Pressure Drop in Capsule Transporting Pipeline Carrying Spherical Capsules

Design parameters of hydraulic pipelines in which capsules flow can be developed if pressure drops (�P/L)m are known. Designers are in need of a general correlation to calculate pressure drop. Researchers, so far, have used rather simplified empirical and semi-empirical correlations for pressure drop calculations, the range and application of which is fairly limited. A mathematical correlation developed for pressure drops in equal density spherical capsule trains is presented here. Based on Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) analysis a numerical solution has been obtained from the equations governing the turbulent flow around a concentric spherical capsule train consisting of 1–4 equal density capsules in a hydraulically smooth pipe section. The diameter of the pipe used in the analysis is 0.1m while the capsules’ diameters are in the range of 50 to 80% of the pipe diameter. The investigation was carried out in the practical range of Vb= 0.2 to 1.6 m/sec. Obtained results of pressure gradient along the pipeline in presence of capsules were compared with the existing experimental data to validate the model used. The results predicted by the model agree well with the experimental data. The computationally obtained results having a wider range have then been used to develop a rigorous model for pressure drop.