Heidelberg Plans Net-Zero Cement Plant For Sweden
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on The Times.
Making cement creates about ten percent of man-made carbon emissions. See Wikipedia for CO2 Emissions From Cement.
Making cement needs a lot of energy and I suspect most comes from natural gas these days.
But I suspect there are ways to simply cut the carbon emissions.
- Making cement is a continuous process and I suspect adding carbon capture would be easier than with other industrial processes like steelmaking.
- Hydrogen rather than natural gas could be used to provide energy.
There also may be other ways of making cement. See Ecological Cement on Wikipedia.
What Would Be The Ultimate Range Of A Nine-Car Class 800 Train?
In Thoughts On Batteries On A Hitachi Intercity Tri-Mode Battery Train, I had a section, which was called The Ultimate Battery Train.
I said this.
I think it would be possible to put together a nine car battery-electric train with a long range.
- It would be based based on Hitachi Intercity Tri-Mode Battery Train technology, which would be applied to a Class 800 or Class 802 train.
- It would have two driver cars without batteries.
- It would have seven intermediate cars with 600 kWh batteries.
- It would have a total battery capacity of 4200 kWh.
- The train would be optimised for 100 mph running.
- My estimate in How Much Power Is Needed To Run A Train At 125 Or 100 mph?, said it would need 2.19 kWh per vehicle mile to cruise at 100 mph.
That would give a range of over 200 miles.
If the batteries were only 500 kWh, the range would be 178 miles.
Aberdeen, Inverness, Penzance and Swansea here we come.
Note that I have ignored energy lost in the station stops.
Energy Use And Recovery In A Station Stop
The station stop will be handled something like this.
The train will be happily trundling along at 100 mph.
At the right moment, the driver will apply the brakes and the train will stop in the station.
With trains like these Hitachi trains and many others, braking is performed by turning the traction motors into generators and the kinetic energy of the train will be turned into electricity.
Normally with this regenerative braking, the electricity is returned to the track, but these trains are not running on electrified track, so the electricity will be stored in the traction batteries on the train. This is often done in battery-electric road vehicles.
After the stop, the train will use battery power to accelerate back to 100 mph.
What kinetic energy will a Class 800 train have at 100 mph?
- The basic weight of a nine-car Class 800 train is 438 tonnes.
- I am assuming that the batteries are no heavier than the diesel engines they replace.
- The trains hold 611 passengers.
- I will assume each weighs 80 Kg with baggage, bikes and buggies, which gives a weight of 48.9 tonnes.
- This gives a total train weight of 486.9 tonnes.
Using Omni’s Kinetic Energy Calculator, gives a kinetic energy of 135.145 kWh.
When I first saw figures like this, I felt I had something wrong, but after checking time and time again, they still appear.
At each stop a proportion of the train’s kinetic energy will not be recovered.
These figures show the extra energy needed at each stop with different regenerative braking efficiencies.
- 100 % – 0 kWh
- 90 % – 13.51 kWh
- 80 % – 27.03 kWh
- 70 % – 40.54 kWh
- 60 % – 54.06 kWh
Obviously, the more efficient the regenerative braking, the less energy that needs to be added at each stop.
Edinburgh And Aberdeen
I am using Edinburgh and Aberdeen as an example.
Consider.
- I am assuming the train is cruising at 100 mph along the route.
- There are seven stations to the North of Haymarket station.
- If I assume 60 % regenerative braking efficiency, then each stop will need 54.06 kWh of electricity from the batteries.
- This gives a total of 378.4 kWh for the stops. Let’s call it 400 kWh.
- This effectively reduces the usable battery size to 3800 kWh
- Take off 200 kWh to make sure there’s always space for regenerative braking energy and useable battery size is 3600 kWh.
This can then be divided by the number of cars and 2.19 kWh per vehicle mile, to get the range.
This gives a range of over 180 miles.
With 500 kWh batteries the distance is just under 180 miles.
It certainly appears that a battery-electric train with seven 500-600 kWh batteries should be able to run between Edinburgh and Aberdeen.
Obviously, charging would be needed at Aberdeen.
What Would Be The Ultimate Range Of A Five-Car Class 800 Train?
What kinetic energy will a five-car Class 800 train have at 100 mph?
- The basic weight of a five-car Class 800 train is 243 tonnes.
- I am assuming that the batteries are no heavier than the diesel engines they replace.
- The trains hold 302 passengers.
- I will assume each weighs 80 Kg with baggage, bikes and buggies, which gives a weight of 25.6 tonnes.
