Evacuated Tube Transport(ETT) is patented transportation technology operating in a vacuum environment to minimize air friction. The experimental system uses automation to independently route automobile sized vehicles through a network of evacuated tubes. The pressurized vehicles are able to accommodate up to a half ton of palletized cargo or up to 6 passengers.
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How ETT is designed to work:
Air is permanently removed (evacuated with vacuum pumps) from two five foot (1.5 m) diameter tubes built along a travel route. Car-sized passenger/cargo capsules travel in the tubes on frictionless maglev. Airlocks at stations allow transfer without admitting air. Linear motors safely accelerate the capsules, for most of the trip they coast through the vacuum without using additional energy. Acceleration energy is recovered by using linear generators to decelerate the capsules. ETT is not pneumatic tube transport (PTT) commonly used at drive-up banks. ETT is claimed to be able to accomplish fifty times more transportation per kWh than electric cars or trains because travel occurs without air resistance or rolling resistance.
ETT is a form of Personal Rapid Transit (PRT), accordingly ETT may be networked like freeways, and the automobile sized capsules are automatically routed like internet traffic, so a capsule can exit at any desired branch. Proposed speeds are up to 350 mph (560 km/h) for in-state use and up to 4,000 mph (6,400 km/h) for cross country and global travel.
Empty ETT capsules weigh 400 lb (180 kg) yet can accommodate six people or three pallets of cargo. Guideways to support ETT capsules require 1/20th the material needed to support trains due the ultra light weight loadings. Material efficiency and automated production promise to drop cost to less than 1/10 that of High Speed Rail, or 1/4 that of freeways. Automated switching allows a 350 mph (560 km/h) ETT route to exceed the capacity of a 32 lane freeway, producing further economy.
The ETT technology is similar to a vactrain, but the PRT design philosophy is more similar to automobiles operating on a freeway, than to trains on a track. Vactrains can haul much larger loads than ETT, just like a train can haul bigger loads than a car. The cost of vactrain infrastructure is estimated to be more than an order of magnitude greater than ETT (just trains at $50k/seat cost ten times more than cars at $5k/seat). One reason is because the ETT vehicle mass is two orders of magnitude less than a maglev train. Because of low cost, and point to point routing, ETT has the potential to serve individual residences and businesses.
The trade name "Evacuated Tube Transport" (ETT) was coined by Daryl Oster in the early 1990s, Oster applied for a patent on ETT in 1997.
In 1999, et3.com Inc. was incorporated in Florida as an international consortium of licensees to research, develop, and implement ETT. The licensees are individuals, experts, companies, and institutions that number over 75 as of May 2010. The et3 in the company name refers to 'Evacuated Tube Transport Technologies' (et3), trademarks of et3.com Inc.
In 2001 et3.com Inc. was one of 20 companies that qualified to submit a bid to the Florida High Speed Rail Authority (FHSRA) to Design Build, Operate, and Maintain (DBOM) a high speed ground transportation system to satisfy the requirements of constitutional changes in Florida.
In the winter of 2002-2003, Daryl Oster, (the founder of et3.com Inc.) was invited to China by Dr. Zhang Yaoping and Southwest Jiaotong University (SWJTU) in Chengdu to present the patented ETT technology to the university for use with the High Temperature Superconductor Maglev (HTSM) technology invented by Professors Wang Jiasu and Wang Suyu. Subsequently, ETT was presented to and evaluated by: Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), The Design Institute of The Ministry of Rail, and several other Universities and institutions in China. As a result of Oster's visit, Dr. Zhang, Professor Wang, and the School of Traffic and Transportation of SWJTU along with several others in China acquired license to the ETT technology, and et3.com Inc. acquired license to HTSM technology for use in ETT. Several ETT projects licensed by et3 are independently operating in China.
In 2003, et3.com Inc. was one of 4 companies who submitted a proposal to the FHSRA for the initial phase of the High Speed Ground Transportation system mandated by constitutional changes voted for in the year 2000. The firm fixed bid for the 96-mile (154 km) Evacuated Tube Transport (ETT) system was $253M, this was less than one tenth of the cost of the bid by Global Rail Consortium to build electrified double track High Speed Rail for $2.6B. The bid by et3 contained letters of support by three entities in China to supply IP and key materials for the project. The engineering consultants hired by the authority did not dispute the validity of the et3 bid price or ETT technology, but recommended to eliminate the et3 bid from consideration for other reasons.
The ETT concept was theoretically described in 2003 by Okano et al., only regarding the transportation of goods and not people.[1] Okano discussed a particularly advanced type of maglev train, the HTS Maglev (with High temperature superconductor magnets);[1] earlier papers discussing a less advanced maglev in a low-pressure tunnel may exist. A company called et3.com Inc. registered a patent for trade mark name Evacuated Tube Transport (ETT), a supposedly transportation technology which it advertises on its website with the marketing slogan 'Space Travel on Earth'.[2] Okano et al. made no mention of the ETT patent or people transport.
In 2003, Oster met with Frank P. Davidson, a founding member of the Channel Tunnel project, Japanese engineer Yoshihiro Kyonati, and ocean engineer Ernst Frankel at Davidson's home in Concord MA.
In 2004, Frank P. Davidson held a private conference in Normandy France, where Oster was invited to present ETT to a couple dozen attendees.
In 2004-2005, Oster was again invited to China to help found new ETT programs. A book is published by Tsinghua University Press in China titled "A New Industrial Era Coming, Initial Dialogue on Evacuated Tube Transportation (ETT)" by Zhang and Oster.
In 2005, a paper about ETT was presented at the international Automated People Mover (APM) conference of the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) in Orlando FL, and published in the conference proceedings.
In 2007 and again in 2008, et3 was visited by representatives from the Korean Rail Research Institute (KRRI) who commissioned et3 to consult on their plans to implement Tube Transport.
In 2009, KRRI representatives traveled to China to collaborate on ETT with Zhang and Wang.
In November 2009, KRRI announced plans to build a tube transport system with a design speed of 700 km/h.
High speed may be realized when the HTS Maglev vehicle runs in low-pressure tube or evacuated tube transport (ETT). The HTS Maglev vehicle in a vacuum passage is described in outline theoretically by M. Okano et al.