Computational Fluid Dynamics based Flow Diagnostics in Hydraulic Capsule Pipeline Bends

Hydraulic Capsule Pipelines (HCPs) are the third generation of pipelines that are based on the transport of hollow spherical, or cylindrical, capsules by the force exerted on them from the carrier fluid, which is water. These hollow capsules can be filled with a variety of cargo goods, such as minerals, jewellery etc. The hydrodynamics of this transport phenomena is quite complex, and researchers around the globe have been trying to analyse the hydrodynamics of such systems. However, most of these studies are based on experimental investigations, which can provide reasonably accurate results for the pressure drop etc. across the pipeline. However, the flow structure within HCPs cannot be easily mapped using experimental facilities. Furthermore, in case of pipe bends, the difficulty level increases exponentially due to a constant curvature in the geometry of the pipeline, and hence mounting the flow measuring instruments can be very challenging. The present study makes use of the advanced Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) based solvers, with powerful computing services, in order to analyse the flow structure within HCP bends. It is expected that this information can provide valuable information to the HCP designers, not only to calculate pressure drop across HCP bends, but in order to select the correct size etc. bends for the pipeline.