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Re: Hydrogen fuel conversion planned for Irish EMD-built locomotive
Author: FUD
Date: 10-19-2023 - 08:24
As the article notes, this isn't the first H2 conversion of an existing diesel, even in Europe. But it's interesting anyway. One of the others mentioned, of former UP diesels used in Estonia, would also be interesting to get more details on.
Granted, most industrial H2 is made from natural gas - it's essentially decarbonized natural gas, with the carbon usually released as CO2 - but it can be made in cleaner ways too. When burned in a converted diesel or gas engine, NOx is produced, of course, which may require a catalytic converter for cleanup, but overall it's very clean. If somebody could come up with a standard package for doing this type of conversion, I could see it being of interest to short lines in places like CA where diesels are in the process of being banned.
And if this works on a 645 diesel, it should work on a 567. Calling NCRY and their SD9...
Granted, most industrial H2 is made from natural gas - it's essentially decarbonized natural gas, with the carbon usually released as CO2 - but it can be made in cleaner ways too. When burned in a converted diesel or gas engine, NOx is produced, of course, which may require a catalytic converter for cleanup, but overall it's very clean. If somebody could come up with a standard package for doing this type of conversion, I could see it being of interest to short lines in places like CA where diesels are in the process of being banned.
And if this works on a 645 diesel, it should work on a 567. Calling NCRY and their SD9...
