Reviving the pneumatic tube

Economist : An engineering physicist at the University of Perugia, Italy, seeks to improve freight transport by reviving an extinct technologyâmdash;the pneumatic tube, in which cylindrical containers are propelled through a network of tubes by compressed air or by partial vacuum. Because air compressors are expensive and the energy they produce dissipates quickly, Franco Cotana developed a device that uses magnetic fields instead of air pressure. Those fields both levitate the capsules and propel them forward. The capsules are routed through the network by radio transponders. The concept of maglev travel is not new; the novelty of Cotana’s approach is that by scaling things down from passenger trains to small capsules, the expense is drastically reduced. The team has completed a feasibility study for a pipeline network in Perugia.