Latest On Hydrogen Trains In The Tees Valley
In the June 2021 Edition of Modern Railways, there is an article which is entitled Northern Looks To The Future.
This is a paragraph.
Northern has been working on proposals to introduce both hydrogen and battery conversions. For the former, the Tees Valley has been selected for the potential deployment of a whole system production pilot for a hydrogen fleet, with a dedicated depot, fuelling infrastructure and trains. A sub-fleet of Class 600 HMUs, converted by Alstom and Eversholt Rail from Class 321 EMUs and dubbed ‘Breeze’, is the preferred option for routes radiating from Middlesbrough to Nunthorpe, Bishop Auckland and Saltburn, creating a small self-contained network. If approved, these plans would fit with the Government’s aim to develop a hydrogen hub in the Tees Valley.
Could the Class 600 trains finally be on their way?
Northern Could Introduce Class 769 Trains At The Time-Table Change
In the June 2021 Edition of Modern Railways, there is an article which is entitled Northern Looks To The Future.
This is a paragraph.
After a series of delays, the May timetable change was due to see introduce the first of its eight Class 769 bi-modes into service. Converted from Class 319 EMUs by Brush Traction for owner Porterbrook, the Class 769 ‘Flex’ units are capable of overhead electric and diesel operation and will be deployed on Southport to Alderley Edge/Stalybridge services.Northern After a series of delays, the May timetable change was due to see Northern introduce the first of its eight Class 769 bi-modes into service. Converted from Class 319 EMUs by Brush Traction for owner Porterbrook, the Class 769 ‘Flex’ units are capable of overhead electric and diesel operation and will be deployed on Southport to Alderley Edge/Stalybridge services.
I have just checked on Real Time Trains and the Class 769 trains appear to be running.
How Siemens Gamesa Could Give Coal Plants a Second Life
This article on Greentech Media is a must-read as it makes you think. This is the sub-title.
The ETES thermal battery can offer coal plants a new life as heat and power storage hubs. The first customer for a full-size version could be on-board as early as next year.
It talks about the philosophy of reusing coal-fired power station sites and some of their equipment like turbines.
It is an idea much more applicable to countries like the US and Germany rather than the UK, as they still have lots of operational coal-fired power stations and and we only have a few.
I first came across this idea, when Highview Power were talking about their 50/MW/400 MWh installation in Vermont, which was to be built on the site of a demolished coal-fired power station. The utility company and Highview were in that case just reusing the grid connection.
But then I’ve heard of other energy storage systems using old power station sites.
And not to forget that Highview Power’s installation at Carrington is close to a gas-fired power station.
Bang Goes My Holiday!
There are various things I want to visit in Germany and I felt that the best thing to do would be go for a few days,
But the BBC are reporting these facts about travel to Germany.
- From Sunday, people travelling from the UK will not be allowed to enter Germany
- The decision is down to a rise in cases of the Indian variant in the UK
- German citizens and residents, plus people with an exceptional reason, can still enter – but face a two-week quarantine
So bang goes my holiday!
I particularly wanted to go to Hamburg to take a few pictures of the Siemens Gamesa ETES trial installation in the city.
However I’ve been able to locate the installation on Google Maps.
Note.
- The wind-turbine towards the South-West corner of the map.
- Siemens Gamesa ETES trial installation is the prominent odd shaped building towards the South-East corner of the map, just below the shadow of the turbine.
- The installation seems to have lots of pipes connected to it.
This second map shows the installation from an angle.
This document on the Siemens Gamesa web site describes the installation.
- The nominal power is 30 MW.
- The capacity is 130 MWh.
- 80 % of the technology is off the shelf.
The picture on the front says “Welcome To The New Stone Age”.
If anybody should find themselves in Hamburg with some time to waste, I’d be very grateful for a copyright-free image.
The installation appears to be just off the VollHöfner Weiden.
JCB Finds Cheap Way To Run Digger Using Hydrogen
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on The Times.
This is the first two paragraphs.
An operational hydrogen combustion engine developed in Derbyshire could speed up the shift towards zero-emissions transport.
JCB, the construction equipment manufacturer, said that the engine would be capable of powering heavy machinery and vehicles without producing any carbon dioxide.
As they have just modified one of their own production diesel engines to run on hydrogen, this sounds like a major breakthrough of the largest kind!
The caption on the picture says this.
JCB says that the technology could be applied in trucks, vans, trains, buses and even large cars.
What about small cars?
Or perhaps, that market will be left to Aquarius Engines, which I wrote about in New Hydrogen Engine Design Unveiled To Overcome Reliance On Fuel Cells.
You wait months for a major breakthrough in hydrogen propulsion to come along and then two ideas come along in one day.
The article gets better as you read it fully, which I suggest you do.
- It appears, that development only started last July.
- The engines are based on their current JCB diesel engines.
- Emissions include water, no CO2 and practically zero levels of NOx.
The article says this about costs.
It is thought that the hydrogen engines will cost about £10,000 each; costs will be kept down by using the same production lines and many of the same components as diesel engines. By comparison a prototype hydrogen fuel cell system, which is being adapted for a 20-tonne excavator as part of another JCB trial, will cost about £100,000. Batteries needed to power such a machine would probably cost in the region of £160,000, the company said.
When you consider that family member; Joe Bamford owns Wrightbus, I would expect that you’ll see a development of these engines coming to a bus route near you!
Conclusion
I have made money backing developments based on the properties of fluid flow at the small end of gaseous flow.
There are some weird effects there, which are not taught in A-level physics.
Have JCB found how to apply them to create the ultimate zero-carbon power unit?
I’m certainly not ruling it out!
The Anonymous Widower 