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FUEL-CELL LOCOMOTIVES Although electric-based power transmission (catenary and/or third rail) is a well proven technology going back decades, it’s not viable for application to all railroads. Catenary and/or third rail systems incur very-high installation costs as well as accompanying infrastructure maintenance requirements and the associated costs. Electricity can be used along high-density traffic lines and would be cost-effective in such applications. As oil prices surge, as a result of oil supply reductions, electric prices could also spiral as more transportation technologies adopt electricity as their primary source of energy. In municipal transportation, the trolleybus and the streetcar are well proven. Yet these technologies would have to compete for electric power with a host of battery and flywheel-based vehicles requiring a recharge, within the next decade or two. The energy cost of electric railroads could be expected to increase within the next decade and beyond, as the number of electric vehicles entering the market begins to increase. This possibility requires that viable alternatives to electric railway using catenary or third rail, be explored. Fuel cell locomotives may be an option. Fuels such as hydrogen and natural gas may be used as fuels. The fuel cell is a way of taking hydrogen and oxygen and getting electricity. The hydrogen can be stored in a tank and the fuel cell will keep producing electricity as long as the fuel is supplied. The emissions from a hydrogen fuel cell running on pure hydrogen is zero. Actually, they emit water vapor but that’s all. So, not only is a fuel cell a viable option for keeping an electric vehicle going, it is quiet and as clean as you can get. The leading research reports on fuel cell locomotives clearly identifies the fact that fuel cell technology will only be applied to the locomotive marketplace when the fuel cost and operating efficiency of fuel cell locomotives meets or exceeds the existing diesel-electric technology. Railways in North America, are bottom line driven and will not invest in technology that increases operating costs. Fuel cell locomotives are several decades away from matching the efficiencies of the diesel-electric locomotive. Nonetheless, a fuel-cell locomotive prototype was developed by the Fuelcell Propulsion Institute (FPI) of Denver, Colorado, in a joint venture with Vehicle Projects LLC. FPI is the overall project leader, while Vehicle Projects LLC is prime contractor for the fuel-cell locomotive project, responsible for fundraising, recruiting of project partners and overall project management. The result of this joint venture of the Fuelcell Propulsion Institute and Vehicle Projects was the development of the world’s first fuel cell-powered locomotive, an underground mining locomotive. Natural Resources Canada (NRCan) is a partner in FPI, and contributed C$300,000 to the project over two years. NRCan, through its experimental mine in Val-d’Or, Quebec, also contributed technical and scientific expertise by integrating the fuel-cell power plant with the locomotive, which is an off-the-shelf Canadian product manufactured by R.A. Warren Equipment Ltd. of North Bay, Ontario. NRCan followed up with surface testing of the unit, which was then sent to a mine in Red Lake, Ontario, for underground testing and evaluation. The fuel-cell locomotive prototype is the only one of its kind and was developed at a total cost of C$2.1 million. Fuel cells are like batteries in that they produce electricity that can be used to power electric motors, among other things. They work by combining hydrogen gas with oxygen, causing an electrochemical reaction that produces the electricity. The hydrogen comes from a supply carried on board a vehicle or extracted from a fuel such as propane or methanol, while oxygen is taken from the atmosphere. The only emissions and byproducts from the process are water and heat. The power plant used in the project was constructed by Sandia National Laboratories of Livermore, Calfifornia. Sandia is an agency owned by the United States government that engages primarily in defense-related research and development, along with energy and environmental projects in conjunction with industry, academia and other government agencies. It is managed by Lockheed Martin Corp., an aeronautics and technology systems company based in Bethesda, Maryland, for the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration. The final test took place at the Val-d'Or mine from September 9 to 13, 2002, where the locomotive continued to meet expectations and pulled five loaded cars without any difficulties (20 tons) . Powered by proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFC), coupled with reversible metal-hydride storage, the four-ton vehicle is now working on a regular basis at the Placer Dome’s Campbell mine in Red Lake Ontario, Canada since 6 October 2002. The total project development costs of the locomotive were approximately US$1.2 million. Underground mining is probably the most promising application in which fuel cell vehicles can compete strictly on economic merit. This is partly due to the high purchasing price of the locomotive itself, the additional costs of putting a fuel cell in are less important. Currently (2002), two other locomotive projects are under construction. The joint venture wants to develop a larger underground mine locomotive of about 10-25 ton size for haulage in metal mining or moving roof support shield and a full size surface engine for military applications.
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