First Passenger Journey In The UK With mtu Hybrid PowerPack
The title of this post, is the same as that of this press release from Rolls-Royce.
This is the first paragraph.
The mtu Hybrid-PowerPack has passed another milestone successfully: In the UK, a train with mtu hybrid drive carried passengers for the first time as part of a special journey.
So how did mtu, a German manufacturer of large diesel engines for trains and ships, end up in bed with Rolls-Royce?
Wikipedia says this.
MTU Friedrichshafen remained a subsidiary of DaimlerChrysler until 2006 when it was sold off to the EQT IV private equity fund, becoming a part of the Tognum Corporation.
Rolls-Royce Holdings and Daimler AG acquired Tognum in 2011. In 2014, Tognum was renamed Rolls-Royce Power Systems, having become a 100 per cent subsidiary of Rolls-Royce Holdings.
A bit tortuous, to say the least!
This paragraph from the press release describes the journey.
The journey of the train – called HybridFLEX – was part of celebrations to mark the 25th anniversary of UK rail operator Chiltern Railways, which will use the train on its routes. It is a converted Turbostar DMU, which was previously equipped with a conventional mtu drive system.
It doesn’t sound very special, but it’s the equivalent of taking your BMW, Jaguar or Mercedes from twenty years ago and converting it to a full hybrid car with batteries, to assist the diesel engine.
Fuel and emission savings of 25 per cent are claimed, with the additional benefit that the train will not use the diesel engines in stations or sensitive areas.
In HybridFLEX Battery-Diesel Train Continues Programme Of Testing, I said this.
In the UK, the following diesel multiple units are fitted with modern MTU engines and could be candidates from a replacement power pack.
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- Class 168 train – 19 trains – 82 diesel engines
- Class 170 train – 136 trains – 350 diesel engines
- Class 171 train – 20 trains – 56 diesel engines
- Class 172 train – 39 trains – 93 diesel engines
- Class 195 train – 58 trains – 149 diesel engines
- Class 196 train – 26 trains – 80 diesel engines
- Class 197 train – 77 trains – 180 diesel engines
That is a total of 990 diesel engines.
As some of the Class 196 and Class 197 trains have yet to be delivered, I do wonder, if it would be sensible to deliver them as diesel-battery hybrid trains.
That is a lot of diesel engines, that could be replaced by MTU Hybrid Power Packs.
Conversions of other trains are also ongoing in Germany and Ireland.
This article from Rolls-Royce, is entitled Hybrid Train Trials and gives a lot more details.
This is a quote from the article on fuel savings.
A fuel saving of 15 per cent is a
fantastic result and means that under
optimum conditions, 20 to 25
per cent should be possible.
The savings certainly fit with Chiltern’s findings.
I have a few questions.
Can Locomotive Size PowerPacks Be Built?
As an engineer, I don’t see why not!
And there is certainly a need for them to cut diesel usage and carbon emissions with locomotives.
Conclusion
These conversions could be a very good interim solution.
The Anonymous Widower 