Abstract
Energy shortage restricts the rapid development of the global transport industry. Trying to develop innovative modes of transport becomes an inevitable trend. Hydraulic Capsule Pipelines (HCPs) are the freight transportation modes that use a kind of fluid to push capsules filled with bulk solids materials through water-filled pipelines. HCPs not only alleviate everincreasing costs caused by energy scarcities and oil price up, but also solve issues like traffic congestion and environmental pollution. Published literature is mainly limited to numerical simulation of the unidirectional fluid-structure interaction between the capsules and the fluid inside the pipelines; furthermore, the hydraulic characteristics only involve the speed of the capsules and the pressure drop characteristics of the fluid within the pipe. This research was conducted on the following four aspects of HCPs. First, an improved cylindrical capsule called a “piped carriage” was evaluated. Second, an associated solution between the fluid domain within the pipe and the solid domain of the piped carriage was investigated numerically on the basis of the bidirectional fluid-structure interaction methods. Third, the effects of diameter ratio b (ratio of a diameter of the piped carriage De to a pipe diameter Dp, widely ranging in b=0.4~0.95) on hydraulic characteristics of transporting the piped carriage within the pipeline were extensively discussed. Finally, based on Least-Cost Principle, an optimization model of HCPs was effectively built. The results showed that the simulated results were in good agreement with the experimental results, which further indicated that it was feasible for solving the hydraulic characteristics of transporting the piped carriage by using the bidirectional fluid-structure interaction methods. The results will be of great reference value for further research on HCPs and also provide a theoretical foundation for the optimal design of HCPs.
Highlights
Hydraulic Capsule Pipelines (HCPs) have been becoming very popular in global freight transportation industries
The results showed that the simulated results were in good agreement with the experimental results, which further indicated that it was feasible for solving the hydraulic characteristics of transporting the piped carriage by using the bidirectional fluid-structure interaction methods
When the density of the cylindrical capsule was equal to that of the carrier fluid, the average speed of the cylindrical capsule was closer to the axial velocity of the fluid in the center of the pipelines with the decreasing of the diameter ratio, which resulted in an increase in the average speed coefficient of the cylindrical capsule
Summary
Hydraulic Capsule Pipelines (HCPs) have been becoming very popular in global freight transportation industries. The principle of HCPs was to use capsules to enclose and transport cargoes through a water-filled pipeline with the aid of water thrust force. The speed of the capsules that were designed to be hollow containers usually should not exceed 5 m⋅s-1, which was suitable for transporting low-speed bulk solid materials such as grains and other agricultural products, industrial building materials, and harmful household waste [2]. When compared with the slurry hydraulic pipeline, HCPs had several superiorities of not being contaminated by the carrier fluid for cargoes, not requiring mechanical equipment to separate the transported material from the fluid and not improving high power to maintain the system operating
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
