Can UHMWPE Pipes Handle High Abrasive Mining Slurry?
Firstly, for this question, we will need to understand the concept High Abrasive, and which factors that lead to high abrasive of mining slurries.
Firstly, for this question, we will need to understand the concept High Abrasive, and which factors that lead to high abrasive of mining slurries. 
Mining slurries can be highly abrasive, depending on several key factors:
Particle Composition
Hardness: If the slurry contains hard minerals like quartz, garnet, or iron ore, it's much more abrasive.
Size and shape: Larger, angular particles cause more wear than smaller, rounded ones.
Typical particle size ranges in mining slurries:
| Particle size range | classification | Behavior in slurry | Example applications |
| <1 µm | Colloidal | Stays suspended; hard to settle | Tailings, clay-rich slurries |
| 1–10 µm | Fine silt/clay | Slow settling; high viscosity | Coal slurry, bauxite |
| 10–75 µm | Silt | Settles under gravity; moderate abrasion | Iron ore, copper concentrate |
| 75–250 µm | Fine sand | Fast settling; high abrasion | Mineral sands, silica |
| 250–1000 µm | Medium-coarse sand | Rapid settling; very abrasive | Coarse tailings, phosphate slurry |
| >1 mm | Gravel/pebbles | Requires high flow velocity to suspend | Heap leach feeds, dredge slurries |
Example Particle Size Distribution (PSD) data from mining tailings:
(figure available from : Environmental Science and Pollution Research)
Slurry Particle Hardness & Abrasiveness Comparison:
| Particle Type | Mohs Hardness | Typical Shapes | Relative Abrasiveness |
| Quartz(Silica) | 7 | Angular | High |
| Hematite(Iron Ore) | 5.5-6.5 | Irregular | Moderate |
| Magnetite | 5.5-6.5 | Rounded | Moderate |
| Limestone | 3-4 | Rounded | Moderate |
| Coal Dust | 1-2 | Flaky | Very low |
| Zircon Sand | 7.5 | Angular | High |
| Titanium Carbide | 9-9.5 | Angular | Very High |
Note: The relative abrasiveness is a general indication and can vary based on specific conditions such as slurry velocity and concentration.
Concentration
High solids concentration increases contact between particles and equipment surfaces, accelerating wear.
Velocity
Fast-moving slurries can cause erosive-wear on pipelines, pumps, and valves.Usually slurry has the most high velocity at areas near slurry pumps, in real application, we will suggest UHMWPE pipe or UHMWPE liner application away from this area, because the high velocity lead to high erosive-wear to UHMWPE pipe or UHMWPE liner. Compared to rubber liner or PU liner, or Ceramic liner, UHMWPE liner or UHMWPE pipe shows a poor performance at erosive-wear due to lack of impact absorb capacity of UHMWPE materials.
pH and Chemistry
Highly acidic or basic slurries can chemically degrade materials in addition to mechanical abrasion. This is what we call corrosion wear. UHMWPE liner or UHMWPE pipes performs super excellent at corrosive wear when transport mining slurries, out performs than rubber liner, PU liner, HDPE liner.
Flow Regime
Turbulent flow (vs. laminar) stirs up particles and drives them into surfaces more aggressively.
| Regime | Description | Velocity Range | Risk | Best for |
| Stratified flow | Solids settle at the bottom; clear fluid on top. High friction losses. | Low (<1–2 m/s) | blockages | Not recommended |
| Heterogeneous Flow | Partial suspension; coarse particles saltate (bounce) along the pipe bottom. | 1.5–3 m/s | Moderate wear | Short distances |
| Pseudo-Homogeneous Flow | Fine particles stay suspended; coarse particles move near the bottom. | 2–4 m/s | Low risk | Most tailings |
| Homogeneous Flow | Fully suspended solids (like a gel). Requires high fines content | >3–5 m/s | High energy cost | Ultra-fine slurries |
Critical Velocity (Vₑₗₘ) for Long-Distance Pipelines
Minimum Velocity (Vₘᵢₙ): Prevents settling (typically 1.5–3 m/s).
Deposition Velocity (Vₑₗₘ): Speed at which particles start settling (calculated via Durand-Worster or Wasp models).
Optimal Velocity: 2.5–4 m/s (balances wear and stability).
Industry Examples:
| Pipeline | Distance | Slurry type | Flow regime | velocity |
| Escondida(Chile) | 170 km | Copper tailings | Pseudo-homogeneous | 3.5m/s |
| Oil Sands(Canada) | 50 km | Bitumen slurry | Heterogeneous | 2 m/s |
| Iron Ore (Brazil) | 400 km | Iron concentrate | Homogeneous | 4 m/s |
Wear patterns in long-distance pipelines:
| Location | Wear mechanism | solution |
| Pipe bottom | Abrasion from coarse particles | Rotating pipes or thicker liners |
| Bends & Elbows | Turbulence-induced erosion | Ceramic-lined bends |
| Pump impellers | High-speed particle impact | High-chrome iron |
With the above information in mind, when we make a preliminary evaluation to whether UHMWPE can handle high abrasive mining slurry, we check the following aspects:
Particle size: large particle can cause more impact wear. In real application, UHMWPE pipes or uhmwpe liner are used at applications when particle size is smaller than 1mm.
Particle shape: Angular particles tend to be more abrasive than rounded ones. Angular particles like quartz increase the erosive wear to UHMWPE pipes or uhmwpe liner. Usually, UHMWPE pipes or uhmwpe liners at Iron ore tailings application with shorter wear service life than that in Copper mine tailings.
Density and velocity: denser particles have higher momentum at a given velocity, potentially increase abrasive effect. When velocity is above than 5m/s, we will need to further check if this pipeline area is suffer from slack flow.