 Hybrid Loco
On Sat, 14 Jun 2008 06:46:24 +1000, Uncle Joe wrote:
> GE in the United States is working on a Hybrid diesel/electric loco that
> they claim will be quieter and use 10-15% less fuel. Just think a Toyota
> Prius on a large scale.
Not really the same - the Hybrids are intended to be shunters to be used
in California which is moving towards extremely strict emissions
controls. Come to think of it, exactly like a Prius - they only really
work in stop-start city traffic - on the open road, no good at all.
Another approach I've read about is to have 2 or 3 diesel engines as
well and only start enough of them to move the load on offer.
Note GE are not leaders in this at all, a small company called Railpower
Technologies has been selling 'Green Goat' locomotives for a few years
now - they take old locomotives, strip the top part off and put in new
engines and battery banks. Obviously Railpower have sold enough now that
the Big Boys are interested in the market.
The hybrids won't help fuel efficiency at all on the road though - as
the power demands are long and hard. The extra batteries just become dead
weight.
Depending on the duty cycle of a shunting locomotive you might get away
with battery-electric if the shunter can always return to a charging
point when idle.
Strictly speaking GE have been building hybrid locomotives for years -
the big GE Genesis passenger locomotives can apparently be 'moved around
the shop' using their batteries so the diesel doesn't need to be started
just to move it from one work area to another.
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