Hydrail

A hydrail is a hydrogen railway train power-assisted by an electric motor that gets its electricity from a fuel cell. Advantage of the hydrail is the dual role, it can also serve as a mobile backup power unit.

History

In 2002 the first 3.6 tonne, 17 kW, hydrogen-powered mining locomotive was demonstrated in Val-d'Or, Quebec. [ [http://www.ca.sandia.gov/hydrogen/research/engineeredSystems/mineVehicle.html Sandia about the Little Workhorse - Val-d'Or - 2002] ] [ [http://www.spectrum.ieee.org/aug06/4255 Little Workhorse - Ontario - 2002] ]

April 2007 - The mini-hydrail from the Taiwan Science and Technology Museum and Taiwan Fuel Cell Partnership combination made the first educational ride. [ [http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/200704/13/eng20070413_366270.html Taiwan educational hydrail] ]

Research

2007 - The hydrails from the Railway Technical Research Institute in Japan are two 62 ton passenger cars with a 450 kW PEM fuel cell and a 150 kW battery [ [http://www.fuelcelltoday.com/media/pdf/surveys/2007-Niche-Transport%201.pdf 2007-Niche transport survey] ] .

July 2008 - The NE Train from East Japan Railway is a hybrid hydrail with two 65 kW PEM fuel cells, a 19 kWh lithium ion battery, a diesel-run generator [ [http://www.livescience.com/technology/060414_japan_train.html Hybrid New Energy Train] ] , two 95 kW electric motors [ [http://www.h2-vehicles.com/hydrogen-trains.htm New Energy Train - Japan] ] , and a regenerative braking system between Kobuchizawa and Komoro [ [http://www.science.org.au/nova/newscientist/023ns_001.htm Hydrail between Kobuchizawa and Komoro] ] .

ee also

*Hydrail switcher
*Hydrogen vehicle
*Locomotive

References

External links

* [http://www.hyrail.eu/ EU FP 6 HyRail Project]