Hyperloop
- 1. Introduction Hyper loop offers a potential revolution in transport. It could transform how we perceive distance by enablingaircraftspeedsatgroundlevel inanon-demandpoint-to-pointtransportsystem. Hyper loop refers to the concept described by Elon Musk in his paper, Hyper loop Alpha1, which is a new, very high speed, intercity transportation mode, published in 2013 and involves either passenger or freight carrying vehicles that operate inside tubes with air evacuated to create a low-pressure environment. The reduced air resistance resulting from the low-pressure environment could enable the vehicles to reach very high speeds; 2-3 times faster than high speed rail. Proponents also claim that the system can enable direct, on-demand travel rather than a scheduled service as provided by other forms of public transport, could be more environmentally friendly than other modes and could be cheaper than high-speedrail. This report provide a high-level evaluation of hyper loop in terms of its commercial potential, environmental impact, costs, safety issues, and regulatory issues and to identify hurdles to its commercial and/oroperational feasibility. BackgroundCONTEXT The idea of a mass transport system that involves propelling vehicles along low pressure tubes was discussed as long ago as the late 17th century following the invention of the world’s first artificial vacuum. Many subsequent configurations have been attempted for transporting both small parcels and messages, and even passengers, such as the following experimental system erected at the American Institute inNewYork. Throughout the mid-1850s, several more pneumatic railways were built in Dublin, London, and Paris. The London Pneumatic Dispatch system was meant to transport parcels, but itwas large enough to carry people,too.Tomark itsopening,the Duke of Buckinghamtraveledthroughitin1865.
- 2. Throughout the 20th century, scientists and science fiction writers imagined transit systems that would work like a Hyper loop. In the 1956 story "Double Star," for example, sci-fi author Robert Heinlein wrote about"vacuum tubes." In the early 2000s, transportation startup ET3 designed a pneumatic-and-maglev train. The design featurescar-sizedpodsthatwouldtravel inelevatedtubes. Three years later, Elon Musk published his proposal for the Hyper loop in a 57-page white paper. According to his design, sealed pods containing 28 people each would whisk through tubes. A trip from NYC to DC wouldtake 29 minutes,he tweetedin2017. Objectives
- 3. the purpose of hyper loop are reducing construction, great distance in short amount of time, travel at high speed and maintained costs of the rail. compared to the alternatives, it should ideally be: 1. Safer 2. Faster 3. Lower cost 4. More convenient 5. Immune to weather 6. Sustainably self powering 7. Resistant to earthquakes 8. Controllability Why the need? Conventional means of transportation (road, water, air, and rail) tend to be some mix of expensive, slow, and environmentally harmful. Road travel is particularly problematic, given carbon emissions and the fluctuating price of oil. As the environmental dangers of energy consumption continue to worsen, mass transit will be crucial in the years to come. Rail travel is relatively energy efficient and offers the most environmentally friendly option, but is too slow and expensive to be massively adopted. At distances less than 900 miles, supersonic travel is unfeasible, as most of the journey would be spent ascending and descending (the slowest parts of a flight.) Given these issues, the Hyper loop aims to make a cost-effective, high speed transportation system for use at moderate distances. As an example of the right type of distance, Musk uses the route from San Francisco to L.A. (a route the high-speed rail system will also cover). The Hyper loop tubes would have solar panels installed on the roof, allowing for a clean and self-powering system. scope and project charter Hyper loop is expected to be the fifth mode of transport in the future. At present, hyper loop is in a development stage, and a number of companies have started testing this technology. The scope of the study covers segmentation by system type and by carriage type. The system type segmentation includes capsule, tube, propulsion system and other systems while the carriage type includes passenger and cargo/freight. How does the hyper loop work? The speed of conventional trains — and all land based transport — is limited byfriction, both against the air aheadand the groundbeneath. Hyperloop drasticallyreducesfrictioninbothof these areas. First, the tunnels through which it operates have most of their air removed. They are not complete vacuums, but much less air means reduced friction and less energy is required to reach a higher speed.