- This gives a total train weight of 268.6 tonnes.
Using Omni’s Kinetic Energy Calculator, gives a kinetic energy of 74.6 kWh.
I will now use Edinburgh and Aberdeen as an example.
Consider.
- I am assuming the train is cruising at 100 mph along the route.
- I am assuming that the three intermediate cars have 600 kWh batteries.
- There are seven stations to the North of Haymarket station.
- If I assume 60 % regenerative braking efficiency, then each stop will need 29.84 kWh of electricity from the batteries.
- This gives a total of 208.9 kWh for the stops. Let’s call it 210 kWh.
- This effectively reduces the usable battery size to 1590 kWh
- Take off 100 kWh to make sure there’s always space for regenerative braking energy and useable battery size is 1490 kWh.
This can then be divided by the number of cars and 2.19 kWh per vehicle mile, to get the range.
This gives a range of over 136 miles.
With 500 kWh batteries the distance is around 110 miles.
It looks to me, that from these calculations that a nine-car train with battery packs in all the intermediate cars has a longer range than a five-car train with battery packs in all the intermediate cars.
What Would Be The Range Of a Five-Car Class 803 Train Equipped With Batteries?
What kinetic energy will a five-car Class 803 train have at 100 mph?
- The basic weight of a five-car Class 803 train is 228.5 tonnes.
- Three 600 kWh batteries could add 18 tonnes
- The trains hold 400 passengers.
- I will assume each weighs 80 Kg with baggage, bikes and buggies, which gives a weight of 32 tonnes.
- This gives a total train weight of 278.5 tonnes.
Using Omni’s Kinetic Energy Calculator, gives a kinetic energy of 77.3 kWh.
As before, I will now use Edinburgh and Aberdeen as an example.
Consider.
- I am assuming the train is cruising at 100 mph along the route.
- I am assuming that the three intermediate cars have 600 kWh batteries.
- There are seven stations to the North of Haymarket station.
- If I assume 60 % regenerative braking efficiency, then each stop will need 30.92 kWh of electricity from the batteries.
- This gives a total of 216.4 kWh for the stops. Let’s call it 220 kWh.
- This effectively reduces the usable battery size to 1580 kWh
- Take off 100 kWh to make sure there’s always space for regenerative braking energy and useable battery size is 1480 kWh.
This can then be divided by the number of cars and 2.19 kWh per vehicle mile, to get the range.
This gives a range of over 135 miles.
With 500 kWh batteries the distance is around 110 miles.
Catching The Blue Train
I’m off this morning to try to catch one of East Coast Trains‘ Class 803 trains, as it comes South through Oakleigh Park station around 13:30 today.
I managed to get these pictures.
Note.
- I’m afraid the train caught me a bit by surprise.
- The train is currently under test, prior to starting services in October this year.
It must be nearly 65 years since I first watched the trains at Oakleigh Park station.
All You Want To Know About Highview Power
This article on Power is entitled Market Prospects Heating Up for Cryogenic Energy Storage.
It talks in detail about the technology, financing and market prospects for Highview Power and their CRYOBattery.
- Their batteries store energy by liquifying air and storing it in large tanks.
- To recover the energy, the air is encouraged to go to a gaseous phase and put through an air turbine.
- Their first commercial system is being built at Carrington near Manchester.
- The Carrington system will have an output of 50 MW and be able to store up to 250 MWh.
- Other systems are under development for Vermont and Spain.
- The systems are built like Leho from readily available components from the oil and gas industry.
One of my regrets in life, is that I missed the crowdfunding for this company!
Read the article as you might find one of Highview Power’s CRYOBatteries coming to a site near you.
Power’s article is the best yet on describing the technology.
Thoughts On Batteries On A Hitachi Regional Battery Train
This article is a repeat of Thoughts On Batteries On A Hitachi Intercity Tri-Mode Battery Train, but for their other train with batteries; the Hitachi Regional Battery Train.
This Hitachi infographic describes a Hitachi Regional Battery Train.
Hitachi are creating the first of these battery trains, by replacing one of the diesel power-packs in a Class 802 train with a battery-pack from Hyperdrive Innovation of Sunderland.
The Class 802 train has the following characteristics.
- Five cars.
- Three diesel power-packs, each with a power output of 700 kW.
- 125 mph top speed on electricity.
- I believe all intermediate cars are wired for diesel power-packs, so can all intermediate cars have a battery?
In How Much Power Is Needed To Run A Train At 125 Or 100 mph?, I estimated that the trains need the following amounts of energy to keep them at a constant speed.
