Paper 31: Capsule-Pipeline Flow—A Theoretical Study

Abstract

Theoretical predictions of the behaviour of various parameters governing the free flow of a single, very long, denser-than-liquid carrier, cylindrical capsule in a horizontal pipeline are reported in this paper. The study was carried out for average flow velocities of approximately 1–10 ft/s in pipes of diameters 4, 6, 12, and 24 in with diameter ratios varying from 0·9 to 0·99. While two liquid carriers—water and an oil (μ = 10 cP and sp. gr. = 0·85)—were used, the eccentricity of the capsule-pipe system was fixed at 0·999. The theoretical solution was found to be in good agreement with the experimental results.