Seabed Rocks Could Act As Green Energy Stores
The title of this post is the same as that of this press release from the University of Strathclyde.
This is the first four paragraphs.
Rocks in the seabed off the UK coast could provide long-term storage locations for renewable energy production, new research suggests.
An advanced technique could be used to trap compressed air in porous rock formations found in the North Sea using electricity from renewable technologies.
The pressurised air could later be released to drive a turbine to generate large amounts of electricity.
Using the technique on a large scale could store enough compressed air to meet the UK’s electricity needs during winter, when demand is highest, the study found.
I read about this in today’s copy of The Times, which also says the following.
- There are suitable areas in the North and Irish Seas that can be used.
- The rocks could store fifty percent more energy than we used January and February.
As similar technology is being used in salt caverns in Germany and the United States, I feel that the idea has possibilities.
The Combined Car Park And Storage Battery
I don’t drive these days, but I did for well over forty years.
If I was still driving now and still lived in Suffolk, I’d be looking seriously at an electric car as an everyday runabout, as rarely in the last twenty years, have I had the need to do a long journey, that I couldn’t do by train.
So my electric car would probably sit in a car park space at Cambridge North station, attached to a charger, a lot of the time. But with better batteries and vehicle-to-grid systems, there will come a time, when you will park your battery vehicle and tell it you’ll be returning in a few hours or days and you’ll need say four hours of charge on return. Obviously, if your circumstances change, you will have an app on your phone to make adjustments.
Suppose your average car had a 30 kWh battery, this would mean that the 450 space car park at Cambridge North station, if say 300 spaces were for electric cars would have a electricity storage capacity of around 0.9MWh.
So if the wind wasn’t blowing or the sun wasn’t shining, then there’s probably about half a MWh of electricity that can be borrowed and still allow drivers to get home.
It may all sound terribly complicated, but electricity put into batteries at night or other quiet times, gets used when it’s needed.
Batteries and other forms of energy storage will be everywhere; in houses, offices, public buildings, wind and solar farms, and in every electric vehicle.
There are 31.,6million cars alone in the UK and how many are quietly sitting in car parks and garages or at the side of the street, for most of the day.
The Car Park As A Power Station
There will be multi-story car-parks reserved for electric cars.
- Each parking space will have a charging point.
- The roof will of course have solar panels.
- I would expect that in a few years time the connection between car and charger will be automatic.
- The parking charge would be based on a mixture of time parked and energy passed to or from the battery.
- Car parks would probably also be paid by National Grid dependent on how much energy they can make available automatically.
The control system for all this lot, would do my head in! But it would mean that all generated energy was either used or stored!
In some ways a car pack for electric cars would become a small power station.
Examples Of Car Parks
These car-parks would have some interesting applications.
Airports
Airports like Heathrow have a pollution problem and it’s not just the planes, but masses of diesel and petrol vehicles.
- To encourage more passengers to drive electric vehicles to an airport, why not make the closest car parks electric car only?
- Long-term car parks for electric vehicles could be a massive storage battery, which would be used to help power the airport.
- Car parks for electric cars would be less polluted.
- Car parks for electric cars could be under the ground with runways and taxiways on top.
Everyone would be a winner.
- Passengers’ electric cars would be earning an energy storage charge from the National Grid.
- The Airport would have a reliable back-up power source.
- There would be much less pollution at the Airport.
- National Grid would gain additional much-needed energy storage.
There will be a lot of thought going in to making airport parking more efficient and affordable for electric cars.
Business Parks And Offices
Much of the logic for airports would apply.
But I do feel, that companies with medium and large-sized fleets of vehicles will go electric, as they can then integrate energy management across their premises and fleet.
Town And City Centres
Towns and cities with a pollution problem like London, will surely use the best car parks as bribes to get more electric vehicles into the centre.
Residential Developments
The mind boggles at what could be done in residential developments.
- Cars could go to and from parking automatically.
- Every house would come with energy storage plus that in the car.
- The development would appear car-free.