- Class 801 train – 125 mph 3.42 kWh per vehicle mile
- Class 801 train – 100 mph 2.19 kWh per vehicle mile
The figures are my best estimates.
We also know that according to Hitachi, the battery train has a range of 90 kilometres or 56 miles at a speed of 100 mph.
So applying the formula for energy needed gives that the battery size to cover 56 miles at a constant 100 mph will be.
56 * 2.19 * 5 = 613.2 kWh.
In the calculation for the Hitachi Intercity Tri-Mofr Battery Train, I had assumed that a 600 kWh battery was feasible, as it would lay less than the diesel engine it replaced.
I can also apply the formula for a four-car train.
56 * 2.19 * 4 = 490.6 kWh.
That too, would be very feasible.
Conclusion
I can’t wait to ride in one of Hitachi’s two proposed battery-electric trains.
What Does Novak Djorkovic Tell Us About The Covids?
If you search the Internet for “coeliac disease and Novac Djokovic, you get a lot of posts linking to gluten-free diet and some to coeliac disease.
Some say he is coeliac and others say he is just gluten-free.
There are also reports on the Internet of Novac Djokovic having Covid-19.
So does that tell us anything about gluten-free diets, coeliac disease and Covid-19?
As there are no reports of him spending a long time in hospital, it doesn’t disprove my theory, that coeliacs on a gluten-free diet don’t get serious doses of the Covids!
I’d love to hear more stories of coeliacs on a gluten-free diet, who have caught Covid-19.
Nestlé’s Glass Train Shifts More Cargo From Road To Rail
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on RailFreight.com.
This is the first paragraph.
In France, Nestlé Water is bringing more trains to the rails for the transport of reusable water bottles to and from the production site. The Glass Train project, as it is called, is also getting two more destinations; Arles in Southern France and Merrey in the country’s East. The 25 new trains will help the company remove up to 1,000 trucks off the road and save approximately 500 tons in CO2 emissions.
Nestlé is expanding the project to Vittel and Pellegrino.
Conclusion
We need more projects like this!
Are Kraft Heinz Up To Something?
This article on The Times, is entitled Ketchup On Its Way Back To Britain As Kraft Heinz Invests In UK Site.
This is the first two paragraphs.
Heinz tomato ketchup will be made in Britain again after its owner announced plans for a £140 million upgrade of a site on the outskirts of Wigan.
Europe’s largest food manufacturing facility is set to start making the sauces of Kraft Heinz, which also include mayonnaise and salad cream, in a move designed to meet demand in the UK.
I wrote about Kraft recently in Kraft Heinz And Freight Innovation, where they were experimenting with Network Rail to get goods to their Wigan site faster and with less carbon emissions.
I think the two stories might fit together.
have just looked at my 435 gram bottle of Heinz tomato ketchup. It states on the bottle that every 100 grams of the sauce is made from 174 grams of tomatoes. I suspect leaving in the pips and the skins would make a rather lumpy sauce!
But this means that for every tonne of sauce, there is a need for 1.74 tonnes of tomatoes.
Could this be a reason why Kraft Heinz ran an experiment a couple of months ago with bringing in goods to the site at Wigan by rail?
There could be TomatoLiner trains all the way from Spain or Italy.
Or perhaps, they could link Wigan to Lincolnshire or South Yorkshire, where tomatoes could be grown in large automated greenhouses, heated by the waste heat from all the power stations. Carbon dioxide from gas-fired power stations could also be used to make the tomatoes grow big and strong.
Why shouldn’t we eat the carbon dioxide we produce?
The more I look at Google Maps of Lincolnshire and South Yorkshire, the more I think that cost-competitive UK-produced tomatoes could be one of the reasons for this move.
I have found companies like Yorkshire Grown Produce, who grow the speciality varieties of tomatoes for supermarkets. and CambridgeHOK, who design and build the automated greenhouses.
But the problem, all growers of fruit and vegetables face, is the lack of people to do the harvesting, at an affordable price.
- As a Control Engineer, who has worked on automation, it is my view that robot or automatic harvesting is needed.
- After all robots don’t get drunk at the weekend and not turn up on Mondays.
I haven’t found a robot that would pick tomatoes yet, but I suspect there’s a company out there working on it.
Yorkshire Grown Produce are in Brough, a few files to the South-West of Hull. and say they can provide quality tomatoes from March to November.
So could a company provide affordable tomatoes to Kraft Heinz’s specification for 9-10 months of the year?
- Looking at bottles of Ketchup, it appears they have a shelf life of at least a year, so the month’s without tomatoes could be bridged by a warehouse.
