dorsal/arxiv
View SchemaA Low-Cost Natural Gas/Freshwater Aerial Pipeline
| Authors | Alexander Bolonkin, Richard Cathcart |
|---|---|
| Categories | |
| ArXiv ID | physics/0701061 |
| URL | https://arxiv.org/abs/physics/0701061 |
Abstract
Offered is a new type of low-cost aerial pipeline for delivery of natural gas, an important industrial and residential fuel, and freshwater as well as other payloads over long distances. The offered pipeline dramatically decreases the construction and operation costs and the time necessary for pipeline construction. A dual-use type of freight pipeline can improve an arid rural environment landscape and provide a reliable energy supply for cities. Our aerial pipeline is a large, self-lofting flexible tube disposed at high altitude. Presently, the term "natural gas" lacks a precise technical definition, but the main components of natural gas are methane, which has a specific weight less than air. A lift force of one cubic meter of methane equals approximately 0.5 kg. The lightweight film flexible pipeline can be located in the Earth-atmosphere at high altitude and poses no threat to airplanes or the local environment. The authors also suggest using lift force of this pipeline in tandem with wing devices for cheap shipment of a various payloads (oil, coal and water) over long distances. The article contains a computed macroproject in northwest China for delivery of 24 billion cubic meter of gas and 23 millions tonnes of water annually.
{
"annotation_id": "942d0fe5-9a69-491c-b8d7-6cefcfaf2142",
"date_created": "2026-03-02T18:01:17.181000Z",
"date_modified": "2026-03-02T18:01:17.181000Z",
"file_hash": "42bd429490eb8fb08b0f8c1e41736c9bf16c02adeddc6dd6bf59b3f17043d00a",
"private": false,
"record": {
"abstract": "Offered is a new type of low-cost aerial pipeline for delivery of natural\ngas, an important industrial and residential fuel, and freshwater as well as\nother payloads over long distances. The offered pipeline dramatically decreases\nthe construction and operation costs and the time necessary for pipeline\nconstruction. A dual-use type of freight pipeline can improve an arid rural\nenvironment landscape and provide a reliable energy supply for cities. Our\naerial pipeline is a large, self-lofting flexible tube disposed at high\naltitude. Presently, the term \"natural gas\" lacks a precise technical\ndefinition, but the main components of natural gas are methane, which has a\nspecific weight less than air. A lift force of one cubic meter of methane\nequals approximately 0.5 kg. The lightweight film flexible pipeline can be\nlocated in the Earth-atmosphere at high altitude and poses no threat to\nairplanes or the local environment. The authors also suggest using lift force\nof this pipeline in tandem with wing devices for cheap shipment of a various\npayloads (oil, coal and water) over long distances. The article contains a\ncomputed macroproject in northwest China for delivery of 24 billion cubic meter\nof gas and 23 millions tonnes of water annually.",
"arxiv_id": "physics/0701061",
"authors": [
"Alexander Bolonkin",
"Richard Cathcart"
],
"categories": [
"physics.gen-ph",
"physics.ao-ph",
"physics.soc-ph"
],
"title": "A Low-Cost Natural Gas/Freshwater Aerial Pipeline",
"url": "https://arxiv.org/abs/physics/0701061"
},
"schema_id": "dorsal/arxiv",
"source": {
"execution_id": "4e7bea3a-1355-46aa-b2f3-f3478d57fe38",
"id": "arXiv Dataset IDs",
"type": "Model",
"variant": "snapshot-2026-03-01",
"version": "0.1.0"
},
"user_id": 1000002
}