- 4. Secondly, Musk's design saw the hyper loop pods, each containing a handful of passengers, held above the groundby a layerof air,similartohow the puckof an air hockeytable floatsacrossitssurface. Musk suggested that the power required to remove air from the tunnels and propel the pods along would come from solar panels on the roof of the tunnel. He also claimed that ticket prices for the Los AngelestoSanFranciscoroute wouldbe as low as $20, and the journeywouldtake just35 minutes. Who is building the hyper loop? With Musk sitting it out, the early lead in making his hyper loop dreams a reality was fought between Hyper loop One and Hyper loop Transportation Technologies (HTT), both based in the US but with plans to buildhyperloop inwhichevercountrywill coughupthe cashfirst. VirginHyper loop One Hyper loop One, now called Virgin Hyper loop One after investment from Richard Branson's company in late-2017. Pods are driven along a track whichis essentially an electromagnetic motor unwound and laid flat along the floor of the tunnel. When a current is fed through the track, the pods move forwards, accelerating until they reach a speed where they lift up, like a boat planning along the water, and are guided by magnets. A series of vacuum pumps remove much of the tunnel's air to the point where the atmosphere is similar to being 200,000 feet above sea level. Naturally, the pods will be pressurized like an airplane cabin. Hyper loop One says its 670mph system will be "automated by the most advanced systemsin the world, allowingasafe andefficientjourneythatisneverdelayedoroverbooked." Routes overall the world The company has been the most forthcoming in regard to planned hyper loop locations. These include several proposed routes across the US, UK, Europe and the Middle East, although none have yet been given the green light for construction to begin. Given its wealth, open space and interest in futuristic technologies like passenger-carrying drones, the United Arab Emirates is a strong candidate for the first hyperloop,whichisexpectedtooperate betweenDubai andAbuDhabi earlynextdecade.
- 5. Other routes considered by Virgin Hyper loop One include connecting London with Edinburgh, Los Angeles with San Diego, Miami with Orlando, FL, Reno, NV with Las Vegas, and Chicago with Columbus, OH and Pittsburgh,PA. Hyper loop One has received investment of $245M to date and hopes to begin construction of its first route in2019, withcommercial servicesstartingin2021. Hyper loop TransportationTechnologies Hyper loop Transportation Technologies (HTT) alsolaunched soon after Musk published his white paper, and although based in the US it has so far made the most progress in Eastern Europe, India and South Korea,where feasibilitystudiesare takingplace. The company's R&D centre in Toulouse, France is currently working on the first full-scale hyper loop passenger capsule, which it hopes to unveil in early 2018. Much larger than those designed by Musk, each HTT capsule will be 98.5 feet long, 9 feet in diameter, weigh 20 tons and carry between 28 and 40 passengersatup to 760mph. In a shift from Musk's original plans - and those of Hyper loop One — HTT's system uses passive magnetic levitation to raise its capsules into the air. Similar to how maglev trains work, HTT will place
- 6. rows of magnets along the track and on the underside of each capsule. Repelling each other, the magnetsforce the capsule tolevitate once itisdrivenforwardbyan electricmotor. Once the capsule is levitating and traveling through a tunnel with its air removed (just like those used by Musk and Hyperloop One),HTT claimsverylittle energyisrequiredtosustainspeedsof over700mph. So far, HTT has agreements with Abu Dhabi, Slovakia and the Czech Republic for potential hyper loop installations. Features • The Hyper looppodistippedtocarry around28-40 passengers. • It will transfer164,000 passengersdaily. • Takingjust40 secondstodepart,customerswon’twanttomisstheirslot. • The Hyper loop One tunnel will be 100 feetlongand2.7m in diameter. • It’sset to launchinDubai nextyear,butwill begintrialsinthe Nevadadesertthisyear Milestones
- 7. PROJECT CHARTER Project Name: Hyper loop version concept: Elon Musk, 2013 Project Manager:Simin Lin Client and Sponsor: Space X Corporation and Tesla Motors Date: Start date April 4,2017 End date June 2019 Teammembers: Cameron Boyce , Mohammad Afaneh, Tai Dinah PROJECT GOALS Ensure safetyof all on-boardpassengers Minimize or eliminatedamage Maintain uninterrupted operation of unaffected pods Minimize cost of systemimplementation Conventional means of transportation (road, water, air, and rail) tend to be some mix of expensive, slow, and environmentally harmful. Road travel is particularly problematic, given carbon emissions and the fluctuating price of oil. As the environmental dangers of energy consumption continue to worsen, mass transit will be crucial in the years to come. Rail travel is relatively energy efficient and offers the most environmentally friendly option, but is too slow and expensive to be massively adopted. DELIVERABLES The ground transportation technology envisions moving people (and, no doubt, cargo) between cities in pods or capsules traveling on magnetized tracks in vacuum tubes running above or below ground. For decades, hyper loop has been the stuff of science fiction. But advances in technology, and mounting frustration with existing transit modes, means hyper loop has gone from fantasy to likely fruition. Getting hyper loop on the fast track is a goal embraced by the likes of entrepreneur Elon Musk, transportation technology companies such as Virgin Hyper loop One and Hyper loop Transportation Technologies and many cities around the world. And while there are plenty of economic, technological, safety, regulatory, public policy and other hurdles to overcome, advocates believe hyper loop could truly revolutionize the way we travel by addressing many of today’s transportation hassles. SCOPE DEFINITION Conventional means of transportation (road, water, air, and rail) tend to be some mix of expensive, slow, and environmentally harmful. Road travel is particularly problematic and Rail travel is relatively energy efficient and offers the most environmentally friendly option, but is too slow and expensive. The Hyper loop aims to make a cost-effective, high speed transportation system for use at moderate distances.
