CP EMD Hydrogen powered locomotive

[AmericanSteam]

Starts service sometime this year.

https://sustainability.cpr.ca/about/hig ... t-project/

[buzz456]

So are these things going to use natural gas to produce the hydrogen or what? This article really doesn't explain what they are going to use for fuel or are they still going to use diesel?

[buzz456]

https://www.energy.gov/eere/fuelcells/h ... -reforming

[buzz456]

Hydrogen and fire safety: Detecting the most flammable element on earth


https://ifpmag.mdmpublishing.com/hydrog ... -on-earth/

[AmericanSteam]

Over the past several years there has been an interest in alternative fuels. This is caused by several factors two of witch are government mandates, and cost savings. For any business the bottom line, and profits are essential for a healthy business. A lot of the research in alternative fuels is funded by government grants and adoption of these technologies can reap substantial tax benefits, again adding to the bottom line. Cost savings from smart locomotive management technology, and alternative fuels (hydrogen, natural gas, hybrid, and battery), and renewed interest in track electrification are crucial and are coming sooner than later. Adoption of these technologies will be regional and use implemented, no one size fits all. Cost of rail transport for gallon of fuel per ton/mile is the cheapest form of transportation. Some of these technologies are more hazardous than others but the technology to make them safer is in development as well. In 10 years trains as we know them now will have changed. IMHO.

[buzz456]

Yes if anyone was really serious and had a operating brain they would work on figuring how to get more freight off of the trucks and onto the rails a much much more efficient way to move freight, but then any critical look at the mess we allow at the ports right now would indicate that they certainly aren't serious about problem solving.

[cnwfan]

Wasn't hydrogen gas used in the Hindenburg? As I recall, that didn't end too well for them. Hydrogen fuel didn't fair so well with autos, but maybe it is more practical when scaled up to a locomotive.

[GSkid]

Well BNSF tried testing out LPG as a fuel that went nowhere. It had a LPG tanker car attached to the locomotive as the fuel source. They could also use it for a hydrogen fuel-cell powered train. The question would be…. Is this method a more efficient use of LPG then using the gas for combustion in a diesel? It’s conversion (Fuel Cell) vs. combustion.

It’s fitting that they would put this in an EMD. Their dirtier 2-stroke engine technology (versus 4-stroke) is notorious for its lower efficiency due to not being able to fully expunge it’s exhaust gases. That means some of that hot gas remains in the chamber. It takes up some space in the cylinder that could otherwise be filled with more oxygen rich intake air. It also would naturally warm up that incoming air a bit, making it less dense and less efficient that way too. Cooler intake air allows more oxygen molecules to packed together, creating more power.

[_o_OOOO_oo-Kanawha]

I believe to have read an article on experimental very high temperature nuclear reactors using liquid salt as coolant are able to decompose steam into H and O molecules by the hot coolant, making it suitable to supply hydrogen in sufficient quantity as a 'byproduct' and cooling the reactor at the same time.

[buzz456]

We can start a pool for five bucks each for how long any of these ideas ever come to pass beyond all these companies playing at trying to look like they are green.