Abstract:
Slurry Erosion may be defined as the removal of material from a surface by fast moving solid particles suspended in a fluid. Various salts and mineral particles present in the fluid work as abrasives. Study of slurry erosion is important as it adversely affects the useful life and performance of the equipment handling slurries such as heat exchangers, pumps etc. Hence it is imperative to study the erosion wear characteristics of the materials of such equipment which are subjected to slurry erosion in order to improve their life and efficiency. The main objective of the present study is to find the effect of change in operating parameters on erosion wear of SS-304 sample subjected to sand-water slurry. The main operating parameters which are examined are particle
velocity and solid concentration. Experiments are conducted in eight sets with three combinations of particle velocity, solid concentration and particle size. The sample specimens are tested at two solid particle concentrations 10% and 30% with two velocities 4m/s and 5m/s at each concentration. The above experiments are conducted for two particle sizes of 655μm and 362.5μm. Each set consists of particle impact angle varying from 15° to 90° in steps of
15°. Maximum erosion wear is observed at a particular angle for each set of operating parameters. Also, the particle velocity has the predominant effect on erosion wear followed by solid concentration and particle size respectively.
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