UK: Innovate UK has awarded funding for a project which aims to use hydrogen-based carbon clean and capture technology to prolong the life of locomotive engines while improving fuel efficiency and reducing emissions.
Advanced Hydrogen Technologies will supply the device which DB ESG will test on a Class 66 freight locomotive.
The process has two parts. In the first stage, a hydrogen generator converts water into hydrogen and oxygen which is drawn into the engine to remove residual carbon build-up and make the engine run cleaner. The second stage uses a carbon capture device to reduce emissions and particulates.
Initial testing by DB ESG will measure the fuel consumption and exhaust emissions as the engine runs at different speeds when connected to a load bank. Further tests will then assess how emissions are impacted by supplying hydrogen to the air intake and adding a carbon capture device to the exhaust outlet, and the potential sustainability benefits for the rail sector.
‘We hope this investigation will bring both economic and environmental benefits’, said DB ESG Projects Director James Hornsby on February 25. ‘With more than 5 000 diesel engines currently active in the UK alone, decarbonising the rail sector is imperative to meet carbon emission targets.’
AHT CEO Ben Kattenhorn said the system is already proven on road vehicles, and ’we are looking forward to further establishing this technology in the rail sector’.