- 8. PROJECT MILESTONES Project start : April 4, 2015 Engineering work start: August 2015 Production completion : 2018 ASSUMPTIONS, CONSTRAINTS & DEPENDENCIES Constraints: The vehicle floats above the track using magnetic levitation and glides at airline speeds for long distances due to ultra-low aerodynamic drag. Virgin Hyper loop One systems will be built on columns or tunneled below ground to avoid dangerous grade crossings and wildlife. Assumptions: The Hyper loop is working in the ideal condition. People have been dreaming of high-speed travel in tubes, including in vacuum, for more than a century. And many of the technologies we’re combining have been around for a while: linear electric motors, maglev, vacuum pumps. Risks and Dependencies: Pressure sensor malfunction, Natural disasters, Staff mismanagement. Roles and Responsibilities Project Manager Help the team divide the tasks and resolve issues. Liaison between clients and team members. Allocate available resources to maximize group efficiency. Ensure deliverables are completed by project deadline. Motivate the team members to perform their tasks. Budget Lead Develop breakdown of component costs. Appropriate budget for each component/subsystem Communicate with Technical Leads to ensure subsystem design specifications are met within financial resources Communicate with Project Manager to ensure the team is meeting the budget guidelines. Technical Lead #1 (Design) Develop component designs to satisfy objectives/constraints of project. Plan and design subsystems of HTBC Prioritize relative importance of components and communicate information with Budget Lead. Communicate with Project Manager to ensure they are meeting project guidelines. Technical Lead #2 (Testing & Implementation) Perform calculations on components to satisfy the objectives / constraints of project. Communicate with Technical Lead#1 by providing numerical details required for implementation. Perform simulation and software testing. Communicate with Project Manager to ensure they are meeting project guidelines
- 9. Stakeholders of the Project Hyper loop Transportation Technologies, leading testing, certification and inspection company TÜV SÜD, and Munich Re, one of the world's leading providers of reinsurance, primary insurance and insurance- related risk solutions announced today the creation of the first set of Hyper loop core safety requirements and certification guidelines along with the first insurance framework for Hyper loop TT worldwide systems. As construction moves forward at different locations around the world, Hyper loop TT has reached key milestones on two of the biggest hurdles remaining for the new transportation system:regulationandinsurance. At a private meeting held at TÜV SÜD's global headquarters in Munich, Germany, several of Hyper loop TT's partners and stakeholders, together with government representatives, were introduced to the first set of the new guidelines and products. Additionally, a roadmap for joint creation and adoption into a final legal framework for regulating the construction and safe operation of Hyper loop systems was discussed. In attendance were representatives from Ukraine, China, France, and the United States all of whomhave existingagreementswithHyperloopTT. "TUV SUD has been working intensively with HyperloopTT over the past year," said Ferdinand Neuwieser, CEO of TÜV SÜD Industries Service GmbH. "As a global leader in this field, TÜV SÜD will contribute to making the innovative technology of Hyper loop reliable and safe. The potential risks for passengers and others will be reduced to a minimum. Furthermore the guideline will form a strong basis for standardization, regulation and certification of Hyper loop systems." The final version of the guideline isexpectedtobe publishedinQ12019. "Last year we told the world that HyperloopTT's system was insurable," said Claudia Hasse, head of special enterprise risks at Munich Re. "We are now able to insure their first commercial projects around the worldand are workingtogethertoinclude ourservicesintoHyperloopTT'stechnologylicense." "Hyper loop will change transportation as we know it," said Volodymyr Omelyan, minister of infrastructure of Ukraine. "It is our responsibility to make sure that future technologies are regulated and safe,andtodayrepresentsthe foundationof asafe and reliable commercial Hyperloop system." "The creation of regulations and legal frameworks are critical components to our ongoing feasibility study between Chicago and Cleveland," said Grace Gallucci, executive director of Northeast Ohio Areawide Coordinating Agency. "We look forward to continuing to work alongside HyperloopTT and their partners to implement these guidelines and policies into a framework specific to the Great Lakes Hyperloop." "HyperloopTT is the first company to have an insurable commercial system," said Dirk Ahlborn CEO of HyperloopTT. "We have proven the technology to be feasible at every level and through our work with these partners, stakeholders, and governments we are creating the safest, most secure system possible."
