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A slurry composed of glass beads in silicone oil flowing down an inclined plane.

A slurry is, in general, a thick suspension of solids in a liquid.

[edit] Examples of slurries

Examples of slurries include:

A mixture of water and cement to form concrete
A mixture of water, gelling agent, and oxidizers used as an explosive
A mixture of water and bentonite used to make slurry walls
A mixture of wood pulp and water used to make paper
A mixture of water and animal waste used as fertilizer
Meat slurry, a food product
An abrasive substance used in chemical-mechanical polishing, a semiconductor manufacturing process
A mixture of ice crystals, water and freezing point depressant, called slurry ice
A wet-process cement rawmix
A mixture of water, ceramic powder and various additives (e.g., dispersant) used in the processing of ceramics.
A mixture of water and a starch (normally corn starch) used to thicken liquids to make a culinary sauce; usually for a clear sauce, as the product will be translucent. It is comparable to and often the same as a gravy.

[edit] Slurry calculations

[edit] Determining solids fraction

To determine the percent solids (or solids fraction) of a slurry from the density of the slurry, solids and liquid^[1]

$\phi_{sl}=\frac{\rho_{s}(\rho_{sl} - \rho_{l})}{\rho_{sl}(\rho_{s} - \rho_{l})}$

where

φ s l

is the solids fraction of the slurry

ρ s

is the solids density

ρ s l

is the slurry density

ρ l

is the liquid density

In aqueous slurries, as is common in mineral processing, the specific gravity of the species is typically used, and since $S G w a t e r$ is taken to be 1, this relation is typically written:

$\phi_{sl}=\frac{\rho_{s}(\rho_{sl} - 1)}{\rho_{sl}(\rho_{s} - 1)}$

even though specific gravity with units tons/m^3 is used instead of the SI density unit, kg/m^3.

[edit] Liquid mass from mass fraction of solids

To determine the mass of liquid in a sample given the mass of solids and the mass fraction: By definition

$\phi_{sl}=\frac{M_{s}}{M_{sl}}$

therefore

$M_{sl}=\frac{M_{s}}{\phi_{sl}}$

and

$M_{s}+M_{l}=\frac{M_{s}}{\phi_{sl}}$

then

$M_{l}=\frac{M_{s}}{\phi_{sl}}-M_{s}$

and therefore

$M_{l}=\frac{1-\phi_{sl}}{\phi_{sl}}M_{s}$

where

φ s l

is the solids fraction of the slurry

M s

is the mass or mass flow of solids in the sample or stream

M s l

is the mass or mass flow of slurry in the sample or stream

M l

is the mass or mass flow of liquid in the sample or stream

[edit] Volumetric fraction from mass fraction

$\phi_{sl,m}=\frac{M_{s}}{M_{sl}}$

Equivalently

$\phi_{sl,v}=\frac{V_{s}}{V_{sl}}$

and in a minerals processing context where the specific gravity of the liquid (water) is taken to be one:

$\phi_{sl,v}=\frac{\frac{M_{s}}{SG_{s}}}{\frac{M_{s}}{SG_{s}}+\frac{M_{l}}{1}}$

So

$\phi_{sl,v}=\frac{M_{s}}{M_{s}+M_{l}SG_{s}}$

and

$\phi_{sl,v}=\frac{1}{1+\frac{M_{l}SG_{s}}{M_{s}}}$

Then combining with the first equation:

$\phi_{sl,v}=\frac{1}{1+\frac{M_{l}SG_{s}}{\phi_{sl,m}M_{s}}\frac{M_{s}}{M_{s}+M_{l}}}$

So

$\phi_{sl,v}=\frac{1}{1+\frac{SG_{s}}{\phi_{sl,m}}\frac{M_{l}}{M_{s}+M_{l}}}$

Then since

$\phi_{sl,m}=\frac{M_{s}}{M_{s}+M_{l}}=1-\frac{M_{l}}{M_{s}+M_{l}}$

we conclude that

$\phi_{sl,v}=\frac{1}{1+SG_{s}(\frac{1}{\phi_{sl,m}}-1)}$

where

φ s l, v

is the solids fraction of the slurry on a volumetric basis

φ s l, m

is the solids fraction of the slurry on a mass basis

M s

is the mass or mass flow of solids in the sample or stream

M s l

is the mass or mass flow of slurry in the sample or stream

M l

is the mass or mass flow of liquid in the sample or stream

S G s

is the bulk specific gravity of the solids

[edit] See also

Look up slurry in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

[edit] References

^ Wills, B.A. and Napier-Munn, T.J, Wills' Mineral Processing Technology: an introduction to the practical aspects of ore treatment and mineral recovery, ISBN 978-0-7506-4450-1, Seventh Edition (2006), Elsevier, Great Britain

[0] Wills, B.A. and Napier-Munn, T.J, Wills' Mineral Processing Technology: an introduction to the practical aspects of ore treatment and mineral recovery, ISBN 978-0-7506-4450-1, Seventh Edition (2006), Elsevier, Great Britain

[1]

Contents

[edit] Examples of slurries

[edit] Slurry calculations

[edit] Determining solids fraction

[edit] Liquid mass from mass fraction of solids

[edit] Volumetric fraction from mass fraction

[edit] See also

[edit] References