The 21st International Hydrotransport Conference

was held May 3rd-5th, 2023, in
Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.

Letter from the IHA President

Hello 2023 IHA Conference community,

Thank you all for your participation and contribution to the 21st International Hydrotransport Conference in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, back in 2023. The International Hydrotransport Association (IHA) was proud and privileged to continue the long tradition of bringing together the experience, expertise, and vision that drive the technological advancements that we all benefit from.

Every participant helped make this event a success, which surpassed even our own expectations. With more than 100 participants from more than 10 countries, representing over 40 companies, there was no shortage of discussions, opportunities and connections.

While there were many highlights for me personally and professionally, there are two I want to mention. I was impressed with the quality of the technical presentations and as well, I was warmed by the camaraderie we shared throughout the event but especially at the Gala Dinner. I was grateful to see old friends and find new ones.

The Covid hiatus only proved the importance and value of this conference. In 2023, we saw how vital it was to be able to engage and share – from mining and engineering companies to researchers and equipment vendors. This event has been, and will continue to be, the opportunity to look beyond our own work, learn about new possibilities and come together to collaborate and grow.

I want to also thank our incredible exhibitors and sponsors for their generosity and support.

Thank you all!

I look forward to seeing you all in Prague!

Sean

R. Sean Sanders, PhD, PEng – IHA President
Professor & Senior Engineering Research Chair in Pipeline Transport Processes
Dept. of Chemical & Materials Engineering
University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada

The 21st International Conference on Hydrotransport

The International HYDROTRANSPORT Conference series is unique in its long-standing history of bringing together operators, designers and researchers to discuss important themes related to the transport and handling of solid-liquid mixtures. The Conference has been the showcase for many innovations in the application of hydrotransport technology.

The 21st International Conference on Hydrotransport focused heavily on many of the most important applications, including:

Water usage, and environmental implications of mining, mineral processing, oil and gas production and pipeline integrity.
The use of alternative sources of energy to supplant, or at least complement, the use of hydrocarbon resources.
Development and testing of new materials that provide improved resistance to wear and corrosion.
Advancing and deploying powerful computational models.

Event Images

Cheers, Allan Thomas!

The 21st International Hydrotransport Conference (2023) honours long time attendee and friend, Allan Thomas.

Allan sang Australia’s unofficial anthem at the first Hydrotransport Conference he attended in 1973 and gifted us with the same song in 2017, in Melbourne.

After decades of attending the conference, he was unable to attend in 2023.

So, we decided we’d sing it to him…

IHA 2023 Conference Program

Day 1 - Wed 03 May

Morning Session

(click image to enlarge)

Afternoon Session

(click image to enlarge)

Day 2 - Thurs 04 May

Morning Session

(click image to enlarge)

Afternoon Session

(click image to enlarge)

Day 3 - Fri 05 May

Morning Session

(click image to enlarge)

Afternoon Session

(click image to enlarge)

IHA 2023 Abstracts & Presentations

Click the button below the table to download one or more IHA 2023 abstracts or presentations.

Downloads require passwords that have been sent to past attendees. If you no longer have access to your password, please email us at info@iha-hydrotransport-conference.com.