- Cars could be in shared ownership with the development.
- There could be automatic trolleys running through the development delivering parcels.
The market will determine what is needed.
Conclusion
Creating car parks solely for electric cars will create energy storage units at points of employment, living, shopping and transport.
Axed Rail Routes May Be Reopened Under New Department for Transport Plans
The title of this post is the same as that on this article on Sky News.
This is the first two paragraphs.
The Department for Transport has confirmed it is actively working with a number of groups to explore the possibility of reopening old rail routes, axed under the so-called Beeching cuts of the 1960s.
It follows a call by Transport Secretary Chris Grayling a year ago, encouraging those in the public and private sector to submit proposals for potential projects to regenerate old lines.
It also quotes a Department of Transport spokesman.
This is on top of exploring reopening the Northumberland Line for passenger use, supporting the reinstatement of stations on the Camp Hill Line, developing new rail links to Heathrow and a new station at Cambridge South
He apparently, didn’t say more because of confidentiality.
The article then talks about the success of the Borders Railway in Scotland.
So is this just a good news story for Christmas or is there a plan to reopen old railway lines?
I feel that a several factors are coming together, that make the reopening of railway lines and the creation of new ones more likely.
Digital Signalling
Signalling is expensive, but where you have rolling stock to a high modern standard, with digital in-cab signalling, does this mean that new or reopened rail lines can be built without conventional signalling?
In addition, installing digital signalling on some routes, would probably make it easier to add a new station. Surely, it must just be a reprogramming of the route!
It could be a problem that, I would expect that on a digitally-signalled line, all trains must be capable of using it. But in many areas of the country, like East Anglia, these routes will be run by new trains.
Digital signalling must also make it easier to design more efficient single-track railways, with perhaps a passing loop to allow higher frequencies.
More Efficient Track Construction
Network Rail and their contractors and suppliers are getting better and more efficient at building track and bridges through difficult terrain and places, judging by some of their construction in recent years, such as the Acton Dive-Under and the Ordsall Chord. They have also overseen some notable successes in the refurbishment of viaducts and tunnels.
It should also be noted that the reopening of the Borders Railway was a successful project in terms of the engineering and was completed on budget and on time.
According to Wikipedia, though there was criticism of the infrastructure.
This is said.
The line’s construction has been described as resembling a “basic railway” built to a tight budget and incorporating a number of cost-saving features, such as using elderly two-carriage diesel trains and running the line as single track.
But looking back on the line from over three years since it opened, it has certainly been judged by many to be an undoubted success.
Would it have had the same level of success, if it had been built as a double-track electrified railway?
Single-Track Lines
The Borders Railway is a good example of an efficient single-track railway, that runs a half-hourly service.
Other routes like the East Suffolk Line and the Felixstowe Branch Line, show how good design can handle more than the most basic levels of traffic, with perhaps selective double track or a well-placed passing loop.
They may be dismissed by rail purists as basic railways, but when well-designed, they are able to provide the service that is needed along the route, for a construction cost that is affordable.
I would though advocate, that if a new single-track railway is built, that provision is made where possible to be able to add the second track. But not at too great an expense or to provide a service level that will never be needed.
I believe that good design of a new railway can cut the construction cost by a fair amount.
Single-Platform Stations
Several of the new stations built in recent years have been stations with only a single-platform.
- Cranbrook – A station in Devon on the West of England Main Line to serve a new housing development.
- Ebbw Vale Parkway – A parkway station in Ebbw Vale.
- Galashiels – A station, that handled 356,000 passengers last year. It is a unique station on a narrow site, that shares facilities with a large bus station on the other side of the road. It is a very functional transport interchange.
- James Cook – A basic but practical station, that serves the hospital in Middlesbrough. – It cost just over £2million in 2014.
- Newcourt – A £4million station handling over 100,000 passengers per year.
- Pye Corner – A basic station in Newport handling nearly 100,000 passengers per year.
The stations have several common characteristics.
- They can all handle at least a four-car train.
- The single-platform is used for services in both directions.