- 10. "In order to bring Hyper loop to reality we have sought out and formed alliances with industry leaders to provide the complete solutions for our systems," said Bibop Gresta, Chairman of HyperloopTT. "Now we invite othernationstojointhese pioneers." The CEO of Hyper loop One is Jay Walder, former CEO of Motivate. The co-founder and President of EngineeringisJoshGiegel. As of July 2018, the board of directors include Richard Branson (Chairman), Justin Fishner-Wolfson, Sultan Ahmed Bin Sulayem, Rob Lloyd, Josh Giegel, Bill Shor, Yuvraj Narayan, Anatoly Braverman, and Emily White as a strategic adviser. Former board members include Peter Diamandis, Jim Messina who as of July 2018 serves as strategic adviser, former Morgan Stanley executive Jim Rosenthal, Joe Lonsdale, the co-founder Shervin Pishevar, who took a leave of absence from Hyper loop One in December 2017 after multiple women accused him of sexual misconduct, and Ziyavudin Magomedov, a Russian billionaire whowasarrestedonembezzlementchargesin2018. On November8,2018, Richard Bransonwas replacedaschairmanby SultanAhmedbinSulayem. Cost and scheduling The total cost of the Hyper loop passenger transportation system as outlined is less than $6 billion USD. The passenger plus vehicle version of Hyper loop is including both passenger and cargo capsules and the total cost is outlinedas$7.5 billionUSD. Scheduling Project start : April 4, 2015 Engineering work start: August 2015 Production completion : 2018 Risk management It is Munich Re’s belief that bringing to fruition the Hyperloop proposition is one of the few genuine activities at the edge of human endeavor. Furthermore, although as yet unproven in full-scale testing, the Hyperlooptechnologyislikelytobe viable,andrepresentsarealizable integratedsystem. 2. Munich Re believes that the Hyperloop proposition represents an insurable prospect that will embrace traditional risk transfer and yet-to-be-developed innovative responses to the HTT operating and capital model. 3. The nature of the challenge is extreme, and the global resources required to harness the Hyperloop ambition demand the HTT innovationimplicit in the crowd-sourcing model. Munich Re recognizes this as genuine innovation on a global scale. It is likely to be an essential component of future large scale infrastructure projects originated in the digital era. We consider that traditional approaches to managing risksneedtoadapt to thisinnovation.
- 11. 4. It will demand a rigorous and structured enterprise risk management framework to ensure meaningful management against the reduction of the risk portfolio value which will change in the different stages of the project’s lifecycle. Munich Re is thus convinced that only by means of evolving risk management with a coherent safety concept that synthesizes safety and security, can HTT manage the riskthat we believe liesatthe edge of humanendeavor. 5. It is well understood by both HTT and Munich Re that the HTT venture depends on funding as well as developing and satisfying challenging regulatory environments and establishing and sustaining the perception and trust of society. Assuming that HTT can successfully manage the risks identified in this report,we believethatthe Hyperloopsystemisviable andrealizablebyHTT. Conclusion The development of Hyper loop as the 5th mode of travel has the potential to provide a revolutionary transportation alternative in the rapidly evolving modern world. Hyper loop has many inherent safety and performance advantages over existing transportation methods, however like all modes of transportation it has associated risks and hazards. This paper has discussed some of the development efforts at HTT to identify those risks and hazards and mitigate them through careful capsule design and operational procedures. These and other efforts will continue through the design, verification and certification stages of this new transportation technology. This process along with on-going development of new standards and regulatory activities will result in Hyper loop installations that exceedthe expectationsformoderntransportationsystems.