Lyse Comins
Finds out more about this crazy but feasible idea
IMAGINE sailing across the sky in a giant bubble-like airship into the KwaZuluNatal Midlands towards the Drakensberg. Imagine sipping cocktails while floating along the coastline or game viewing over Hluhluwe.
Locally manufactured airships could make all this affordable and possible.
That is if the dream envisaged by Professor Deresh Ramjugernath, from the University of KwaZulu-Natal’s School of Chemical Engineering, and vice-chancellor Dr Albert van Jaarsveld, comes true.
It’s an idea that seems too futuristic to be possible but the academics came up with it when brainstorming for new innovations to tackle student transport issues – and it seems it can be done.
Ramjugernath said the university’s business model on airships would be ready in the next six to 12 months. He believed it would be viable to create an airship manufacturing industry from scratch – a first for the country – which could also boost growth.
He is aiming high, envisaging airships to reduce port Airships don’t require runways or the infrastructure of an airport as this artist’s impression provided by US manufacturer Lockheed Martin shows. congestion and highway traffic, to provide transport for students and commuters, and an eco-tourism and anti-poaching attraction that will act as a magnet for tourists.
Ramjugernath says an airship runs on minimal fuel compared with other aircraft and was no different from running a car. They travel at around 160km an hour, meaning a trip from Durban to the Berg would take two hours and a flight to Cape Town around 10 hours. Potentially passengers could have onboard services and majestic views of the country as an airship travels as low as 50m to 100m off the ground.
“If you think of the Blue Train and what it does for tourism, think of the same thing but air-based,” he said.
Airships vary in size and can be as big as a rugby field and carry huge payloads, making them potentially ideal cargo carriers.
Ramjugernath explained a barrier to entry was that helium airships cost as much as $2 million (R29m) to $3m but with technology that now allowed for hot air to be used rather than helium the capital costs were as low as $200 000.
“Airships have been around for a long time. The first manned flights were hot air balloons in the 18th century, and the first commercial transatlantic flight by airship was from Europe to North America. Those were filled with hydrogen,” he said.
But when the Hindenburg caught fire in 1937 killing 35 of the 97 people on board and a crew member on the ground, the disaster cut short the airship era.
“There have been significant advances since then and one of the advances has been moving from hydrogen to helium. The only problem is that helium is very expensive because the only source is from the atmosphere and you have to separate and purify it.”
Another major cost aspect has been the development work that has gone into airship navigation technology because, unlike air balloons which are at the mercy of wind direction, direction and altitude can now be controlled.
“Their beauty is that unlike helicopters or other aircraft you can carry fairly large payloads of up to 50 tons, and you can lift it from any spot. With an aircraft you need a runway and all the infrastructure development around an airport, whereas with an airship you can access terrain you can’t get to with a normal aircraft,” he said.
Ramjugernath envisages airships being used to reduce truck traffic and easing congestion in Durban harbour. Airships could move cargo between a truck yard in Cato Ridge and the harbour at a similar cost to road and rail transport. On a smaller scale, drone airships could be developed to deliver goods such as pizzas or online shopping orders.
“There has been a lot of talk of airships for a large metropolis where there is traffic congestion as there is the possibility of having airships crossing from skyscraper to skyscraper,” he said.
“As a university one of the problems we face is the transportation of our students and, being a multi-campus institution, we run a bus service between our campuses and the city centre.
“We were thinking about being innovative with transportation given the congestion, the fuel costs and the time in traffic. Between Howard and Westville campuses, as the crow flies, it is about 4km and we thought is it feasible to run a service between our campuses with this technology?”
Ramjugernath said the US government had invested in the sector in the 1960s and 1970s but it had not taken off.
“I think the idea now is to not to make it so widespread but to find specific applications were there is a distinct advantage of using an airship.
“Our idea is to grow the manufacturing sector in the region and encouraging local companies involved in the transportation sector to develop airships.”
“We would like to develop all aspects of the airship indus- try in the university be it logistics, management or engineering. We would like to develop prototypes and even get to a point where we can say this is a good way of manufacturing and building more cost effective airships.
“We would like to invite like-minded people and see the potential of airships to partner with. We believe there is a tremendous opportunity,” he said.
Ramjugernath has won several awards including the National Science and Technology Forum Award in 2005 and 2010 and the National Research Foundation President’s Award in 2005.