IE 071 Class Retrofit Hydrogen Trail

Jamie2k9

Iarnród Éireann Irish Rail, operator of the national railway network of Ireland and provider passenger and freight rail services, and DIGAS, a global trailblazer in an instant decarbonisation solutions for the railway sector, have signed a contract to retrofit a freight diesel locomotive from diesel fuel to hydrogen as a proof of concept. The purpose of the €1.5m project is to help decarbonise the operations of Iarnród Éireann diesel locomotives, assist the company in meeting its goals as a Sustainable Development Goal champion, increase the competitiveness of the company and reduce carbon exhaust emissions.

Based on the agreement, Iarnród Éireann will provide the 071 Class Diesel Locomotive for the conversion as well as make the workshop available for the installation, testing and commissioning activities. DIGAS, will manufacture deliver and install a Hydrogen Internal Combustion Engine (H2 ICE) retrofit kit to convert the diesel locomotive to a hydrogen powered locomotive. The conversion will allow the locomotive to run on renewable, emissions free fuel instead of the diesel fuel. As part of the agreement, the two companies will share technical and commercial information necessary for DIGAS to design, manufacture, install, and support the commissioning of the Hydrogen conversion kit and allow Iarnród Éireann to properly test a retrofitted locomotive. 

Unlike other hydrogen projects in the rail sector where hydrogen is used in to run locomotives via fuel cells or through specially produced hydrogen engines, this project will showcase a unique approach where hydrogen will be used in the locomotive’s current internal combustion engine. 

This innovative technology requires minimal change to be done to the locomotive If successful, the project will showcase a more practical and cost-effective way to decarbonise and run the existing diesel locomotive fleet with hydrogen powered engines. 

The project is currently in the design process and scheduled for two testing phases across 2024 and 2025. Phase 1 will be focused on static testing of the locomotion to check power and emissions output. Phase 2 will follow in 2025 and focus on service trials of the locomotion out on the rails. All designs and testing standards are subject to approval from the Commission for Railway Regulation (CRR).  

Full Details:

https://www.irishrail.ie/en-ie/news/iarnrod-eireann-and-latvia-s-digas-to-trial-europe

loyatemu

if they replace the engines on these locos are we heading into "Trigger's broom"/Sugababes territory with them, where no part is still original?

Vic_08

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121113700#Comment_121113700

They aren't trialling an engine replacement. It is a system to fuel the existing power unit with hydrogen.

dowlingm

This has the feel of spending an EU grant in a short lived POC rather than something with legs. Even the German company which trialled FCMU is going with batteries to continue decarbonizing

https://www.hydrogeninsight.com/transport/no-more-hydrogen-trains-rail-company-that-launched-worlds-first-h2-line-last-year-opts-for-all-electric-future/2-1-1495801?twclid=2ek1xxq7nfwvxonltqr8xp7ml

Economics101

The potential benefirs from this could be big. The cost is relatively small, especially when IE can easily spare an 071 loco. Disappointed to see such negative comments.

Pete_Cavan

IÉ looking for Hydrogen for Trials, possibly related to the project highlighted here

https://www.etenders.gov.ie/epps/pmc/viewPmc.do?resourceId=2711420

Economics101

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121397698#Comment_121397698

With regard to the supply of Hydrogen, what will ultimately matter is if Green Hydrogen can be supplied. While this irrelevant to the technical issue of assessing how an 071 can work using H2 as a fuel, it matters hugely in the long run. Can we be assured that there will be enough electricity generated by renewables to produce suffucuent H2?

Any thoughts on the storage problem? H2 has an extremely low energy density, so has to be stored under extremely high pressure (at least 300 Bar). Is there enough room on an 071 to accomodite the high-pressure tanks needed for a decent range?

Pete_Cavan

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121397698#Comment_121397698

The tender has now been issued for hydrogen;

https://www.etenders.gov.ie/epps/cft/prepareViewCfTWS.do?resourceId=3609294

From the documents;

Project Background

IE Projects team are intending to modify an existing diesel Locomotive from the 071 Fleet to Hydrogen fuel. This will be done by removing the current diesel tanks and introducing H2 fuel storage and supply systems into the existing locomotive design. The internal combustion engine will be converted to run on the H2 gas supply. This modernization will involve a limited scope of modifications to the current locomotive and will not change its core performance parameters.

This conversion will be carried out in conjunction with DiGas group, a pioneer in state-of-the-art dual fuel technology that looks to promote a competitive and sustainable transport.

Main Objectives for Hydrogen conversion

- Converting to hydrogen fuel will offer a clean and flexible energy source that supports zero-carbon energy strategies.

- Offer similar performance to diesel powered locomotive.

This Project will be split into 2 phases.

The plan for phase 1 of this project is to convert 1 x 071 locomotive from Diesel to Hydrogen and carry out load bank tests within the confines of IÉ’s engineering headquarters at Inchicore, Dublin. The results obtained from this testing will allow IE to measure Hydrogen performance against Diesel.

Phase 2 If Load bank testing is successful IE will look to place the newly converted H2071 onto the mainline pending a new safety application and approval. The on-board storage of hydrogen will not offer the same operating range as diesel.

Solution for the operating range is to install a tender wagon behind the locomotive to supply the hydrogen required for the various freight routes.

Requirements

Phase 1

A quantity of hydrogen gas including delivered to IE engineering works Inchicore, Dublin 8.

The current estimated quantity required to support phase 1 is circa 2000kg for the duration of phase 1 testing (approx. 2 months).

A single trailer solution to decant hydrogen gas into the locomotive’s onboard storage tank. It is intended that the trailer H2 tank remains connected to the locomotive during the static testing.( Including Load bank)

Interface equipment to connect decant trailer to locomotive onboard storage tank.