Title	Presenter
Testing of a Vented Froth Pump Design Using a Simulated Mineral Slurry	Robert Visintainer
Reducing Wear and Energy Intensity by Reducing Design Conservatism and Allowing Operation with Stationary Deposits	Kevin Reid
Application of Slurry Pipeline Technology for Frac Sand Transport and Distribution	Lucas Weidner
Using Rotational Viscometer Tests to Predict Pipe Flow of Slurries	Lionel Pullum (for Allan Thomas)
Quantitative Concentration Measurement of Settled and Non-settled Suspensions Using Electrical Resistance Tomography	Enzu Zheng
Advanced Tomography Measurements in Slurry Flow Pipelines	Reza Hashemi
A CFD Approach to Investigate Particle Deposition in a Turbulent Boundary Layer	Jean-Sébastien Kroll-Rabotin
Application of a Population Balance Model to Slurry Flocculation	Sean Delfel
On Effects of Solids Grading on Bed (Interfacial) Friction: Comparison for Unimodal Solids and Bimodal Solids in Laboratory Flume	Vaclav Matousek
Development of a solid particle wear model for industrial slurry pipelines	Oluwaseun Adedeji
Hydrodynamic Validation of Slurrywearism™ - A Dense Slurry Wear Model	Martin Huard
Effect of Finite Reynolds Number on Aggregate Evolution in Shear Flows	Akash Saxena
Fluid Transients in Pumped Paste Backfill Systems	Justin Jacobs
Control of the World's Longest Slurry Pipeline	George Shu
Positive Displacement Pump-Based Hydraulic Ore Hoisting System	Ralph van Rijswick
Line Packing in a Tight-Lined Positive Displacement Pump System	Joel Petraglia
Bed Pattern Initiation in Non-Newtonian Laminar Deposition Flow	Arno Talmon
Laminar Pipeline Flow of Settling Slurries with a Yield Stress	Ryan Spelay
Enhanced Solids Suspension in Coarse Particle Transport Using Weakly Non-Newtonian Carrier Fluids	Lionel Pullum
Modeling of Fluid Fine Tailings Withdrawal from a Tailings Pond	Clara Gomez
Development of a Prototype Autonomous Rheometer for Optimized Tailings Thickeners Operation	Arno Talmon
Inclined Slurry Pipelines: Solids Deposition at Shutdowns, Pipe Blockages and Restart	Behnam Pirouz
Laboratory Testing of Sliding Friction Reduction in Pipelines	Vaclav Matousek
A New Multispecies Model for Coarse Particle Slurry Flows	Ryan Spelay
Mixing Tank Testing for Oil Sand Conditioning	Jason Schaan
Numerical Studies of Emulsions: What Can We Learn?	Alexandra Komrakova
Material Solutions for Oil Sands Dense Slurry Pipelines	Martin Huard

Keynote Speakers

Hydrotransport Career Excellence Award

KEYNOTE LECTURE

Randall G. Gillies, D.Sc., Ph.D., P.Eng.

Distinguished Engineer Emeritus
Saskatchewan Research Council, Pipe Flow Technology Centre
Saskatoon SK, CANADA

Randall G. Gillies is a professional engineer in the province of Saskatchewan. He holds a Ph.D. and a D.Sc., both from the University of Saskatchewan. He worked at the Saskatchewan Research Council from 1975 to 2013 where the transport of mixtures in pipelines was his primary area of focus. Post-retirement, he has maintained an interest in the area and has worked on a part-time basis developing improved mechanistic models for slurry flows.

About the HYDROTRANSPORT Career Excellence Award: This award is given in recognition of a sustained career excellence. It is intended to provide recognition of outstanding and original contributions to the development, implementation, improvement, and/or understanding of hydrotransport-related technology, as well as long-term service to, and leadership within, the hydrotransport community at large.

Hydrotransport Next Generation Award

KEYNOTE LECTURE

Matt Treinen, PE, PhD

Principal Engineer, Tailings Process Optimization Technical Services
Newmont Gold
Denver CO, USA

Matt has broad technical expertise in slurry pipeline hydraulics, open channel flow, rheological characterization, and coarse particle migration through non-Newtonian flows. With Paterson & Cooke for fourteen years, he led numerous studies and projects from concept to commissioning across various tailings applications, concentrate pipelines, paste backfill systems, and tailings dewatering plants. He currently provides subject matter expertise in tailings transport and dewatering across Newmont’s global operations. Matt holds a BSc (Mechanical Engineering) from the University of Denver and MSc and PhD degrees in Civil Engineering from the University of Colorado.

About the HYDROTRANSPORT Next Generation Award: This award recognizes significant scientific/engineering accomplishments in a subject area related to hydrotransport, made by a researcher younger than 40 years of age at the date the nomination was received by the IHA Awards Committee.

KEYNOTE LECTURE

John Thomas, MBA, PhD

Application Engineer
M-Star CFD
Ellicott City, Maryland, USA

John Thomas is a founding partner at M-Star CFD. His interests include GPU-based computing, multi-physics modeling, process simulation, and fluid mixing process. He publishes actively within the field. Outside of M-Star CFD, he is a Research Professor at Johns Hopkins University, where he teaches courses in multiscale mathematical modeling and transport physics. He has MS/PhD degrees in Mechanical Engineering from Carnegie Mellon, a BS degree in the same field from Penn State, and an MBA from Georgetown.