- Disabled access is either level or by a gently-sloping ramp.
Only James Cook station has a footbridge over the track.
These single-platform stations must cost less, as for instance a footbridge with lifts costs upwards of a million pounds.
Note that of the nine stations on the Borders Railway only three have two platforms.
Single-Platform Terminal Stations
There are also several terminal stations in the UK with only one platform.
- Aberdare – Handling over 500,000 passengers per year.
- Aberystwyth – Handling around 300,000 passengers per year.
- Alloa – Handling around 400,000 passengers per year.
- Aylesbury Vale Parkway – Handling over 100,000 passengers per year.
- Blackpool South – Handling over 100,000 passengers per year.
- Exmouth – Handling nearly a million passengers per year.
- Felixstowe – Handling around 200,000 passengers per year.
- Henley-on-Thames – Handling around 800,000 passengers per year.
- Marlow – Handling nearly 300,000 passengers per year.
- Merthyr Tydfil – Handling around 500,000 passengers per year.
- North Berwick – Handling around 600,000 passengers per year.
- Redditch– Handling over a million passengers per year.
- Seaford – Handling over 500,000 passengers per year.
- Shepperton – Handling around 400,000 passengers per year.
- Sheringham – Handling around 200,000 passengers per year.
- Walton-on-the-Naze – Handing around 130,000 passengers per year
- Windsor & Eton Central – Handling nearly two million passengers per year.
Many of these stations have only a single hourly train. whereas Redditch and Windsor & Eton Central stations have three trains per hour (tph).
As a single terminal platform can probably handle four tph, I suspect that most terminals for branch lines could be built with just a single platform.
No Electrification
Chris Grayling has said that the East West Rail Link will be built without electrification.
I wasn’t surprised.
- Network Rail has a very poor performance in installing electrification.
- There have been complaints about the visual intrusion of the overhead gantries.
- Electrification can cause major disruption to road traffic during installation, as bridges over the railway have to be raised.
In addition, I’ve been following alternative forms of low- or zero-carbon forms of train and feel they could offer a viable alternative
Bi-Mode, Hydrogen And Battery-Electric Trains
When the Borders Railway was reopened, unless the line had been electrified, it had to be run using diesel trains.
But in the intervening three years, rolling stock has developed and now a new or reopened railway doesn’t have to be electrified to be substantially served by electric trains.
- Bi-Mode trains are able to run on both diesel and electric power and Hitachi’s Class 800 trains are successfully in service. They will be shortly joined by Porterbrook’s innovative Class 769 trains.
- Hydrogen-powered trains have already entered service in Germany and they are being developed for the UK.
- Battery-electric trains have already been successfully demonstrated in the UK and will enter service in the next few years.
All of these types of train, will be able to run on a new railway line without electrification.
Bi-mode trains are only low-carbon on non-electrified lines, whereas the other trains are zero-carbon.
The trains on the Borders Railway must be prime candidates for replacement with hydrogen-powered or battery-electric trains.
Adding It All Up
Adding up the factors I have covered in this section leads me to conclude that rail developments over the last few years have made it possible to create a new railway line with the following characteristics.
- An efficient mainly single-track layout.
- Single-platform stations.
- A single-platform terminal station capable of handling well upwards of a million passengers per year.
- Service levels of up to four trains per hour.
- Zero-carbon operation without electrification.
- Low levels of visual and noise intrusion.
The new railway will also be delivered at a lower cost and without major disruption to surrounding road and rail routes.
The Need For More Housing And Other Developments
There is a very large demand for new housing and other developments all over the UK.
Several proposed rail projects are about connecting new developments with the rail network.
In London Overground Extension To Barking Riverside Gets Go Ahead, I listed a few developments in London, where developers and their financial backers, were prepared to put up around £20,000 for each house to fund decent rail-based transport links.
Obviously, developments in London are expensive, but with all the new developments, that have been built close to stations in the last few years, I suspect that infrastructure financiers. like Legal and General and Aviva, know how much being by a rail station is worth.