- I also suspect that automated greenhouses could turn out guaranteed Organic tomatoes.
- The tomatoes would arrive in Wigan the day they are picked.
- It probably wouldn’t be a large train every day and the line at Wigan is not electrified, so it wouldn’t necessarily be a zero-carbon trip across the Pennines.
I can see an efficient system for the production of tomato ketchup, which could be labelled organic and 100 % British.
How many tonnes of carbon emissions would be saved? Probably not many! But it’s the thought that counts.
If this isn’t technology-aided marketing, I don’t know what is?
Conclusion
How many other production and delivery processes can be simplified by the use of rail?
Ealing Broadway Station – 31st May 2021
This article on Rail Technology Magazine, which is entitled Transport for London Completes Step-Free Access At Ealing Broadway, alerted me that the station might be worth a look.
I took these pictures this morning.
This map from cartometro.com shows the station layout.
Note.
- The black lines in Platforms 1 and 2 are the Great Western Railway main line platforms.
- The black/blue lines in Platforms 3 and 4 are the Great Western Railway slow line platforms, which are also used by Crossrail.
- The red tracks in Platforms 5 and 6 are the Central Line platforms.
- The green tracks in Platforms 7, 8 and 9 are the District Line platforms.
These are my thoughts.
Step-Free Access
Consider.
- Access between platforms 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9 is on the level, as it has been for years.
- There are a pair of lifts to access these six platforms from street level.
- There are also two other lifts to Platform 1 and Platform 2/3.
- There are three typical Network Rail stairs to the platforms, with double-handrails, which at 73, I can still manage.
I’ve certainly seen much worse stations with supposedly step-free access.
I also wonder if another lift will be added to directly serve the District Line platforms.
It could be one of those additions, that has been catered for, so it can be added if necessary.
Crossrail And Routes Into And Out Of London
Crossrail will change commuting and leisure routes, into and out of London.
- Crossrail serves the West End, the North of the City and Canary Wharf directly.
- Crossrail has good connections to the Central, Circle, District and Jubilee Lines.
- Crossrail has a direct connection to Thameslink.
- All Crossrail interchanges will be step-free.
After it has been opened for a few months, I can see that direct connections and ducking and diving will have seriously changed London’s well-established commuting and travel patterns.
Using Ealing Broadway Station As An Interchange
It will certainly be easier with all the new step-free access, but I suspect some passengers, who previously changed at Ealing Broadway station, will go straight through on Crossrail.
In Will Crossrail Open To Reading in 2019?, I said that Ealing Broadway station will get the following total number of Crossrail trains.
- 12 tph in the Peak
- 10 tph in the Off-Peak
Note.
- tph is trains per hour.
- Six tph would go between London Paddington and Heathrow.
- Two tph would go between London Paddington and Reading.
It will be interesting to see what Crossrail timetable is delivered.
The Overall Design
It is a fairly conservative design, that follows the principles of good step-free access.
Interchange is level and good between Crossrail and the tube lines.
There are still a few details to be finished and I suspect it will be a well-thought of station.
A Few Questions
These are a few questions.
Will The Station Be A Gateway To Heathrow?
I suspect it could be, as the station is well-connected by bus and tube to large numbers of places.
Conclusion
Ealing Broadway will be a busy interchange and I’m sure, it’s been designed to handle a lot of passengers.
Thoughts On Batteries On A Hitachi Intercity Tri-Mode Battery Train
This Hitachi infographic describes a Hitachi Intercity Tri-Mode Battery Train.
Hitachi are creating the first of these battery trains, by replacing one of the diesel power-packs in a Class 802 train with a battery-pack from Hyperdrive Innovation of Sunderland.
This press release from Hitachi is entitled Hitachi And Eversholt Rail To Develop GWR Intercity Battery Hybrid Train – Offering Fuel Savings Of More Than 20%, gives a few more details.
The Class 802 train has the following characteristics.
- Five cars.
- Three diesel power-packs, each with a power output of 700 kW.
- 125 mph top speed on electricity.
- I believe all intermediate cars are wired for diesel power-packs, so can all intermediate cars have a battery?
In How Much Power Is Needed To Run A Train At 125 Or 100 mph?, I estimated that the trains need the following amounts of energy to keep them at a constant speed.
- Class 801 train – 125 mph 3.42 kWh per vehicle mile
- Class 801 train – 100 mph 2.19 kWh per vehicle mile
The figures are my best estimates.
The Wikipedia entry for the Class 800 train, also gives the weight of the diesel power-pack and all its related gubbins.
