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Re: Wabtec road battery loco testing
Author: FUD
Date: 12-31-2019 - 16:50
Interesting. Saw something about this a couple of months (?) ago. Basically pulled out the engine, cooling, etc. and dropped a whole bunch of lithium batteries in it with suitable new control systems.
For practical purposes, it looks like a road slug without an engine and without power cables to the diesel(s) in the consist. It can be plugged in to recharge, or can regenerate while braking, or can regenerate by using power from the other units through lightly recharging while dragging along. The purpose seems to be to create a "hybrid consist" rather than a "hybrid locomotive" - the electric part is simply another unit in the consist, so nothing changes from the standpoint of the operating crew. It's a modular parallel hybrid.
More info (yes, it was in the December TRAINS too, but that's behind a paywall): [www.railwayage.com]
Only gripe I have about the video: no close-up mic so impossible to tell what sound if any the electric unit makes, or even if it's working. I'd expect some whine from the power electronics. But the diesels themselves and the background music are so loud that the electric can't be heard.
Only real question is not whether it will work - it will, and probably much better than older attempts that used lead-acid batteries. It's whether it's cost-effective, and reduces fuel use for the consist as much as anticipated. That last has been an issue for many road vehicle hybrids; a quick job adapting a hybrid or a battery to a conventional platform doesn't always work very well. The Prius works well because it was essentially built around the hybrid system; the Highlander Hybrid, not so well (bigger, heavier, conventional otherwise, doesn't take full advantage of the hybrid system).
Finally, two caveats: 1) they're Li-Ion batteries in relatively huge packs, essentially utility-scale batteries on a locomotive platform; they can burn, and if they do the results could be moderately spectacular. 2) as with all hybrids, they assist the diesels, they don't substitute for them; they can produce power only as long as the battery lasts, so the consist temporarily has the power of an extra unit, but on a long grade it could end up dragging a dead weight (or worse, if it tries to recharge the battery at that point) after a while. So I would see this being useful in territories where the grades are short and perhaps steep, but not climbing the Rockies or the Sierra.
For practical purposes, it looks like a road slug without an engine and without power cables to the diesel(s) in the consist. It can be plugged in to recharge, or can regenerate while braking, or can regenerate by using power from the other units through lightly recharging while dragging along. The purpose seems to be to create a "hybrid consist" rather than a "hybrid locomotive" - the electric part is simply another unit in the consist, so nothing changes from the standpoint of the operating crew. It's a modular parallel hybrid.
More info (yes, it was in the December TRAINS too, but that's behind a paywall): [www.railwayage.com]
Only gripe I have about the video: no close-up mic so impossible to tell what sound if any the electric unit makes, or even if it's working. I'd expect some whine from the power electronics. But the diesels themselves and the background music are so loud that the electric can't be heard.
Only real question is not whether it will work - it will, and probably much better than older attempts that used lead-acid batteries. It's whether it's cost-effective, and reduces fuel use for the consist as much as anticipated. That last has been an issue for many road vehicle hybrids; a quick job adapting a hybrid or a battery to a conventional platform doesn't always work very well. The Prius works well because it was essentially built around the hybrid system; the Highlander Hybrid, not so well (bigger, heavier, conventional otherwise, doesn't take full advantage of the hybrid system).
Finally, two caveats: 1) they're Li-Ion batteries in relatively huge packs, essentially utility-scale batteries on a locomotive platform; they can burn, and if they do the results could be moderately spectacular. 2) as with all hybrids, they assist the diesels, they don't substitute for them; they can produce power only as long as the battery lasts, so the consist temporarily has the power of an extra unit, but on a long grade it could end up dragging a dead weight (or worse, if it tries to recharge the battery at that point) after a while. So I would see this being useful in territories where the grades are short and perhaps steep, but not climbing the Rockies or the Sierra.
