Trains.com

Siemens Energy, turbines and hydrogen

1071 views
4 replies
1 rating 2 rating 3 rating 4 rating 5 rating
  • Member since
    October 2014
  • 1,139 posts
Siemens Energy, turbines and hydrogen
Posted by Gramp on Tuesday, September 6, 2022 9:37 AM
  • Member since
    December 2001
  • From: Northern New York
  • 25,021 posts
Posted by tree68 on Tuesday, September 6, 2022 12:43 PM

You can't just mine hydrogen - it has to be produced.  

One might wonder if this falls under a similar umbrella to EV's - many of which are actually coal powered.

The railroads have experimented with hydrogen power.

LarryWhistling
Resident Microferroequinologist (at least at my house) 
Everyone goes home; Safety begins with you
My Opinion. Standard Disclaimers Apply. No Expiration Date
Come ride the rails with me!
There's one thing about humility - the moment you think you've got it, you've lost it...

  • Member since
    January 2019
  • From: Henrico, VA
  • 9,728 posts
Posted by Flintlock76 on Tuesday, September 6, 2022 12:45 PM

tree68
You can't just mine hydrogen - it has to be produced.  

Which takes energy itself, which has to come from somewhere.

  • Member since
    December 2017
  • From: I've been everywhere, man
  • 4,269 posts
Posted by SD70Dude on Tuesday, September 6, 2022 4:12 PM

It can also take a fair amount of energy and environmental disruption to produce fossil fuels like coal, oil and gas.  

Alberta is trying to promote 'blue hydrogen' made from natural gas as carbon-neutral and eco-friendly by way of capturing the CO2 that is produced as a byproduct and pumping it underground into suitable depleted oilfields.

Greetings from Alberta

-an Articulate Malcontent

  • Member since
    September 2003
  • 21,669 posts
Posted by Overmod on Wednesday, September 7, 2022 11:11 AM

Blue hydrogen is nearly the only zero-carbon fuel approach that makes remote sense for modern transportation needs.  It's cute that the locomotive development projects are using green hydrogen, but I doubt that will be effective at fleet scale, even for one railroad.

The sequestration easily occurs due to the phase change of CO2 as you compress the hydrogen to delivery pressure (which has to happen no matter how the hydrogen is generated).  

I have not yet learned what metallurgy Siemens is using to avoid long-term hydrogen embrittlement.  If it is barrier hard coating, expect some surprises down the line.

Join our Community!

Our community is FREE to join. To participate you must either login or register for an account.

Search the Community

Newsletter Sign-Up

By signing up you may also receive occasional reader surveys and special offers from Trains magazine.Please view our privacy policy