Evidence-first editorial standard
This guide separates observed facts, engineering assumptions and data that still require confirmation. It does not promise a universal service life or replace the exact product data and project specification.
A tailings line wears where the flow is disturbed, not along its whole length
Straight runs at steady velocity often last for years, while the same line loses a bend, a tee or the spool after a pump within a fraction of that time. Treating the line as one product, and lining or replacing all of it, spends money where the wear is not. The economic approach is to find the fittings that fail and protect those.
Bends, tees, reducers and the spools after pumps and valves take most of the damage
In a bend, solids are thrown against the outer radius, as described in outer-radius wear in slurry bends. Tees and reducers create turbulence and local acceleration, covered in tee and reducer wear. Downstream of a pump or a partly open valve, the flow is swirling and uneven for several diameters, which is why the spool after the slurry pump is a frequent failure point.
Low velocity is as damaging as high velocity, in a different way
When the velocity drops below what keeps solids in suspension, a sliding bed forms on the invert and wears the bottom of the pipe, as explained in slurry velocity and pipe erosion. Changes in throughput, solids concentration or grind therefore move the wear pattern; solids concentration and the Miller number from ASTM G75 help explain why a line that behaved for years begins to fail.
Each fitting has a construction that suits it
Straight runs at moderate velocity can often stay in steel, rubber-lined or HDPE pipe. Bends, tees and post-pump spools are where ceramic-lined construction earns its cost, either tile-lined or with an integral sleeve; the trade-offs with Ni-Hard and wearback designs are compared in ceramic-lined, Ni-Hard or wearback pipe, and elbows in particular in ceramic-lined elbows. The choice is made fitting by fitting, from the measured wear.
Joints and alignment decide whether a lined fitting performs
A ceramic-lined spool that is misaligned with its neighbour exposes a ceramic edge or a step in the bore, and wear starts there; see flange and bore misalignment and joint and sleeve alignment. Specify flange standard, bore, face-to-face length and joint detail with the fitting, and plan how it will be supported and handled on site, since a lined fitting is heavier than the steel part it replaces.
What to send for a quote on tailings fittings
List each fitting with its type, nominal size, radius or angle, flange or weld ends and face-to-face length; the slurry description (solids concentration, particle size, specific gravity of solids), the flow range and the operating pressure; where the current part failed and after how long; and any temperature or chemistry constraint. With that, IC PIPE lined fittings or IC CUSTOM parts can be reviewed against the duty. The approach for the full line is on our page on wear lining for slurry pipes and elbows.