Conclusion
Both public and private infrastructure financiers will take advantage of the good railway and rolling stock engineering, which will mean the necessary rail links to new developments will be more affordable and zero-carbon.
Malta Energy Storage System Is Looking Forward To First Pilot
The title of this post is the same as that of this article on Tech Eplore.
This is the first paragraph.
Malta has received a round of funding and is graduated from “project” to group that can sail. The Cambridge, MA-based company is focused on the storage of electro-thermal energy and the funding put the group in celebration mode this month. In return, the company is turning up the volume on its potential role in the future of energy storage—namely, working out salt-based electro-thermal energy storage.
The article goes on to describe how the system works and I suggest you read it.
This is the last paragraph.
Malta CEO Ramya Swaminathan said the challenge ahead is about design and manufacturing, in Xconomy. Swaminathan said customers were expected to come from a variety of points in the energy system. Such as? She said they expect “developers with wind or solar projects who want firm power, to grid scale applications that can be in the hundreds of megawatts range, to critical backup for data centers, to isolated grid systems like island economies.”
I believe the technology has a lot going for it.
- It has heavyweight financial backing.
- The technology is very conventional and well-understood, which will ease manufacture and maintenance.
- No complex or expensive raw materials are needed.
- I would suspect that few, if any dangerous chemicals are needed.
- It would have developing country applications.
- They would seem to have a large capacity.
I shall be following Malta Inc. with interest.
Gates Among Billionaires Backing Alphabet Energy Spinoff
The title of this post is the same as that of this article on Bloomberg.
This is the first paragraph.
Alphabet Inc.’s secretive X moonshot lab is spinning off an energy-storage project with backing from billionaires including Jeff Bezos and Bill Gates.
Read the article. This could be the affordable grid-scale energy storage everyone needs.
Stadler’s New Tri-Mode Class 93 Locomotive
In Thoughts On A Battery/Electric Replacement For A Class 66 Locomotive, I looked at an electro-diesel freight locomotive with batteries instead of a diesel engine, as a freight locomotive. It would have the size and weight of a Class 70 locomotive and perhaps use similar technology to Stadler’s Class 88 locomotive.
I concluded the article like this.
It would be a heavyweight locomotive with a performance to match.
I believe that such a locomotive would be a very useful addition to the UK’s fleet of freight locomotives.
Stadler have not produced a battery/electric replacement for a Class 66 locomotive, but they have added a diesel/electric/battery Class 93 locomotive with a heavyweight performance to their Class 68/88 or UKLIGHT family of locomotives built at Valencia in Spain.
Details of the locomotive are given in this article in Rail Magazine, which is entitled Rail Operations Fuels Its Ambitions With Tri-Mode Class 93s. There is also a longerand more detailed article in the print edition of the magazine, which I purchased today.
Reading both copies of the article, I can say the following.
A More Powerful Class 88 Locomotive
At a first glance, the Class 93 locomotive appears to be a more powerful version of the Class 88 locomotive.
- The power on electric mode is the same in both locomotives at four megawatt. It would probably use the same electrical systems.
- Some reports give the diesel power of the Class 93 locomotive as 1.34 MW as opposed to 0.7 MW of the Class 88 locomotive.
- The Class 93 locomotive has a top speed of 110 mph, as opposed to the 100 mph of the Class 88 locomotive.
- The article says, “It’s an ’88’ design with the biggest engine we could fit.”
It would also appear that much of the design of the two locomotives is identical, which must make design, building and certification easier.
The Class 93 Locomotive Is Described As A Hybrid Locomotive
Much of the article is an interview with Karl Watts, who is Chief Executive Officer of Rail Operations (UK) Ltd, who have ordered ten Class 93 locomotives. He says this.
However, the Swiss manufacturer offered a solution involving involving an uprated diesel alternator set plus Lithium Titanate Oxide (LTO) batteries.
Other information on the batteries includes.
- The batteries are used in regenerative braking.
- Batteries can be charged by the alternator or the pantoraph.
