Vertical PCP - Safe & Economical Transport in Commercial Use in Japan
12 December 2001 10:06
Sumitomo Metal Industries, Ltd. (Sumitomo Metals) has developed a vertical pneumatic capsule pipeline (vertical PCP) collaborating with Kajima Corporation (Kajima) and Kansai Design Co. (KDC). This system is to transport materials in a wheeled container called capsule by a low-pressure air current in a vertical pipeline caused by a blower.
The first commercial system of the vertical PCP started its operation on October 20, 2001 to transport the earth excavated by a underground tunneling machine in Hiroshima Prefecture, Japan. This system is 1 meter in diameter and 35 meters in vertical length and transports 30 cubic meter of excavated earth every hour by using a capsule whose volume is 1 cubic meter. The vertical PCP is safe, clean and labor saving. The larger its transport length is, the more economical it shows. It is expected to be applied to the transportation between the deep underground and the above ground such as toxic waste storage to the underground as deep as 1000 meters.
Further information, please contact kosugi-sni@sumitomometals.co.jp
