Rheological behavior of fly ash suspension with additive for hydraulic conveyance

In the present work, rheological behaviour of a fine particulate fly ash slurry suspension is studied with and without addition of an additive. Rheological experiments are performed for the range of shear rate from 50 to 200 s1.Sodium sulfate is used as an additive in the fraction of 0.2, 0.4 and 0.6% (by weight). Addition of sodium sulfate to the fly ash slurry suspension leads to an improvement of its rheological characteristics. A reduction in relative viscosity and pressure drop is more pronounced with the addition of sodium sulfate in proportion of 0.4%, while marginal with 0.2 and 0.6% (by weight). The analysis reveals that the fly ash suspension has a potential to for being transported in a slurry pipeline with higher concentration and minimum energy consumption.