters of 63 mm, 75 mm, and 90 mm. The flow rate, pressure difference in the tested cross-sections, and temperature of the fluids were measured and automatically recorded. The results of the measurements were used to develop mathematical models for determining the minor head loss coefficient as a function of elbow diameter, sand concentration in the liquid, and Reynolds number. The mathematical model was developed by cross validation. It was shown that when the concentration of sand in the liquid was increased by 1.0 g∙L−1, the coefficient of minor head loss through the elbows increased, in the Reynolds number range of 4.6 × 104–2.1 × 105, by 0.3–0.01% for PP63, 0.6–0.03% for PP75, 1.1–0.06% for PP90, 0.8−0.01% for PVC63, 0.8–0.02% for PVC75, and 0.9–0.04% for PVC90. An increase in Re from 5 × 104 to 2 × 106 for elbows with diameters of 63, 75 and 90 mm caused a 7.3%, 6.8%, and 6.0% decrease in the minor head loss coefficient, respectively.