SSL Flow Rates

(SSL Module Only) When specifying or referring to slurry flow rate, three different meanings of flow rate are possible and two are commonly used. The definitions for flow rate are as follows:

• Slurry - Combined flow rate of the fluid and solids. This is the most common flow rate definition.

• Solids - Flow rate of just the solids in the slurry. This is often used because the purpose of the slurry is frequently to convey solids and this flowrate is of the greatest importance to the engineer.

• Clear Liquid - Flow rate of the carrier fluid. This is not commonly used.

The three flow rate definitions are of course interrelated. The slurry flow rate is the sum of the other two. As shown in the slurry output section, all three flow rates can be displayed in the Output window.

The three flow rate definitions can be specified in three places in AFT Fathom. Two are on the Pump Properties Window and one is on the Assigned Flow Properties window.

An example of one of the three locations is shown in Figure 1 in the Pump Properties Window. When the SSL module is in use there is a dropdown list adjacent to the flowrate specification fields (as shown in Figure 1) that allows one to choose one of the three. The default selection is the flow rate of slurry.

Note that anywhere in AFT Fathom that specifies or displays flow rate information and does not offer the qualifier of slurry/solids/clear liquid, the flow rate of slurry is assumed.