Empirical Model for Predicting the Rheological Properties of Carbonated Slime Pulps

The transport of carbonated slime pulps in pipelines is important for the acid lixiviation process that has developed in the nickel extraction industry in the eastern region of Cuba. This substance is a suspension of fine particles that behaves as a viscoplastic fluid. To address the lack of research conducted on carbonated slime pulps, we carried out an experimental investigation of the rheological properties of this substance over varied operational conditions. As the shear rates involved in the experiments covered more than two orders of magnitude, we fitted the flow curves to the Herschel–Bulkley model, which has been used in the past to model different suspensions. Through data analysis, we observed a transition in rheological behavior at a solid particle concentration of about 30%. Based on the trend of the flow curves, we built an empirical model to predict the rheological properties of slime pulps. In this model, the flow properties of the substance depend on the concentration of solid particles, the pH and the polydispersity index. Our empirical model exhibits high accuracy in predicting the flow properties of carbonated slime pulps. The results can be used to improve the efficiency of industrial processes involving these mineral suspensions.