Courtesy: Minhaz-Ul-Karim Asif, Batch-201, Dept. of EEE, Green University of Bangladesh.
Have you ever thought about going from Dhaka to Chittagong within 30 minutes without facing any difficulty? It seems
nearly impossible. But Hyperloop is here to give you that thought in your
mind and taking the future into reality. The future of transportation
‘Hyperloop’ is becoming real.
Hyperloop is a super speed ground-level transportation system
in which people could travel in a hovering pod inside a vacuum tube at speeds
as high as 760 mph (1220 km/h), just shy of the speed of sound.
The Hyperloop concept has its
roots in a concept invented by George Medhurst in 1799 and subsequently
developed under the names pneumatic railway, atmospheric railway or vactrain. Elon Musk mentioned the
Hyperloop in 2012, bringing it back to public attention.
It has three major components:
1)
A tube 2) Pod 3)Terminal. The tube is a large sealed,
low-pressure
system that can be constructed above or below ground. A coach runs inside this
controlled environment and is often referred to as a pod. The pod employs magnetic or
aerodynamic levitation (using air-bearing skis)along with electromagnetic or
aerodynamic propulsion to glide along a fixed guideway.
Motor: A modular array of 4
propulsion engines flank each side of vehicle and support cruise velocities
near 1,000 km/h in under 5 minutes. The motor has a 50% better power factor, and 50% more compact. It can reach speeds 2-3 times faster than competing
system.
Vacuum: In the pod, the air
pressure is reduced to the equivalent of 200,000 ft. above the sea level. The bear vacuum lowers
aerodynamic drag significantly, allowing for higher speeds to be achieved while
using minimal energy.
Magnetic Levitation:
It levitates from the top using an attractive electromagnetic force,
powered by onboard batteries. This levitation system is over 8 times more efficient
compared to the world’s fastest maglev train in operation today and enables
high speed switching with no moving track
Guidance: Magnets on the vehicle lift the vehicle to the passive track, while guidance engines provide active guidance forces.
Let’s have a look at route estimator how much time will need to travel from Dhaka to Chittagong with ‘Hyperloop’ –
Many companies are working on Hyperloop
Project but among them Richard Branson's Virgin Group is taking the lead of
this part. ‘Virgin
Hyperloop’ has made some significant progress to this project including first
passenger travel test.
World’s first Hyperloop
Passenger Test:
The first passenger test on
Hyperloop was conducted safely on November 8, 2020 making a history in the
field of future transportation.
What makes Hyperloop
different?
There are two big differences
between Hyperloop and traditional rail. Firstly, the pods carrying
passengers travel through tubes or tunnels from which most of the air has been
removed to reduce friction. This should allow the pods to travel at up to 750 miles
per hour.
Secondly, rather than using
wheels like a train or car, the pods are designed to float on air skis, using
the same basic idea as an air hockey table, or use magnetic levitation to
reduce friction.
What will it feel like to
travel in a Hyperloop?
Critics of Hyperloop have warned
that travelling in the tube might be an uncomfortable experience, due to nausea-inducing acceleration, plus
lateral G-force
on bends in the route. However, Virgin Hyperloop One says that a journey via
Hyperloop will feel about the same as riding in an elevator or a passenger
plane.
Though it is exciting for us to
have such a fast transportation system in future, but the cost is also a thing
that we need to look at. Dubai, Abu Dhabi,
India, Mexico City are interested to make an implementation of Hyperloop
Technology. The
project has heavy cost and in order to make this project real, a good amount of
lands, securities and other factors are need to look at. But, we can say that, this
will surely change the field of transportation in future that no one ever
thought.
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