Innovations in hydrogen-powered train technology
As the world looks for ways to reduce carbon emissions, rail operators’ continued focus on diesel has put the industry in the spotlight. Rail electrification projects are underway, while industry players are looking for green fuel alternatives that will allow trains to continue to operate autonomously. Despite this, there are a host of noisy, CO2– Diesel multiple units (DMU) are still in operation on the rails. In Germany, for example, there are still more than 4,000 in operation.
However, French rail vehicle manufacturer Alstom believes all that could change with the launch of Coradia iLint, the world’s first carbon-free train that uses hydrogen as a power source. The train is based on the company’s Coradia Lint DMU and was developed in partnership with German and Canadian companies. Powered by hydrogen fuel cells, the vehicle’s only emissions are steam and condensed water, and it can operate almost silently.
Alstom’s so-called ‘train of the future’ was first unveiled to the world at the Innotrans trade fair in 2016 and is expected to begin initial passenger trials in Germany early this year. The company hopes the train could prove highly marketable to rail operators looking to replace their DMUs on non-electrified lines.
At a press conference at Alstom’s test facility in November 2017, company representatives said Coradia iLint could mark the beginning of an industry-wide shift to hydrogen as a sustainable fuel.
“We think it’s a real breakthrough in technology,” Wolfram Schwab, Alstom’s regional vice president of products and innovation, said at the event. “Fuel cells have been developed for other applications, but now it’s time to do it in the rail sector. We’re just at the beginning of the migration phase to zero-emission trains.”
Emission-free trains
The core of the iLint system is a fuel cell located on top of the train. Hydrogen is supplied to the cell and then combined with oxygen from the ambient air inside it. The two products of this chemical reaction are electricity, which is used to power an electric traction drive that controls the train’s movement, and water, which is expelled as steam.
Any electrical energy not used directly for traction can be stored in lithium-ion batteries on the underside of the train. An auxiliary converter will also be used to adapt the energy for various on-board applications, including air conditioning, door systems and passenger information displays.
“We are only at the beginning of the migration phase to zero-emission trains.”
In addition to the clean output, the main advantages of iLint are its smart energy management and flexible energy storage. Electrical energy is supplied on demand, meaning that the fuel cell only needs to run at full speed when the train accelerates for longer periods. When the train brakes, the fuel cells are almost completely switched off, saving on hydrogen consumption.
Alstom claims that because the energy produced or recovered during braking is intelligently managed, iLint can match the top speed of its latest generation of Coradia Lint DMUs of 140 km/h, while being more energy efficient. The company also says the train can travel up to 800 km on a single tank of hydrogen and can carry up to 300 passengers.
Hydrogen production and infrastructure
The first test run of an iLint prototype took place in March 2017 at Alstom’s Salzgitter facility and trials have been ongoing since then. During the test phase, hydrogen was extracted from industrial emissions.
Still, there is the question of how trains will be refueled and where the hydrogen will come from in the long term. Alstom has promised to make things easier for operators by providing maintenance services and hydrogen infrastructure, notably refueling stations, together with its partners.
The company is currently looking for green methods to produce fuel for iLint. One existing example is electrolysis, which splits water into hydrogen and oxygen, or the iLint formula in reverse. Another example is natural gas reforming, which combines methane in natural gas with high-temperature steam. Either way, the company aims to reduce CO2 emissions from the production of hydrogen through the use of wind energy.
Germany’s recent investment in Energiepark Mainz, a facility designed to generate hydrogen from wind power, makes it a suitable location for the launch of iLint. The country has also committed to reducing its CO2 emissions by 40% by 2020 compared to 1990 levels and to use 80% renewable energy in its energy supply by 2050. It is therefore no surprise that in 2014 Alstom signed letters of intent with four German states, committing to supply a total of 60 trains.
Getting passengers and operators on board
Alstom’s first major test began in November 2017, when the company signed a deal to build 14 iLint trains for the Local Transport Authority of Lower Saxony (LNVG). After the new vehicles are built in Salzgitter, LNVG will lease them to a contracted train operator for use on the region’s Buxtehude-Cuxhaven route from December 2021. However, the French rail giant has claimed that the first iLint could be tested on the network as early as the first quarter of 2018.
As part of the deal, Alstom will maintain the trains for a period of 30 years. Meanwhile, leading gas company Linde will supply hydrogen for the new trains and build the first-ever hydrogen refueling station for trains in Bremervörde. The plan is for hydrogen to be produced on site via electrolysis and wind power at a later stage of the project.
“The company is currently looking for green methods to produce fuel for iLint.”
“The use of hydrogen for rail vehicles is a milestone in the application of fuel cells for emission-free transport,” said Bernd Eulitz, member of the Linde management board, in a press release. “This development will drive the creation of a hydrogen society and create new solutions for energy storage and transport.”
Ambitious climate protection targets and the cost of electrification could help bring the iLint to other European countries in the future. In July 2017, the UK Department for Transport cancelled a number of electrification schemes in Wales and England, which is expected to increase demand for non-electric trains. Following this, Alstom is in talks to run trials in Liverpool, UK, and to establish a source of hydrogen from refineries in the region.
“There has been a dialogue with Liverpool City Region and various rolling stock companies about how we can develop a demonstrator,” Mike Hulme, Alstom UK’s director of trains and modernisation, told The Engineer magazine in an interview. “It’s an option we’re pushing quite a bit and we seem to be getting some traction.”
Depending on the success of the implementation in Germany, iLint could be an important proof point for the use of hydrogen fuel cells in trains. Until then, Alstom is engaged in a charm offensive to attract more European partners.
“iLint: The world’s first hydrogen train” was originally created and published by Railway technologya brand of GlobalData.
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