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China’s first hydrogen-powered locomotive converted from an internal combustion engine rolled off the production line in Datong City, Shanxi Province on Thursday.
China Railway Rolling Stock Corp. (CRRC), the country’s largest railway vehicle and equipment manufacturer, said the locomotive, Ningdong, is the world’s most powerful hydrogen-powered locomotive by far.
CRRC said the converted locomotive contains the largest fuel cell of any train around the world, with a capacity of 800kW. The power can expand to 2,000kW for different needs with various fuel cell types.
According to Huang Qichao, chairman of the Datong subsidiary of CRRC, the locomotive is equipped with a maximum of 270 kilograms of hydrogen supply. It can run continuously for 190 hours after completing a refuel for only two hours.
The locomotive has multiple security protections to keep the train safe, such as intelligent monitoring and a mechanical interlock on the hydrogen fuel cell system, as well as fireproof and heat insulation and explosion-proof design for the fuel cells. It also has a fireproof wall to isolate the hydrogen storage from the fuel cells. An independent ventilation system is installed for the hydrogen storage room to replace all the air within five minutes.
Fu Yongun, the general manager of the CRRC Datong subsidiary, said the locomotive emits no carbon dioxide or other pollutants since the only discharge is water.
“Compared to the traditional locomotive with an internal combustion engine, the hydrogen-powered locomotive is more efficient in energy conversion,” Fu said. It also carries a battery to absorb energy from the braking system.
Converting diesel locomotives to hydrogen-powered ones is believed to be a cheaper choice than directly purchasing hydrogen trains.
China has over 7,800 diesel locomotives, 90 percent of which can be converted to hydrogen-powered locomotives, according to CRRC.
