Abstract:Purpose: Taking the tailings discharged from a tin ore beneficiation plant in Yunnan as the object, this study analyzes the influencing factors of tailings slurry pipeline transportation mode and sand transportation efficiency through experimental research and numerical simulation. Method: The distribution pattern of tailings gradation was measured through water screen test, and the rheological characteristics of slurry were measured through slurry rheological test. Combined with ANSYS FLUENT, the slurry pipeline transportation model was simulated and calculated. Conclusion: By comparing and analyzing the shortcomings of Wasp et al.''s criteria, a new criterion for pipeline transportation mode based on particle size distribution was proposed. The sand transportation efficiency was calculated by combining the distribution model and rheological parameters. The absolute error between the results and the measured values was within 5%, indicating that the new criterion is reasonable. At the same time, a new model for calculating sand transportation efficiency was constructed. Significance: The research provides a new criterion for the pipeline transportation mode of tailings slurry, which can provide a certain reference value for the application of similar situations in mine tailings slurry pipeline transportation.