Capsule Pipelines & Underground Freight Transportation

What is capsule pipeline?
Capsule pipeline is a new pipeline technology that can transport freight such as coal and other minerals, solid waste including hazardous waste, grain and other agricultural products, mail and parcels, and many other products. By using large capsules running through large-diameter pipes, conduits or tunnels, cargoes on pallets or in boxes, crates and bags or even in standard size containers can be transported underground by this new technology.

Advantages of Capsule Pipelines
The pipeline is underground and environmentally friendly, safe, reliable, energy efficient and weatherproof. Use of such underground pipelines to transport freight not only reduces freight transportation cost but also reduces the number of trucks on highways and streets, and freight trains crisscrossing the nation. Consequently, there will be less traffic congestion on highways and streets, fewer accidents caused by trucks and freight trains, and less damage to highway and rail infrastructures and hence reduced infrastructure maintenance cost. As compared to truck, train, airplane and boats, underground capsule pipeline is also the most reliable and secure means of freight transport, very difficult to inflict serious damage by terrorists, and impossible to be used by terrorists as projectiles or bombs to destroy other targets as experienced by the World Trade Center tragedy. Finally, because pipelines are built by private companies, there will be no increase in tax to the average citizen for implementing capsule pipelines commercially. It is a new technology that will create new jobs and revolutionize freight transport in the 21st century.

Types of Capsule Pipelines
There are three general types of capsule pipelines: pneumatic capsule pipeline (PCP), hydraulic capsule pipeline (HCP), and coal log pipeline (CLP).

Pneumatic capsule pipeline (PCP) uses wheeled capsules (vehicles) to carry cargoes through a pipeline filled with air. The air is used to push the capsules through the pipeline. For a PCP of 3-foot diameter, each capsule can carry about two tons of cargo, traveling at 25 mph approximately. Because the capsules travel at 25 mph non-stop, they move at approximately the same daily average speed of trucks in rural areas, and much faster than trucks in cities. High-value products, such as mail and parcel, can be transported by PCP. The system is best suited for underground freight transport in large city – see News in this website about the completion of the feasibility study on using PCP in New York City.

Hydraulic capsule pipeline (HCP) uses unwheeled capsules (water-tight cylindrical containers) to transport cargoes through a water-filled pipeline. The water is used to float and push the capsules through the pipeline. HCP travels at 6 to 10 feet per second in pipe which is much slower than PCP. However, HCP can transport several times more freight than can PCP of the same diameter. It also uses less energy than PCP, and is more economical. Consequently, HCP is more suitable for transporting bulk materials such as grain and other agricultural products, and minerals.

Hydraulic Capsule Pipeline tested at University of Missouri - Columbia in 2001. Pneumatic capsule pipeline wheeled capsule utilized in Japan.
250-ton Special Hydraulic Press for Compaction of Coal Logs at University of Missouri - Columbia. Testing a linear induction motor powered PCP at University of Missouri -Columbia 5.4-Inch Coal Logs for testing in a 6-inch pipe.

Coal log pipeline (CLP) is a special type of HCP in which the capsules are in the form of compacted coal that can be in direct contact with water and the pipe. Because no containers are needed for CLP, there is no need for a separate pipeline to return empty containers, as would be required for HCP and PCP. CLP is the most cost-effective type of capsule pipeline. However, its use is limited to coal and a few other minerals and solid waste materials which, like coal, can be compacted into water-resistant and wear-resistant logs

MU’s Contribution and Research in Capsule Pipelines
During the period 1991-200, Dr. Henry Liu, Director of Capsule Pipeline Research Center (CPRC),University of Missouri-Columbia (MU) and his colleagues invented the coal log pipeline (CLP) technology, and also invented special pumps and injection systems for HCP and PCP, such as an electromagnetic pump based on the principle of linear induction motor (LIM). For MU's contribution and accomplishment in capsule pipeline, in 1991 the National Science Foundation established a research center on capsule pipelines—the Capsule Pipeline Research Center (CPRC), which was Missouri's only NSF Center and the nation's only pipeline research center. Since 1991, CPRC received over six million dollars of funds from various government agencies and private companies. This has resulted in extensive research and development in capsule pipelines, bringing all three types of capsule pipeline close to commercial use. An HCP/CLP pilot plant was constructed and tested on MU's Holstein Farm to demonstrate/test a complete system of HCP/CLP. However, since the retirement of Dr. Liu from MU in 2001, MU's research in capsule pipeline has declined, but partially picked up by the Freight Pipeline Company formed by Dr. Liu.

FPC’s Contribution and Research in Capsule Pipelines
Since 1991, FPC started to do R&D on the capsule pipeline technologies previously studied at MU’s Capsule Pipeline Research Center. FPC’s work has focused on the PCP technology – planning and designing large PCP systems for mineral transport, and for use in large cities to transport cargoes that are normally delivered by trucks. In large cities, PCP will transport freight horizontally deep underground – more than 100 ft below the street level to avoid interference with existing underground infrastructures such as sewers, liquid and gas pipelines, cables, building foundations, piles, and even subways. At specific locations in a city, vertical shafts (elevators) will be provided to move freight between the underground PCP stations and the aboveground streets, in a manner similar to subway stations for mass transit. FPC has designed and analyzed such PCP systems, showing that they are not only technically feasible but also cost-effective. FPC has also designed and analyzed special PCP systems for transporting minerals, municipal solid wastes, mail and parcels over long distance (between New York City and Washington D.C.), and even entire containers – see the New York City study report and related publications in “Company Publications and Patents .”