SkyTran FAQ |
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| Most of these Frequently Asked Questions
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GeneralWhat is a SkyTran car?A SkyTran car is a lightweight, low-cost, two-passenger cab that is magnetically and frictionlessly suspended from a low-cost monorail guideway. Do I need to drive when I'm in a SkyTran car?No. Each SkyTran car has multiple
computers acting to ensure your safety. Onboard computers continually
check on other nearby SkyTran vehicles, monitor the vehicle’s electrical
and mechanical health, and check that the current route to your
destination remains uncongested ahead. Most importantly, the computers
never get distracted. SkyTran commuters relax listening to the stereo, watching TV or surfing the web while traveling back and forth to work or recreation at highway speeds. What is Inductrack passive maglev?Maglev is the ability to magnetically raise an object above a track and propel it without the use of wheels or bearings. After years of national research and billions of dollars in defense spending, SkyTran is the first public application for passive maglev technology. Through a licensing agreement with Lawrence Livermore National Laboratories, SkyTran will use "Inductrack" technology to propel vehicles at a cost efficiency previously unheard of. Inductrack is a unique hybrid system that, according to a feasibility study conducted by Booz-Allen & Hamilton, "Costs much less than other maglevs and has operation and maintenance expenses significantly lower than conventional rail." When combined with advancements in computers, control devices and sensing technology, SkyTran is poised to revolutionize transportation for the daily commuter. Unlike other maglev technology, Inductrack is passive magnetic. That means no high powered magnets or expensive super-cooling is required. SkyTran glides along a magnetic cushion of air levitated by magnets alone. In addition to being extremely efficient, maglev eliminates the maintenance costs that go with wheels, tires and bearings. The very best tires must still be replaced every 60,000 miles from the constant wear caused by acceleration, cornering and braking. A SkyTran maglev car, on the other hand, never even contacts its guideway while accelerating, traveling at 100 mph, exiting/merging or braking to a stop. All power transfer to the SkyTran propulsion system is located inside the SkyTran hollow guideway as is the linear drive system itself. This means people (and even birds that land on the SkyTran track) cannot be hurt by touching the guideway. The outside of the guideway carries no current whatsoever. How energy efficient is SkyTran?A. Simple Comparison Based on the Cost of Energy: The energy cost equivalent of depends on the actual costs of gasoline and electricity in your locale. Currently in California, gasoline is averaging $1.58 per gallon and electricity costs $.10 per kilowatt-hour. The math question becomes how far will SkyTran travel on $1.58 of purchased "electrical" energy instead of the same amount of purchased "liquid" gasoline energy? A SkyTran vehicle at its full gross weight consumes 4.4 kilowatts continuously while traveling 100 mph. Thus, traveling 100 miles costs: (4.4 kilowatts for one hour) times ($.10/kilowatt-hour) = $.44 of energy. This means with $1.58 we could travel: ($1.58/$.44) times (100 miles) = 359 miles. This is 18 times more efficient than a 20 mile per gallon automobile and 12 times more efficient than a 30 mile per gallon automobile. Note that at $1.58 per gallon, gasoline is currently overpriced. If it was back to $1.20 per gallon, then SkyTran relative efficiency calculates to be 273 miles per gallon which would then agree nicely with the following more rigid engineering heat value analysis. B. Detailed Comparison Based on Heat Analysis As calculated below, SkyTran using the same amount of heat energy as a car uses (as it consumes one gallon of gasoline) will travel 272 miles. The difficulty of calculating a MPG energy equivalence is that SkyTran doesn't use gasoline, it uses electricity. Almost all the electricity in the US power grid comes from heat, including energy generated in fossil fuel, biomass, and nuclear power plants. The automobile uses the heat energy of gasoline to produce power. Therefore heat energy is the common energy source to use for comparison. A gallon of gasoline releases approximately 128,000 BTUs when burned. The average conversion of heat energy to electricity is 31.9% (Anderson). This means that 11.97 kilowatt-hours (kWhr) of electric energy should be generated from the energy in a gallon of gasoline. SkyTran needs four kilowatts to maintain a speed of 100 mph. Assuming a loss of 10% in the power lines and conversion to mechanical energy, SkyTran uses only 0.044 kWhr per mile. Therefore SkyTran gets 272 miles per 128,000 BTU of heat energy (or gallon of gasoline) while cruising at 100 mph. Lets compare SkyTran energy consumption to other forms of transportation. To do this we must look at energy consumed in a trip, not just while cruising. To accelerate the vehicle and one passenger to 100 mpg takes a significant amount of energy. However, unlike automobiles, buses, or light rail, SkyTran has non stop service. This reduces the number of times the vehicle must speed up. Lets assume an average travel distance of 10 miles per acceleration. The energy to accelerate the 400 pounds (a 200 pound person in a 200 pound vehicle) to 100 mph is 0.0557 kWhr. This makes the total trip use 0.0496 kWhr per passenger mile (kWhr/pass-mi), or 0.155 kWhr of heat energy per passenger mile. The below chart compares this energy use to other transportation systems (Anderson)
Much of the energy consumption data of other transit systems comes from: J E Anderson "What Determines Transit Energy Use", Journal of Advanced Transportation, Vol. 22 No. 2, 1988 pp 108-133 Calculations: 1) 128,000 BTU/gal * 0.319 electricity/heat / 3412 BTU/kWhr = 11.97 kWhr of electricity per gallon of gasoline 2) 4 kW * 1.1 (conversion losses to mechanical energy) * 1 hour / 100 miles = 0.044 kWhr/mile 3) 11.97 kWhr/gal / 0.044 kWhr/mile = 272 mile/gal 4) 100 mile/hr * 5280 ft/mile / 3600 sec/hr = 146.7 ft/sec
5) (0.557kWhr + 0.044kWhr/mi * 10 mi) / 10 mi / 0.319 (electricity to heat energy) = 0.155 kWhr/mi How does SkyTran benefit the environment?Scientists have measured the external cost of autos to society. Generally, the figures range from $500 B. per year to $1,500 B. per year just in the US. This comes to about $2,500. per car each year. This fact is troubling when one considers that in the US alone:
On a global scale:
There are currently 500 million cars used by 2 billion people worldwide.Potential auto growth if the US sets the pace - 3 billion cars.The SkyTran system is environmentally friendly. The all electric drive and efficiency of the system helps reduce local pollution and total pollution (CO2, NOx, and noise pollution). As the efficiency and waste reduction related to electrical generation improves, SkyTran will be an even cleaner form of transportation. SkyTran stands to provide a vast improvement to the overall quality of life. EstheticsCapacitySpeedSafetyHow can SkyTran withstand earthquakes?Standard tapered steel light poles support both the guideway and the small additional weight of SkyTran cars with plenty of structural safety to satisfy ASCE earthquake and wind requirements. These poles are so strong and cost effective that windmill manufacturing companies can use them.
CostWhy is SkyTran so inexpensive to build?A mile of SkyTran consists of the following elements:
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