A vertical capsule pipeline is developed to transport such materials as soil in a shield shaft and in a large-scale construction site of deep underground, and as goods in an underground storage system of toxic wastes. Conventional mechanical lifting system that consists of a bucket and wire becomes expensive, heavy and difficult to operate when the depth is increased, while the pneumatic capsule pipeline is simple, safe and easy to construct a large and high-speed system. To demonstrate the possibility of pneumatic capsule pipeline and to gain the design data, two pilot plants were constructed. The longer system consists of a capsule of 0.35 m3 in volume, a vertical pipeline 25 m in height with an inside diameter of 800 mm that guides and transports the capsule and. the capsule handling apparatus both at the loading and unloading sides. The capsule is lifted by air in vacuum system that is produced by a blower of 90 kW and the capsule rising velocity is about 3 m/s when the capsule total mass is about 800 kg. When the capsule is lowered, a smooth operation is executed so as to keep the capsule velocity approximately constant by extracting air behind the capsule, the capsule velocity being about 1 m/s. A braking system using air pressure is used at both sides of the pipeline controls the capsule smoothly. To obtain design data of airflow that controls the capsule motion in the system, the capsule pipeline system was numerically simulated and the pilot plant tests proved the simulation. Finally this system was applied to the vertical 33-meter transportation of soil in underground tunneling. This system for commercial use is 1 m in diameter and transports 30 m3 of soil every hour.
Development of vertical pneumatic capsule pipeline for deep underground
Entwicklung eines vertikalen Rohrpostsystems für den tiefen Undergrund
2002
15 Seiten, 12 Bilder, 3 Tabellen, 5 Quellen
Conference paper
English
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