Evacuated Tube Transport is a form of transportation without air resistance and friction. The technical principle is to build a closed pipeline on the ground or underground and use a vacuum pump to create a vacuum or partial vacuum. When a vehicle is driven in such an environment (not necessarily a maglev train), the driving resistance will be greatly reduced, which can effectively reduce energy consumption. At the same time, the aerodynamic noise can also be greatly reduced, complying with environmental protection requirements.
When German engineer Hermann Kemper proposed the concept of maglev train in 1922, he also proposed the idea of ??vacuum pipeline.
The brand name "vacuum pipeline transportation" was proposed by mechanical engineer Daryl Oster in the 1990s and patented in 1997. Since then, he has been trying to find investors to help him build the transportation system.
Shen Zhiyun, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Chinese Academy of Engineering and a member of the State Key Laboratory of Traction Power of Southwest Jiaotong University, said that vacuum pipeline transportation is currently only in the theoretical research stage, with only some design plans and no substantial implementation worldwide. technology research.