Work Begins In South Africa On Largest Fuel-Cell Vehicle In The World
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on Hydrogen Fuel News.
This is an explanatory paragraph.
The Anglo American mining company in South Africa is seeking to lead the way in reducing its greenhouse gas emissions. It will be starting this effort with a 210 metric ton truck. The fuel-cell vehicle is the largest in the world and will operate at the Mogalakwena platinum mine.
These are some points from the article.
- The nuGen haul truck began as a Komatsu 930E with a diesel-electric powertrain.
- The haul truck’s traction motors are now powered by eight 100-kilowatt hydrogen fuel cell modules. The modules were provided by Ballard.
- They are complemented by a Williams Advanced Engineering lithium-ion battery pack capable of outputting 1.1MW.
- The components were integrated in Seattle by First Mode.
- The fuel-cell vehicle’s powertrain is 2MW (2,682 hp).
- That is adequate for the haul truck to keep up its rating of 300 metric tons.
- The truck and payload will reach 510 metric tons combined.
There are a lot of heavy numbers there.
There is this video from Anglo American.
Green Trains On Their Way To Power One Of The World’s Most Abundant Mining Regions
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.
It is a comprehensive article, with maps, pictures and background information about the project I wrote about in Anglo American And Aurizon Look To Hydrogen-Powered Trains, that will create hydrogen-powered freight locomotives for Australia.
It should be noted that Aurizon operates a few hundred diesel-electric locomotives, so switching to hydrogen, would probably cut a lot of carbon emissions.
Anglo American And Aurizon Look To Hydrogen-Powered Trains
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on World Coal.
This is the first paragraph.
Australia’s largest rail freight operator, Aurizon, and leading global mining company, Anglo American, have agreed to work together on a feasibility study to assess the introduction of hydrogen-powered trains for bulk freight in Queensland.
I find it interesting and very ironic, that this partnership has been formed, partly to transport the product, with the most polluting of end uses; coal.
The article also says this about Anglo American’s policy on decarbonisation of their mines.
As part of its commitment to carbon neutral mines by 2040, Anglo American has taken a global lead in the development of green hydrogen solutions for its ultra-class 290 t payload mine haul trucking fleet. Anglo American’s unique combination of powertrain technologies, designed to operate safely and effectively in real-world mine conditions, will displace the use of the majority of diesel at its mining operations, with an advanced trial of the prototype truck at its Mogalakwena platinum group metals mine in South Africa.
It does appear that the partnership are starting from a proven base of hydrogen technology.
Conclusion
This looks like a sound real-world project to produce a hydrogen-powered zero-carbon locomotive.
Thirsty High-Rollers … Mining’s Heavy Haulers Prime Candidates For Hydrogen Conversion
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on ecogeneration.
You understand, what the author means about mining’s heavy haulers, when you open the article.
This paragraph describes their carbon emissions.
One large scale dump truck, depending on the haul road it is using, will use between 100 and 140 litres of diesel per 100km. These vehicles operate all day every day except for maintenance down time. That’s between 260kg and 360kg of CO2 per 100km per truck.
Large open pit mines have tens of these vehicles operating continuously, so the numbers build up very quickly.
The author then goes on to say why, that converting these vehicles to green hydrogen makes a lot of sense.
The dump trucks are already diesel/electric, which means that the diesel generator can be replaced with a hydrogen fuel cell and a battery.
Mining giant; Anglo-American will be introducing a prototype hydrogen-powered dump truck at a platinum mine in South Africa this year.
These paragraphs describe the transmission.
The vehicle, which is called a fuel cell electric vehicle (FCEV) haul truck, will be powered by a hydrogen fuel cell module paired with Williams Advanced Engineering’s scalable high-power modular lithium-ion battery system. Williams provides batteries for FIA’s E-Formula motorsport.
This arrangement will replace the existing vehicle’s diesel engine, delivering in excess of 1MWh of energy storage. The battery system will be capable of recovering energy through regenerative braking as the haul truck travels downhill.
Note that the truck has more energy storage than is proposed for a four-car battery-electric train, like the Class 756 train, which has only 600 kWh.
The author finishes with this concluding paragraph.
With the major mining companies focusing on making significant strides in decarbonisation by 2030 expect there to be more announcements such as this focusing this “low hanging fruit” for the mining industry’s to materially reduce its carbon foot print.
Reading this, I can’t help feeling that replacement of a Class 66 locomotive with a zero-carbon hydrogen-battery-electric hybrid unit could be possible.
The Anonymous Widower 