A commercially available ASPEN PLUS simulation using a pipe model was employed to determine the maximum safe pipeline distances to subsequent booster stations as a function of carbon dioxide (CO2) inlet pressure, ambient temperature and ground level heat flux parameters under three conditions: isothermal, adiabatic and with account of heat transfer. In the paper, the CO2working area was assumed to be either in the liquid or in the supercritical state and results for these two states were compared. The following power station data were used: a 900 MW pulverized coal-fired power plant with 90% of CO2recovered (156.43 kg/s) and the monothanolamine absorption method for separating CO2from flue gases. The results show that a subcooled liquid transport maximizes energy efficiency and minimizes the cost of CO2transport over long distances under isothermal, adiabatic and heat transfer conditions. After CO2is compressed and boosted to above 9 MPa, its temperature is usually higher than ambient temperature. The thermal insulation layer slows down the CO2temperature decrease process, increasing the pressure drop in the pipeline. Therefore in Poland, considering the atmospheric conditions, the thermal insulation layer should not be laid on the external surface of the pipeline.

Three commercially available intercooled compression strategies for compressing CO2 were studied. All of the compression concepts required a final delivery pressure of 153 bar at the inlet to the pipeline. Then, simulations were used to determine the maximum safe pipeline distance to subsequent booster stations as a function of inlet pressure, environmental temperature, thickness of the thermal insulation and ground level heat flux conditions. The results show that subcooled liquid transport increases energy efficiency and minimises the cost of CO2 transport over long distances under heat transfer conditions. The study also found that the thermal insulation layer should not be laid on the external surface of the pipe in atmospheric conditions in Poland. The most important problems from the environmental protection point of view are rigorous and robust hazard identification which indirectly affects CO2 transportation. This paper analyses ways of reducing transport risk by means of safety valves.

The rheological behaviour of cemented paste backfill (CPB) has an important influence on the stability of its transportation in pipelines. In the present study, the time-dependent rheological behaviour of CPB was investigated to elucidate the effects of time and solid content. Experimental results showed that when CPB is subjected to a constant shear rate, the shear stress gradually decreases with time before finally stabilis ing. When the solid content was 60%~62%, a liquid network structure was the main factor that influenced the thixotropy of CPB, and the solid content had less influence. When the solid content was 64%~66%, a floc network structure was the main factor that influenced the thixotropy of CPB, and the solid content had a more significant influence on the thixotropy than the shear rate. The initial structural stability of CPB increased with the solid content, and this relationship can be described by a power function. Based on the experimental results, a calculation model of pipeline resistance considering thixotropy was proposed. The model was validated by using industrial experimental data. The current study can serve as a design reference for CPB pipeline transportation.

Industrial size pipe loop tests were conducted to determine the effect of paste mass concentration, cement content, conveying pipe diameter and conveying volumetric flow rate, on the pipeline pressure loss of paste slurry. The tests were conducted to determine the pressure losses in the backfill system at a Copper Mines major ore body. Results show that the pressure loss of paste slurry increases with the increase in mass concentration, and when the mass concentration exceeds 70%, the pressure loss will increase sharply and would be an exponential function of paste mass concentration; as the cement content increases, the pressure loss would decrease at first and then increase with the maximum pressure loss at 11% cement content; the pressure loss increases with the increase in conveying the volumetric flow rate accordingly, while the growth rate of pressure loss will increase after the volumetric flow rate exceeds 50 m ³/h; the pressure loss of paste slurry decreases sharply with the increase in pipe diameter, i.e., the larger pipe diameter, the smaller pressure loss; lastly, the paste conveying parameters were determined as mass concentration of lower than 70% (pressure loss: 2.55 MPa/km), cement content of 5% to 11%, inside diameter of conveying pipe of 150 mm and the maximum allowable pipeline pressure of 6 MPa.