- Each locomotive has two batteries slightly bigger than a large suitcase.
Nothing is said about the capacity of the batteries, but each could be say 200 litres in size.
I have looked up manufacturers of lithium-titanate batteries and there is a Swiss manufacturer of the batteries called Leclanche, which has this data sheet, that describes a LT30 Power cell 30Ah.
- This small cell is 285 mm x 178.5 mm x 12 mm.
- It has a storage capacity of 65 Wh
- It has an expedited lifetime of greater than 15,000 cycles.
- It has an energy density of 60 Wh/Kg or 135 Wh/litre
These cells can be built up into much larger batteries.
- A large suitcase is 150 litres and this volume would hold 20 kWh and weigh 333 Kg.
- A battery of 300 litres would hold 40 kWh. Is this a large Swiss suitcase?
- A box 2.5 metres x 1 metre x 0.3 metres underneath a train would hold 100 kWh and weigh 1.7 tonnes
These batteries with their fast charge and discharge are almost like supercapacitors.
, It would appear that, if the large suitcase batteries are used the Class 93 locomotive will have an energy storage capacity of 80 kWh.
But this is said about Class 93 locomotive performance..
LTO batteries were chosen because they offer a rapid recharge and can maintain line speed while climbing a gradient, and will recharge when running downhill.
Looking at the batteries, they could provide up to around 40 kW of extra power for perhaps half an hour to help the train climb a gradient and then recharge using regenerative braking or the diesel alternator.
This is a hybrid vehicle, with all the efficiency advantages.
The article does say, that with a light load, the locomotives can do 110 mph on hybrid. Nothing is said about what is a light load.
Could it be a rake of five modern Mark 5A coaches?
In Thoughts On A Battery Electric Class 88 Locomotive On TransPennine Routes, I said this.
It is worth looking at the kinetic energy of a Class 88 locomotive hauling five forty-three tonne CAF Mark 5A coaches containing a full load of 340 passengers, who each weigh 90 Kg with baggage, bikes and buggies. This gives a total weight would be 331.7 tonnes.
The kinetic energy of the train would be as follows for various speeds.
90 mph – 75 kWh
100 mph – 92 kWh
110 mph – 111 kWh
125 mph – 144 kWhThe increase in energy is because kinetic energy is proportional to the square of the speed.
There would be little difference in this calculation, using a Class 93 locomotive, which is only a tonne heavier. The kinetic energy at 100 mph, would be 93 kWh.
This could be very convenient, as it looks like the battery capacity could be almost as large as the kinetic energy of a fully-loaded train.
A train stopping in a station without electrification, would cut diesel running drammatically in the station and when accelerating away.
Similar Weight And Axle Load To A Class 88 Locomotive
The article states that the locomotive will weight 87 tonnes, as opposed to the 86 tonnes of a Class 88 locomotive.
As both locomotives have four axles, this would mean that their axle loading is almost the same.
So anywhere the Class 88 locomotive can go, is most likely to be territory suitable for the Class 93 locomotive.
Again, this must make certification easier.
A Modular Design
In a rail forum, members were saying that the Class 93 locomotive has a modular design.
So will we see other specifications with different sized diesel engines and batteries?
The TransPennine routes, for example, might need a locomotive with a smaller diesel engine, more battery capacity and a 125 mph-capability for the East Coast Main Line.
Stadler have said they specialise in niche markets. Have they developed the tailor-made locomotive?
Power Of Various Locomotives
These are various UK locomotives and their power levels in megawatts.
- Class 43 – Diesel – 1.7
- Class 66 – Diesel – 2.4
- Class 67 – Diesel – 2.4
- Class 68 – Diesel – 2.8
- Class 88 – Electric – 4
- Class 88 – Diesel – 0.7
- Class 90 – Electric – 3.9
- Class 91 – Electric – 4.8
- Class 93 – Electric – 4
- Class 93 – Diesel – 0.9
- Class 93 – Hybrid – 1.3
The interesting figure, is that the Class 93 locomotive has 53 % of the diesel power of a Class 43 locomotive from an InterCity 125. The difference could probably be made up at times using battery power, where needed. The batteries could be partly recharged using regenerative braking.
