Pipelines are perhaps the least appreciated mode of freight transport. the unobtrusive distribution of many megatonnes of water, oil and gas in the uk annually is taken for granted and only the figures for oil appear in annual freight statistics. The transport of solids by hydraulic or pneumatic pipeline - either in free flow or packed into capsules - is technically more difficult and less common, but the practice is already well-established in certain specialised fields. After a brief introduction to the statistics for various freight transport modes, the author reviews the current usage of pipelines for water, sewage, gas and oil, before examining at length hydraulic 'slurry' pipelines for a variety of minerals. The report concludes with a brief note on capsule pipelines which, apart from small-bore in-house delivery systems, are still in the prototype stage. A bibliography of over 100 references is given. (Author/publisher)
Samenvatting