Severn Valley involved in Class 08 hydrogen conversion

A COLLABORATION between the Severn Valley Railway, the University of Birmingham and hydrogen technology specialist Vanguard Sustainable Transport Solutions will see a Class 08 diesel shunter converted to fuel cell power.

The Harrier HydroShunter project will see the first conversion of a diesel locomotive to run on hydrogen power in the UK, and No. 08635 is the selected loco.

Volunteers have begun stripping down the donor vehicle, removing the existing diesel engine and overhauling other components.

Vanguard Sustainable Transport Solutions is designing the hydrogen-battery hybrid traction system, which will comprise of hydrogen cylinders, a hydrogen fuel cell stack and a hybrid battery.

Pressurised gas

The cylinders will store hydrogen as a pressurised gas, which will be fed to the fuel cell stack via a regulator. In the fuel cell stack, hydrogen will be combined with oxygen from the air to produce electricity to power the locomotive.

Meanwhile, the battery will store energy to provide additional power for when it’s needed.

The equipment will be mounted on a sub-frame, fitted to the existing engine mountings. It will supply the existing traction motors of the Class 08, which will keep its existing controls.

Mike Ball, the Severn Valley Railway’s vice chairman, has been closely involved with the project from its inception.

He said: “We were delighted when the University of Birmingham asked us to get involved in this project. As a heritage railway, we are actively looking for ways to reduce our carbon footprint, and having a hydrogen-powered shunter will play a key part in the plan.”

Wide applications

Testing is planned for later in the year, and Vanguard and the university are looking at wider applications, such as freight locomotives.

Alexander Burrows, director at the university’s Centre for Railway Research and Education, said having worked with Porterbrook on the FLEX769 project, they were ‘thrilled’ to be working with the Severn Valley Railway and Vanguard to roll out the Harrier HydroShunter.