The axle load of the train is given as 15 tonnes, but for a car without a diesel engine it is given as 13 tonnes.
As there are four axles to a car, I can deduce that the diesel power-pack and the gubbins, weigh around eight tonnes.
How much power would a one tonne battery hold?
This page on the Clean Energy institute at the University of Washington is entitled Lithium-Ion Battery.
This is a sentence from the page.
Compared to the other high-quality rechargeable battery technologies (nickel-cadmium or nickel-metal-hydride), Li-ion batteries have a number of advantages. They have one of the highest energy densities of any battery technology today (100-265 Wh/kg or 250-670 Wh/L).
Using these figures, a one-tonne battery would be between 100 and 265 kWh in capacity, depending on the energy density.
As it is likely that if the diesel power-pack replacement would probably leave things like fuel tanks and radiators behind, so that the diesel engines could be reinstalled, I would expect that a battery of around four tonnes would be fitted.
On the basis of the University of Washington’s figures a 400 kWh battery pack would certainly be feasible.
Using. the energy use at 100 mph of 2.19 kWh per vehicle mile, I can get the following ranges for different battery sizes.
- 400 kWh battery – 36.53 miles
- 500 kWh battery – 45.67 miles
- 600 kWh battery – 54.80 miles
- 800 kWh battery – 73.06 miles
As Lincoln and Newark are just 16.6 miles apart, it looks to me that a 500 or 600 kWh battery could be a good choice for that route, as it would leave enough hotel power for the turnround.
It should also handle shorter routes like these.
- Newbury and Bedwyn – 13.3 miles.
- Didcot and Oxford – 10.3 miles
- Newark and Lincoln – 16.6 miles
- Leeds and Harrogate – 18.3 miles
- Northallerton and Middlesbrough – 20 miles
- Hull and Temple Hirst Junction and Hull – 36.1 miles
Some routes like Temple Hirst Junction and Hull would need charging at the destination.
The Range Of A Five Car Train With Three Batteries
Suppose a Hitachi Intercity Tri-Mode Battery Train had three battery-packs and no diesel engines.
- It would be based on Hitachi Intercity Tri-Mode Battery Train technology.
- It would have two driver cars without batteries.
- It would have three intermediate cars with 600 kWh batteries.
- It would have 1800 kWh in the batteries.
- The train would be optimised for 100 mph running.
- My estimate says it would need 2.19 kWh per vehicle mile to cruise at 100 mph.
It could have a range of up to 164 miles.
If the batteries were only 500 kWh, the range would be 137 miles.
The Ultimate Battery Train
I think it would be possible to put together a nine car battery-electric train with a long range.
- It would be based based on Hitachi Intercity Tri-Mode Battery Train technology, which would be applied to a Class 800 or Class 802 train.
- It would have two driver cars without batteries.
- It would have seven intermediate cars with 600 kWh batteries.
- It would have a total battery capacity of 4200 kWh.
- The train would be optimised for 100 mph running.
- My estimate in How Much Power Is Needed To Run A Train At 125 Or 100 mph?, said it would need 2.19 kWh per vehicle mile to cruise at 100 mph.
That would give a range of over 200 miles.
If the batteries were only 500 kWh, the range would be 178 miles.
Aberdeen, Inverness, Penzance and Swansea here we come.
Can Hitachi Increase The Range Further?
There are various ways that the range can be improved.
- More electrically-efficient on-board systems like air-conditioning.
- A more aerodynamic nose.
- Regenerative braking to the batteries.
- Batteries with a higher energy density.
- Better driver assistance software.
Note.
- Hitachi have already announced that the Class 810 trains for East Midlands Railway will have a new nose profile.
- Batteries are improving all the time.
I wouldn’t be surprised to see a ten percent improvement in range by 2030.
Conclusion
I was surprised at some of the results of my estimates.
But I do feel that Hitachi trains with 500-600 kWh batteries could bring a revolution to train travel in the UK.
Edinburgh And Aberdeen
Consider.
- The gap in the electrification is 130 miles between Edinburgh Haymarket and Aberdeen.
- There could be an intermediate charging station at Dundee.
- Charging would be needed at Aberdeen.
I think Hitachi could design a train for this route.
Edinburgh And Inverness
Consider.
- The gap in the electrification is 146 miles between Stirling and Inverness.
- This could be shortened by 33 miles, if there were electrification between Stirling and Perth.
- Charging would be needed at Inverness.
I think Hitachi could design a train for this route.
The Anonymous Widower 