Could The Locomotive Be Uprated To 125 mph?
Consider.
- The UK has successfully run 125 mph Class 43 and 91 locomotives for many years.
- Stadler has built trains that run at that speed.
- Mark 3, Mark 4 and Mark 5A coaches are all certified for 125 mph.
- There are hundreds of miles of track in the UK, where 125 mph running is possible.
I would think it very unlikely, that the engineers designing the Class 93 locomotive, ruled out the possibility of 125 mph running in the future!
Only Stadler will know!
Could A Battery/Electric Version Of The Locomotive Be Created?
I don’t see why not!
The diesel engine, fuel, exhaust and cooling systems and some ancilliary systems could all be removed and be replaced with an equivalent weight of batteries.
As the C27 diesel engine in a Class 88 locomotive weighs almost seven tonnes, I suspect a ten tonne battery would be possible.
Given the current typical energy density and using the Leclanche figures, this would mean that the batteries would have a total capacity of around 700-700 kWh.
Possible Uses Of The Class 93 Locomotive
The Rail Magazine article goes on to detail some of the uses of a Class 93 locomotive.
Express Freight
Karl Watts says this.
They can operate express freight. In Europe, there are vehicles capable of 100 mph running, and these are perfect for high-speed domestic freight. We have been running intermodals at 75 mph since the 1960s – It’s time to change that.
The locomotive would certainly be able to haul express freight at 100 mph on an electrified main line.
Note the following.
- This would greatly help with freight between Felixstowe and London on the 100 mph Great Eastern Main Line.
- Running freight trains at 100 mph on the major electrified lines would increase capacity, of the lines.
- Ports and freight terminals wouldn’t need to be electrified.
Overall, the proportion of freight mileage, where electric power was used, would grow significantly.
Electrification Gap Jumping
In Thoughts On A Battery/Electric Replacement For A Class 66 Locomotive, I gave a list of typical gaps in the electrification in the UK.
- Didcot and Birmingham – Around two-and-a-half hours
- Didcot and Coventry – Just under two hours
- Felixstowe and Ipswich – Around an hour
- Haughley Junction and Peterborough – Around two hours
- Southampton and Reading – Around one-and-a-half hours
- Werrington Junction and Doncaster via Lincoln – Around two hours
- Werrington Junction and Nuneaton – Just under two hours
How many of these gaps could be bridged by a Class 93 locomotive working in a diesel hybrid mode?
It should be noted, that many of the busiest gaps are in the flatter Eastern areas of England.
I’m sure Stadler and Rail Operations Group have done extensive simulation of possible routes and know where the locomotives are best suited.
Class 66 Locomotive Replacement
I suspect that several of these locomotives will end up replacing duties currently done by Class 66 locomotives.
It could haul an intermodal freight from Felixstowe to Manchester, Liverpool, Glasgow or Doncaster, using electrification where it exists.
And do it at a speed of 100 mph, where speed limits allow!
No other locomotive on the UK network could do that!
Use On Electrified Urban Freight Routes
Near to where I live there are two electrified lines passing through North London; the North London Line and the Gospel Oak To Barking Line.
Both lines have several freight trains a day passing through, that are still hauled by diesel locomotives.
There are other urban freight routes around the UK, where despite electrification, polluting diesel locomotives are still used.
Class 93 locomotives would be an ideal environmentally-friendly replacement locomotive on these routes.
Thunderbird Duties
Karl Watts says this.
They can be used for network recovery as a more comprehensive Thunderbird. Currently, stand-by locomotives are hired or used by an operator to rescue its own trains, but these would be available for anything or anyone. I have sopken to Network Rail about this and they need convincing. But as the network gets busier, so it will be that one failure causes chaos.
Perhaps, a better method for recovering failed trains could be developed.
Passenger Trains
Karl Watts says this.
