China Developing a Train That Will Run at 620 Miles Per Hour

[no_name]

The compartment must be tightly regulated as in absolutely no smoking/fire hazards allowed and also substances that may give off toxic fumes.

Air con. will be nice too, infact mandatory in places like HK

 

[chauism]

And if you're transporting freight you might not even need air in the compartments.

Only concern if when you have those bottles with the press down button to squeeze the liquid out (like some shampoo bottle) that is not fully enclosed. If there are already air inside the container then as the pressure drops the liquid inside will flow out. Happened to me on the recent flight (luckly it was inside a plastic bag)

I think we need to make sure enough air is available for the duration of the trip. Possible need some compressed air and carbon dioxide recycling technology. Also may need to refresh the cabin at stations.

Those technologies had already been applied to nuclear submarines that have to stay under water for more than a month, so it is no big deal.

 

[dbc]

Well, only the tube is vacuum. The train compartment is pressurized much like an airplane, so there is no problem.

Not quite the same, commercial passenger jets do not travel in vacuum and draw fresh air from bleed ports located on the engine.

I assume the entire train is inside a vacuum tube in other words the train is isolated from the environment, besides air for passengers there are several other unanswered questions. How will air be sucked out of the long tubes to create a vacuum? What about the pressure created by vacuum?

 

[CardSharp]

Not quite the same, commercial passenger jets do not travel in vacuum and draw fresh air from bleed ports located on the engine.

I assume the entire train is inside a vacuum tube in other words the train is isolated from the environment, besides air for passengers there are several other issues there are other unanswered questions. How will air be sucked out of the long tubes to create a vacuum? What about the pressure created by vacuum?

I think it will be a partial vacuum, strong enough to cut down on air resistance but far from a perfect vacuum.

And passenger jets do travel a in partial vacuum. The cruising altitude of commercial jets range between 30,000 to 40,000 feet. At those heights the air pressure is just 1/4 to 1/10 of the air pressure at ground level and by any standard on the ground this would be considered a vacuum.

 

[no_name]

Quite a few valid points. Personally I don't know but others might.

Even at 1/100th air pressure the plane still needs big engines to push along at 900+ km. I think as we go to higher speeds even a little residue air will have effect as the speed is quite high.

 

[no_name]

If air resistance is proportional to speed cubed and proportional to air density then for same amount of power to push a vehicle at 100 km/h to work at 1000 km/h the atmosphere will have to be 1/1000th that it originally was.

Explains why even at full take off power the commercial planes max out at about 300-400+ km/h. It's only when they climb higher that speed increases due to decreased air resistance, so in effect trading altitude for speed.

 

[dbc]

I think it will be a partial vacuum, strong enough to cut down on air resistance but far from a perfect vacuum.

And passenger jets do travel a in partial vacuum. The cruising altitude of commercial jets range between 30,000 to 40,000. At those heights the air pressure is just 1/100 of the air pressure at ground level and by any standard on the ground this would be considered a vacuum.

..not quite the same, it will be an amazing feat if the Chinese manage to build something that is safe and commercially viable - I guess all our questions will be answered in time.

 

[lcloo]

The vacuum tube can be sectionalised into difference levels of partial vacuum along the entire route. Normal air pressure at the train stations, then less and less air pressure via some kind of air lock mechanism, think of it as a reverse of multi-stage jet engine (where air pressure increase from stage to stage).

Think of a train travel from Shanghai to Beijing, with no stops in between. Full air pressure at both terminals, stagerring partial vacuum sections for acceleration and deceleration, and full vacuum or near vacuum section (with air pressure like at 80,000 to 100,000 feet attitude above sea level) in between.

Technologiclly it is possible, cost wise I have no idea.

 

[jeypore]

How is that a bullsh*t though?

The cost is the problem, it means each 1000 Km, they need to spend $3 billion more.

Yes Cost is the problem for everyone, did you actually think your are the special one!!!!!

 

[chauism]

Yes Cost is the problem for everyone, did you actually think your are the special one!!!!!

Only if you knew how much money China had spent on railways this year.

China to invest $100 bn on high-speed railways in 2010 - Reuters -

That much was only for 4613 km of new high-speed lines, so adding extra 14 billion USD on top of 100 billion USD doesn't seem to hurt much. What makes China special is that China's government has the political will and determination to make this happen, and doesn't have to worry about lobbyists from oil, airline, bus, auto and whatever corporates and unions.

 

[jeypore]

Only if you knew how much money China had spent on railways this year.

China to invest $100 bn on high-speed railways in 2010 - Reuters -

That much was only for 4613 km of new high-speed lines, so adding extra 14 billion USD on top of 100 billion USD doesn't seem to hurt much. What makes China special is that China's government has the political will and determination to make this happen, and don't have to worry about lobbyists from oil, airline, bus, auto and whatever corporates and unions.

All Power to you then, but for US citizens that additional 100 billion hurts more!!!!! Maybe, as a US citizen, we need to find to curb all the imports that is happening around here!!! you here!!!

 

[Chinaownseverything]

The vacuum tube can be sectionalised into difference levels of partial vacuum along the entire route. Normal air pressure at the train stations, then less and less air pressure via some kind of air lock mechanism, think of it as a reverse of multi-stage jet engine (where air pressure increase from stage to stage).

Think of a train travel from Shanghai to Beijing, with no stops in between. Full air pressure at both terminals, stagerring partial vacuum sections for acceleration and deceleration, and full vacuum or near vacuum section (with air pressure like at 80,000 to 100,000 feet attitude above sea level) in between.

Technologiclly it is possible, cost wise I have no idea.

It might not be so expensive to run since the trains will use less electricity since they don't have to deal with friction.

Additional energy though will be needed to deal with pressurization

 

[whocares]

Only if you knew how much money China had spent on railways this year.

China to invest $100 bn on high-speed railways in 2010 - Reuters -

That much was only for 4613 km of new high-speed lines, so adding extra 14 billion USD on top of 100 billion USD doesn't seem to hurt much. What makes China special is that China's government has the political will and determination to make this happen, and doesn't have to worry about lobbyists from oil, airline, bus, auto and whatever corporates and unions.

100B, thats equal to the official defense budget isn't it. thats a lot of money. i can't see india investing anywhere near 20-30B (defense budget range) into something like high speed rail.

 

[chauism]

All Power to you then, but for US citizens that additional 100 billion hurts more!!!!! Maybe, as a US citizen, we need to find to curb all the imports that is happening around here!!! you here!!!

If US is serious about keep the manufacturing jobs at home, then get rid of the minimum wages, and prepare to lower the living standard of all Americans. US should exploit its own workers instead of other countries.

 

[jeypore]

If US is serious about keep the manufacturing jobs at home, then get rid of the minimum wages, and prepare to lower the living standard of all Americans. US should exploit its own workers instead of other countries.

Who is exploiting it's own workers US or China???

US is a merely a buyer in a product that is avaliable to it, but the exploitation, you should be pointing fingers at your own kind sir!!!!