|
              |
4rail.net - Technology section |
| Welcome
to the 4rail.net technologies main page! This is a place for emerging
new power sources, modular systems, ideas taken into use by the
manufacturers, etc. Operating in the era of constant change Living and operating in the era of constant change can be quite challenging to the rail operators as well. For example: how do you fight agains the ever increasing rise of the diesel fuel when your entire fleet is burning that? Which of the alternatives is going to prevail, if you start looking for the existing alternatives: natural gas, ethanol, hydrogen, or something else? And in the mean time, how to limit the gallons/liters burned in the power units? The modularization offers some new answers as do the use of hybrid powered locomotives. Interestingly, just in 2007, several hundred hybrid and modular locomotives were sold worldwide, the top seller being a 3 engined road switcher from 3 different manufacturers. In the Europe the railway markets are opening rapidly. Only the periphery like Finland are not yet experiencing the competition enviroinment. In five years the intense competition within European Union countries railways has changed permanently adding a lot of efficiency and bringing a lot of new traffic on the rails. The markets are growing both for the passenger and freights side. But let's look at the hybrids first, from our older article: Introduction to hybrids and other solutions Railway operators have been in quest for more effeciency from the very beginning. At first the main things under development on the motive power were realibility and speed. Even speed races agaist other iron and real horses were arranged! With reliability improved and speed and capacity ever increasing it was time to concentrate on the efficiency. During the steam era numerous experiments on using the fuel more efficiently were made. later electricity and Dieselization of the motive power brought savings in operations. Electricity, although more more efficient, demanded heavy investments in infrastructure. Diesels proved to be more flexible, and where the real competition existed and the ownership of the infrastructure was private, were the choise for railway operators. Here the roads for Europe and North America diverge. Where the European railway network builders were gradually extending electricity to be the number 1 choise, in the North America the direction was mainly to dieselization. After 2000 the price of diesel has risen continuously, driving the operating costs up, so railways have been forced to find new solutions. The main applications have been the entrance of single unit modularization and hybrid locomotives. Even a fuel cell locomotive is going to enter every day service for BNSF Railway in 2008! The word hybrids does not actually translate to mean the same technology as i.e. very common Toyota Prius in cars. The locomotives have so far not been able to charge the braking power to their batteries, but have instead used the the extra energy from diesel engines(s) idling for charging. But even this is going to change in 2008 with the introduction of an improved EVO-series locomotive from the General Electric. This locomotive is going to cut fuel consumption with hybrid technology by further 10-15%. Even so, the road is just beginning with numerous improvements in sight within next 10-20 years. This may even mean the current engine technology becoming obsolete and the introduction of fuel cell or other applications in demanding every day use. New solution builders General Electric: GE builds traditional heavy (road) locomotives with or without hybrid features. For the year 2008 GE has planned a hybrid version of it's highly popular and very efficient ES44-line. The hybrid road locomotive should be able to sqeese another 15% out of the fuel consumption. Since the prototype is available in 2008, the first preproduction locomotives should be in test use by the year 2010. Rail Power Technologies Corporation - the best known hybrid locomotive builder NRE, National Railway Equipment - the designer of the genset, the highly popular 3 truck engines in one locomotive concept Motive power - traditional rebuilder of the railroad equipment More to be added soon. Operators for the new solutions BNSF Railway: BNSF Railway has both modular genset-locomotives and hybrid-powered locomotives. The numbers for the beginning of the 2008 total under 100 units for both types. Union Pacific Railroad: The traditional technology developer has hundreds of genset in it's daily operation and over 100 hybrids. More to be added later.   To the top of the page
|
| I. |
|
| To the top of the page
|