I can say that the 93s’ feature n two franchise bids, although I cannot say which, due to non-disclosure agreements.
We can only speculate!
Class 93 locomotives could replace the Class 68 locomotives on TransPennine Express services between Liverpool and Scarborough, where Mark 5A coaches will be used.
- Electric mode could be used between Liverpool and Stalybridge and on the East Coast Main Line.
- Diesel or hybrid mode would be used where needed.
- If the locomotives could be uprated to 125 mph, that would help on the East Coast Main Line.
There are certainly, redundant Mark 4 coaches or new Mark 5A coaches that could be used to provide services.
An InterCity 125 For the Twenty-First Century
The InterCity 125 is a masterpiece of engineering, that passengers love.
One of the reasons for the success, is the superb dynamics of the train, which gives them a very comfortable ride.
Could it be that by putting two Class 93 locomotives at each end of a rake of suitable coaches could create a 125 mph train, with the same faultless dynamics?
The answer is probably yes, but in many cases either half-length trains or bi-mode multiple units may be a more affordable or capable train.
The locomotive certainly gives a lot of flexibility.
Conclusion
This is going to be a very useful locomotive.
This was the last paragraph of the printed article, as spoken by Karl Watts.
I don’t think I will be ordering only ten or 20 – there will be more.
I have registered 93001 to 93050.
The word hybrid opens the door.
I think this might be the third member of a very large and widespread family.
Thoughts On A Battery/Electric Replacement For A Class 66 Locomotive
Many of the long freight routes from Felixstowe and Southampton are hauled by diesel locomotives like the environmentally-unfriendly Class 66 locomotive.
Electric haulage can’t be used because of significant gaps in the 25 KVAC overhead electrification. Gaps and a typical transit time of a Class 66-hauled heavy freight train include.
- Didcot and Birmingham – Around two-and-a-half hours
- Didcot and Coventry – Just under two hours
- Felixstowe and Ipswich – Around an hour
- Haughley Junction and Peterborough – Around two hours
- Southampton and Reading – Around one-and-a-half hours
- Werrington Junction and Doncaster via Lincoln – Around two hours
- Werrington Junction and Nuneaton – Just under two hours
Would it be possible to design a battery/electric hravy locomotive, that could bridge these gaps?
Consider the following.
- A Class 66 locomotive has a power output of around 2500 kW.
- To run for two hours on battery would require a battery of 5000 kWh.
- A 5000 kWh battery would weigh around fifty tonnes. But battery energy densities are getting higher, which would reduce the weight.
- A Class 70 locomotive is a heavy freight diesel Co-Co locomotive with a weight of 134 tonnes with a full tank of diesel.
- A Class 88 locomotive is an electro-diesel locomotive, that without the diesel engine weighs about 80 tonnes.
- A Class 88 locomotive has a power output of 4,000 kW on 25 KVAC overhead electrification
Putting this information together and I think it would be possible to design a battery/electric locomotive with the following specification.
- 4000 kW on 25 KVAC overhead electrification
- Ability to use 750 VDC third-rail electrification
- Ability to change between running on electrification and battery in under a minute and at line speed.
- A 5000 kWh battery.
- Ability to charge the battery, when connected to electrification.
- Ability to use a rapid charging system.
- Two hour range with 2500 kW on battery power.
- Regenerative braking to the battery.
- Co-Co configuration
- Dimensions, weight and axle loading similar to a Class 70 locomotive.
These are a few other thoughts.
Passing Loops With Charging Stations
Passing loops are often provided for freight trains, so that passenger trains can pass a slow freight train. So why not fit these loops with a charging station, so that trains can stop for say twenty minutes to charge or top up the batteries?
Electrification Islands
There are places, where it would be easy to create, what is best described as an electrification island.
I describe electrification islands in The Concept Of Electrification Islands.
Last Mile Applications
Ports and Container Terminals are often without electrification.
The proposed locomotive would be able to work in these environments.
