Vivarail Spearheads Development Of Green Fuel Technologies
The title of this post is the same as that of this press release from Vivarail.
The press release describes and shows visuals of their new hydrogen-powered Class 230 train.
These are a few points from the press release.
A Four-Car Train
This is said about the basic philosophy of the design.
Vivarail’s on-going success in launching new technologies to the UK market means it is the only train manufacturer with a fully approved base train to work from. The hydrogen train will follow the design of the Transport for Wales fleet with two driving motor cars powered by Hoppecke batteries, the only difference being that instead of a diesel genset beneath the intermediate car the hydrogen train will have two carriages housing the fuel cells and hydrogen tanks.
Building on an approved base train must be the way to go.
Underfloor Power
This is said about the position of the hydrogen tanks and the fuel cells.
Unlike other trains the Vivarail Class 230s will store all the equipment beneath the floor making a much more stream-lined and efficient vehicle able to carry more passengers and deliver faster journey times.
I would suspect that Vivarail have designed tanks and fuel cells, that take up less space.
Modular Design
The design appears to be modular from this extract.
Vivarail’s standard modular power pack designs allow easy transition from one power source to another – in this case simply adapting a genset to a fuel cell. Both sit in the same space envelope beneath the train and indeed a train built as a diesel unit could be converted to run with hydrogen if required.
Would you design it, any other way?
Range Of 650 Miles
This is a thousand kilometres and seems to be the design range of most hydrogen trains.
Class-Leading Acceleration
It is a good idea to look at the ratio of weight to length of a basic trains, that will be converted to hydrogen power.
- Alstom – The Class 321 train has a figure of 1.72 tonnes/metre.
- Vivarail – The D78 Stock train has a figure of s 1.32 tonnes/metre.
The difference is probably because the D78 Stock is built from aluminium.
Keeping the weight down is a good way to increase the rate of acceleration.
Regenerative Braking
Why would you design a train without it?
Conclusion
The only supplier mentioned in the press release is Hoppecke, who will be making the batteries.
It looks to me that Vivarail have looked at every component for a hydrogen train and chosen the best ones with respect to performance, size and weight.
I shall be looking forward to taking a ride!
The Anonymous Widower 
Vivarail have just announced that they’ll be working with Arcola on their hydrogen trains, with a ‘proof of concept’ one ready for testing by the beginning of next year http://vivarail.co.uk/vivarail-and-arcola-announce-partnership-to-bring-emission-free-trains-to-the-uk/ Good to see someone with the standing of Adrian Shooter saying that ‘zero-emission trains are possible today’.
Comment by Peter Robins | May 8, 2019 |
I may have said before but Arcola are based close to where I live, next to the house where my grandmother was born and Reeve’s factory, where my mother was a comptometer operator in accounts. Remember Alan Sugar started Amstrad in Dalston Market, so the area has success in the genes!
Comment by AnonW | May 8, 2019 |