Technical support- Both on-site and remote support including :

- Assisting IÉ with the safety approvals process. Standard TMS-316 & RU SMS-014

- Design of interface infrastructure between decant trailer and locomotive storage tank.

- On-site support with connecting decant trailer to locomotive for filling of hydrogen.

- On Call assistance - On-site support within 24 hrs of call out within normal working hours.

Phase 2

A quantity of hydrogen gas including delivery and filling of tender trailer.

(Circa 70,000kg estimated requirement of hydrogen gas for phase 2 trial)

Refilling of the H2 container may take place at either IÉ location or be removed to the supplier’s location for filling. (to be agreed)

Technical support for duration of phase 2. In addition to phase 1 technical support IÉ will also require assistance with statutory safety approvals.

dowlingm

not ideal to need a tender on a freight service when there are limitations on train length. Unless the tender is also a cab (unlikely) it makes running around a bit tricky in Kildare for example

kc56

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122179548#Comment_122179548

Kildare has 3 tracks. Tender could be dropped in the platform 2 loop and the loco run around on the down line. Messy but doable. Or have a pilot loco. Or exchange the up loco-tender with a fresh down local-tender.

TranslatorPS

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122183194#Comment_122183194

That's always dependent on the mainline traffic – whether there's going to be a safe enough schedule gap to drop something off on the Main Lines and do the necessary shunting. My first thought was to just have two tenders, one at each end, but that then becomes a mess when rearranging the wagon consist.

dowlingm

having to allow for the tender to be run around also means it would need hydrogen input lines at both ends of the loco and line disconnection/reconnection. Seems worse the more I think about it.

Beta Ray Bill

I don't think the Tender thing is a runner.

No one is running tenders anymore except on the very remote routes.

Normally what's done is you lash a couple of units together, and you can run them at notch 4 instead of 8.

Lashing units together isn't a problem so long as you don't lash more than 4 or 5 together.

That being said though, while this is an interesting POC, long term will it be cheaper than electrifying the line and buying off the shelf locos to haul freight?

Hydrogen and the supporting fuel infra will probably be expensive. The whole thing links back to this directive proposal

https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=COM:2023:702:FIN

Which basically says: "Most freight needs to be intermodal and need to travel mostly by train on ship"

Economics101

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122223583#Comment_122223583

Hydrogen cheaper than electrification? Where's the eviidence? In what other country are hydrogen-fuelled Internal Combustion Engines being used? Why are even countries with fairly low traffic volumes electrifying most of their networks?

Beta Ray Bill

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122224245#Comment_122224245

I'm "Guessing" based on that directive that more freight will be moved by rail. I don't see a low carbon intermodal alternative that could use the road. There will be battery trucks but there are weight limits they need to adhere to which is a problem (unless those regs change)

So the guess is there will be more rail freight, hence more locos required, more fuel and more fuel storage depots. Storing Hydrogen in liquid is a pain in the hole not only does it need to be stored a low temperature, it seeps through everything but the most dense materials. (The low temperature thing has been fairly sorted now btw. MSc Euribia runs on LNG stored at minus 150 degrees)

dublinman1990

Do IÉ have any plan as to where they are going to store this land bank for the Hydrogen at their depot in Inchicore?

If the tender documents state that they need 72,000kg of Hydrogen for storage within the land bank for the two phases of testing for the trial; would those requirements to store the hydrogen take up quite a bit of land at Inchicore Depot itself once it goes into operation.

Also; what size would the tender supplying the hydrogen to the locomotive need to be in order to give it enough fuel to do it's test runs from the depot along with the subsequent freight runs? Does the tender itself need to be quite big to allow the locomotive to do it's full freight runs for the day?

bk

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122224245#Comment_122224245

Do keep in mind that just 57% of European rail lines are electrified! That is obviously WAY more then Ireland, but far from all lines. Yes, that number will increase, however the reality the last 20 to 30% will likely never been electrified. The cost of electrification is relatively high and only makes economic sense for busy lines. Alternatives will need to be found for quiet lines, such as batteries, hydrogen and biofuels.

Economics101

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122227694#Comment_122227694

The 57% was in 2022. That was apparently over 30% more than in 1990, so there is a strong upward trajectory. Furthermore the full effects of responses to CO2 reduction have not yet bee manifested in terms of route mileage electrification.

Also with about 60% of route mileage electrified this correspoend to about 80% of traffic being electrically hauled. So Ireland's position is that of a total outlier.

bk

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122228752#Comment_122228752

I’m aware of all that and but it doesn’t really change the point I was making!

I fully expect that we will electrify our core network, perhaps reaching a similar 60% electrified, but 80% of traffic.

The point is that last 20 to 40% in both Ireland and the rest of Europe will likely be too expensive to electrify (given low usage) and alternatives like Batteries, hydrogen and biofuels will have to be used instead.

Of course it would be nice if we could get started working on electrifying the core network.

Beta Ray Bill

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122237595#Comment_122237595

Even in places like Japan there as still lines that operate using DMU's (or at least there was 15 years ago when I got Oshida mixed up with Ōishida), you know you're VERY rural in Japan when the train you're on is Diesel powered

I don't think Ireland will get there, unless something happens that makes it very easy to do OR we're forced to do it (See link in previous post about EU directive), otherwise we'll just plod along. Last piece of electrification of the line was 2000, and as far as I am aware it took 5 years to electrify 14 Km of lines (Bray → Greystones would have been challenging)

In relation to the link, I used M50 this morning, traffic was very heavy. It's mostly HGV's, no one cares though.