A couple of yeas ago, I had a long talk with a crane operator at the Port of Felixstowe, who I met on a train going to football. He was of the opinion, that Health and Safety is paramount and he would not like 25 KVAC overhead electrification all over the place. Containers do get dropped!
So if freight locomotives used battery power inside the port, most would be pleased.
The only cost for ports and freight terminals would be installing some form of charging.
Maximum Power On Batteries
I suspect that the maximum power on battery would also be the same as the 4,000 kW using 25 KVAC overhead electrification, as the locomotive may have applications, where very heavy trains are moved on partially electrified lines.
Diesel-Free Operation
The proposed locomotive will not use any diesel and will essentially be an electric locomotive, with the ability to use stored onboard power.
Environmentally-Friendly Operation
Freight routes often pass through areas, where heavy diesel locomotives are not appreciated.
- The proposed locomotive will not be emitting any exhaust or noxious gases.
- Noise would be similar to an electric locomotive.
- They would be quieter using battery-power on lines without overhead electrification, as there would be no pantograph noise.
I think on balance, those living by freight routes will welcome the proposed locomotive.
Would Services Be Faster?
This would depend on the route, but consider a heavy freight train going from Felixstowe to Leeds.
- On the electrified East Coast Main Line, the proposed battery-electric locomotive would have a power of 4,000 kW, as opposed to the 2,500 kW of the Class 66 locomotive.
- On sections without electrification, the locomotive would have more power if required, although it would probably be used sparingly.
- The locomotive would have a Driver Assistance System to optimise power use to the train weight and other conditions.
I feel on balance, that services could be faster, as more power could be applied without lots of pollution and noise.
Creeping With Very Heavy Loads
I suspect they would be able to creep with very heavy loads, as does the Class 59 locomotive.
Class 59 Locomotive Replacement
The proposed locomotive may well be able to replace Class 59 locomotives in some applications.
Any Extra Electrification Will Be Greatly Appreciated
Some gaps in electrification are quite long.
For example, Didcot and Birmingham takes about two and a half hours.
- Didcot is on the electrified Great Western Main Line.
- Birmingham has a lot of electrified lines.
So perhaps there could be some extra electrification at both ends of busy freight routes.
Electrification between Didcot and Wolvercote Junction would be a possibility.
- It would be about twelve miles
- It is very busy with heavy freight trains.
- The natives complain about the railway.
- It would allow Great Western Railway to run electric trains to and from London.
- If Chiltern Railways were to run battery-electric trains to Oxford, it would provide electrification for charging at Oxford.
- Electrification could be extended to Oxford Parkway station to make sure battery-electric trains would get a good send-off to Cambridge
This simple example shows, why bi-mode and battery/electric trains don’t mean the end of electrification.
All vehicles; rail or road and especially electric ones, need to take on fuel!
I also think, that there is scope to electrify some passing loops, so that locomotives can top-up en route.
Conclusion
It would be a heavyweight locomotive with a performance to match.
I believe that such a locomotive would be a very useful addition to the UK’s fleet of freight locomotives.
EDF Energy Targets Solar Homes With Discounted Battery Offer
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on Solar Power Portal.
The title shows the way things are going. Although, I doubt, I would use EDF, as they are one of the companies who have ripped us off for a long time.
I have said that I will fit a battery in this house to go with the solar panels on my roof. I will also fit an electric car charging point in the garage, so that when I sell the house in a few years, the house will have more buyer appeal.
At around seven thousand pounds, the 8.2 kWh battery mentioned in the article, would be within my price range, but I suspect that price will decrease.
South Australia Launches AU$50 Million Fund For Grid-Scale Energy Storage
The title of this post is the same as that of this article on Energy Storage News.
This is the first paragraph.
In order to address intermittency in its grid, the South Australian Government has introduced a AU$50 million (US$36 million) Grid Scale Storage Fund (GSSF) to help accelerate the deployment of new large energy storage projects, including pumped hydro, hydrogen, gas storage, solar thermal, bioenergy and battery storage.
It is a must-read article, which shows the way progressive governments are thinking.
The Anonymous Widower 