Bernoulli Loops
&
UltraHyperloop Systems
The following has a Patent Pending Status.
It is possible, and even preferred, to operate low pressure hyperloop-type transit tube corridors with open seamless-entry/exit to the surroundings. This will reduce the timeline for the practical implementation of hyperloop-type systems from decades to a few years and will allow seamless connectivity to transit outside the tubes.
The fact is that travel time and costs to/from the airliner door often exceeds the flight times. This will be true for hyperloop-type systems. The answer is the seamless entry and exit of vehicles into hyperloop-type corridors. And, tunnel corridors can be added after lower-cost initial transit systems (e.g., Terretrans zipline-type guideway systems) establish the market and high capacity warranting a hyperloop-type corridor.
YES, it is viable to drive a car from your house, into a hyperloop tube, and travel at hundreds of miles per hour at low energy costs that can be powered by renewable energy like solar or wind power.
The question then emerges as to the benefits of transit in a low-pressure tunnel such as hyperloop concepts. While, the low pressure in the tunnel creates aerodynamic lift, there is a limit to how low pressure can be reduced in the tunnel; but the impact of pressure can be much less than typically suggested. In the limit of hyperloop-type systems using magnetic levitation (“maglev”), there is drag associated with electromagnetic forces including Eddy current drag. For maglev lift, design details may make electromagnetic drag more or less than aerodynamic drag.
In advanced maglev concepts, part of the propulsion is provided by linear motors which provide both lift and thrust; in these approaches; energy transfer may also occur through non-contact induction methods coupled with the propulsion forces. For these advanced designs, the system optimization includes optimizing parameters of tube operating pressure, linear motor versus Source thrust, linear motor versus Source lift, stored energy versus energy transferred through the motor, gas flow velocities in the tubes, and the optional approach of being able to transfer a vehicle from tunnel transit to zipline transit. For the latter option, the zipline is the linear motor. The takeaway is that tube operating pressure is a key parameter to be determined by multi-variable optimization specific to a system and can impact safety and compatibility with continuity of vehicle transit to and from tunnel transit. However, system pressure has a significant impact on efficiency in tunnel systems—contrary to earlier discussion on airframes. More specifically, system pressure impacts the shear drag of flow along the sides of tunnels—drag contributions can be larger for air flow along the tunnel than around the vehicles.
When a tunnel is operating under higher velocity, it is possible to use “Bernoulli Loops” to introduce vehicles to and from the tunnels. The smooth transition of a zipline linear motor guideway to and from a tunnel can be smooth and sustainable. Such tubes would only be economically viable at high-traffic corridors, but they would introduce a new level of speed and efficiency that would surpass any contemporary transit system.
The following three principals identify how to make Bernoulli loops allow open tunnel access at low energy costs:
The Bernoulli Loop systems may be supplemented with doors that close off the entrances, vehicles specifically intended to control pressures that are circulated in the entrance and exit corridors to achieve this, and vehicles that recover energy from higher pressure air pushing the vehicles into the lower pressure regions.
Posted August 2, 2023, after filing of patent application.
It is possible, and even preferred, to operate low pressure hyperloop-type transit tube corridors with open seamless-entry/exit to the surroundings. This will reduce the timeline for the practical implementation of hyperloop-type systems from decades to a few years and will allow seamless connectivity to transit outside the tubes.
The fact is that travel time and costs to/from the airliner door often exceeds the flight times. This will be true for hyperloop-type systems. The answer is the seamless entry and exit of vehicles into hyperloop-type corridors. And, tunnel corridors can be added after lower-cost initial transit systems (e.g., Terretrans zipline-type guideway systems) establish the market and high capacity warranting a hyperloop-type corridor.
YES, it is viable to drive a car from your house, into a hyperloop tube, and travel at hundreds of miles per hour at low energy costs that can be powered by renewable energy like solar or wind power.
The question then emerges as to the benefits of transit in a low-pressure tunnel such as hyperloop concepts. While, the low pressure in the tunnel creates aerodynamic lift, there is a limit to how low pressure can be reduced in the tunnel; but the impact of pressure can be much less than typically suggested. In the limit of hyperloop-type systems using magnetic levitation (“maglev”), there is drag associated with electromagnetic forces including Eddy current drag. For maglev lift, design details may make electromagnetic drag more or less than aerodynamic drag.
In advanced maglev concepts, part of the propulsion is provided by linear motors which provide both lift and thrust; in these approaches; energy transfer may also occur through non-contact induction methods coupled with the propulsion forces. For these advanced designs, the system optimization includes optimizing parameters of tube operating pressure, linear motor versus Source thrust, linear motor versus Source lift, stored energy versus energy transferred through the motor, gas flow velocities in the tubes, and the optional approach of being able to transfer a vehicle from tunnel transit to zipline transit. For the latter option, the zipline is the linear motor. The takeaway is that tube operating pressure is a key parameter to be determined by multi-variable optimization specific to a system and can impact safety and compatibility with continuity of vehicle transit to and from tunnel transit. However, system pressure has a significant impact on efficiency in tunnel systems—contrary to earlier discussion on airframes. More specifically, system pressure impacts the shear drag of flow along the sides of tunnels—drag contributions can be larger for air flow along the tunnel than around the vehicles.
When a tunnel is operating under higher velocity, it is possible to use “Bernoulli Loops” to introduce vehicles to and from the tunnels. The smooth transition of a zipline linear motor guideway to and from a tunnel can be smooth and sustainable. Such tubes would only be economically viable at high-traffic corridors, but they would introduce a new level of speed and efficiency that would surpass any contemporary transit system.
The following three principals identify how to make Bernoulli loops allow open tunnel access at low energy costs:
- Long (e.g., 1 to 10 miles) entrance and exit corridors decrease the ΔP/ΔL driving force for air flow into or out of low-pressure tunnels—long entrances and exits alone decrease air loss from an open entrance.
- The driving force for Bernoulli Loop flow from entrance to exit tubes having similar P at the same location is u2/ρ (ρ is air’s density). This driving force is the difference between the upper and lower lines of the graph of Figure 7 and is a “dynamic pressure” driving force. The Figure 7 is basically a counter-current mass transfer operation that greatly reduces or eliminates loss of pressure from the low-pressure tubes.
- The Bernoulli loops do not defy thermodynamics; the energy for maintaining the pressure comes from the velocities of the vehicles. Steady state operation is possible where the steady-state pressure depends on the traffic. Pressure causes entering vehicles to accelerate and exiting vehicles to decelerate—net energy for Bernoulli loop operation is the difference between actual vehicle acceleration (or deceleration) and realized vehicle acceleration (or deceleration). The ultimate source of the energy is the energy used to maintain the speed of the vehicles.
The Bernoulli Loop systems may be supplemented with doors that close off the entrances, vehicles specifically intended to control pressures that are circulated in the entrance and exit corridors to achieve this, and vehicles that recover energy from higher pressure air pushing the vehicles into the lower pressure regions.
Posted August 2, 2023, after filing of patent application.