Hitachi to Deliver the World’S Fastest Elevators to China
Hitachi said Monday it will provide the world's fastest elevators, which can clock speeds of up to 1,200 meters per minute, to a high-rise building in China.
The lifts will be delivered to the 111-story, 530-meter-tall Guangzhou CTF Financial Center due to be opened in the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou in 2016, the electronics and engineering firm said in a press release.
They will be able to travel the length of the 440-meter shaft--from the first to 95th floor--in a stomach-churning 43 seconds.
Hitachi will install a total of 95 elevators at the tower, including two of the superfast lifts, as well as slower machines such as double-decker lifts, the statement said.
The center will be the tallest building in Guangzhou, complete with office, hotel and residential space.
The world's fastest elevator uses a newly developed permanent magnet motor that achieves both a thin profile and a high output, the statement said.
It is also equipped with a braking system capable of withstanding the terrific heat that might be generated if a malfunction ever develops.
China accounts for about 60% of global demand for elevators and is at the center of fierce competition among the world's elevator makers, a Hitachi official said.
The world's fastest elevator currently in operation is the 60.6-kilometer-per-hour lift at Taipei 101, in Taiwan's main city, he said.
Japanese company plans to have space elevator "up" and running by 2050
A Japanese company is looking to take elevators to new heights. The Daily Yomiuri reports that Tokyo-based construction company Obayashi Corp. hopes to have a space elevator operational by 2050, carrying passengers and cargo in a vehicle that travels along a ribbon made of carbon nanotubes extending a quarter of the way to the moon.
A counterweight at the end of the 96,000 kilometer (59,652 mile) cable would anchor the entire assembly, which is connected to a station on the ground. Passengers would travel from the surface of the Earth to a terminal station housing a research center and residential facilities located about 36,000 kilometers (22,369 miles) up the ribbon in a car traveling at 200 km/h (124 mph). At that speed the journey is anticipated to take about a week.
Solar panels at the same elevation as the terminal station would provide its electricity and also send power back to the surface.
The concept of elevators reaching into space has been around since 1895 when Russian scientist Konstantin Tsiolkovsky was inspired by the newly built Eiffel Tower to first conceive of the idea of a free-standing tower reaching into geostationary orbit from the Earth's surface. The idea has since become a staple of science fiction, but in recent years conferences have been held on the topic and NASA has also been actively involved in efforts to make them a reality.
But finding a material light enough and strong enough to create such a long cable has been a significant obstacle. Obayashi and others believe carbonnanotubes can get the job done, making them the key to the ambitious project.
Obayashi is not yet saying how much they estimate the project will cost, but when it's up and running, it hopes to transport 30 passengers at a time along the space cable, perhaps using magnetic linear motors. The company also hasn't revealed a location for the space elevator, but as it relies on centrifugal forces to keep the ribbon taut, the base station needs to be located along - or at least close to - the equator.
sources： [http://en.twwtn.com/Bignews/64970.html]
The lifts will be delivered to the 111-story, 530-meter-tall Guangzhou CTF Financial Center due to be opened in the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou in 2016, the electronics and engineering firm said in a press release.
They will be able to travel the length of the 440-meter shaft--from the first to 95th floor--in a stomach-churning 43 seconds.
Hitachi will install a total of 95 elevators at the tower, including two of the superfast lifts, as well as slower machines such as double-decker lifts, the statement said.
The center will be the tallest building in Guangzhou, complete with office, hotel and residential space.
The world's fastest elevator uses a newly developed permanent magnet motor that achieves both a thin profile and a high output, the statement said.
It is also equipped with a braking system capable of withstanding the terrific heat that might be generated if a malfunction ever develops.
China accounts for about 60% of global demand for elevators and is at the center of fierce competition among the world's elevator makers, a Hitachi official said.
The world's fastest elevator currently in operation is the 60.6-kilometer-per-hour lift at Taipei 101, in Taiwan's main city, he said.
Japanese company plans to have space elevator "up" and running by 2050
A Japanese company is looking to take elevators to new heights. The Daily Yomiuri reports that Tokyo-based construction company Obayashi Corp. hopes to have a space elevator operational by 2050, carrying passengers and cargo in a vehicle that travels along a ribbon made of carbon nanotubes extending a quarter of the way to the moon.
A counterweight at the end of the 96,000 kilometer (59,652 mile) cable would anchor the entire assembly, which is connected to a station on the ground. Passengers would travel from the surface of the Earth to a terminal station housing a research center and residential facilities located about 36,000 kilometers (22,369 miles) up the ribbon in a car traveling at 200 km/h (124 mph). At that speed the journey is anticipated to take about a week.
Solar panels at the same elevation as the terminal station would provide its electricity and also send power back to the surface.
The concept of elevators reaching into space has been around since 1895 when Russian scientist Konstantin Tsiolkovsky was inspired by the newly built Eiffel Tower to first conceive of the idea of a free-standing tower reaching into geostationary orbit from the Earth's surface. The idea has since become a staple of science fiction, but in recent years conferences have been held on the topic and NASA has also been actively involved in efforts to make them a reality.
But finding a material light enough and strong enough to create such a long cable has been a significant obstacle. Obayashi and others believe carbonnanotubes can get the job done, making them the key to the ambitious project.
Obayashi is not yet saying how much they estimate the project will cost, but when it's up and running, it hopes to transport 30 passengers at a time along the space cable, perhaps using magnetic linear motors. The company also hasn't revealed a location for the space elevator, but as it relies on centrifugal forces to keep the ribbon taut, the base station needs to be located along - or at least close to - the equator.
sources： [http://en.twwtn.com/Bignews/64970.html]
