Capsule Separation by Linear Induction Motor in Pneumatic Capsule Pipeline Freight Transport System

In order to advance the state-of-the-art in pneumatic capsule pipeline (PCP) underground freight transportation science, this paper examines the problem of separating capsules that may naturally form into trains as they travel through the pipeline. Such separation of capsules is necessary when the capsule trains approach branching points in the system. The analysis is performed for the simplified case of a train consisting of two capsules in a typical $1.0{\text{-m}}^2$ cross section PCP. The capsules enter and traverse a multisegmented linear induction motor (MSLIM) that is to be used to separate them prior to reaching the branching point. Separation distances and times have to be large enough to allow a switching operation to be performed on the first capsule before the second capsule arrives at the switching point. Results of the analysis show how the first capsule will accelerate and how the second capsule will decelerate, thus causing separation. The results also show that reasonable capsule-separation distances and times can be achieved in reasonable amounts of time with reasonable lengths of MSLIM.