Hydrogen demonstrated as secondary fuel for Class 66
Successful load bank experiment paves way for fitting on board ‘dual fuel’ technology.
A NINE-month project which received almost £400,000 of
First of a Kind competition funding from the Department for Transport last year has successfully shown that an existing Class 66 locomotive engine can be run on a ‘dual fuel’ mix of diesel and gas.
During load bank testing of Class 66 No. 66599 at Freightliner’s Leeds Midland Road depot, a precision injection system developed by Clean Air Power was used to substitute 30% of the EMD 12-710 power unit’s diesel intake with hydrogen. A diesel and biomethane mix can also be used.
“What we demonstrated is that a Class 66 can run on 30% hydrogen which, before our project, had never been done,” Clean Air Power managing director Dan Skelton told
The RM.
Major modifications to accommodate permanent on board ‘dual fuel’ equipment were outside the scope of the project, so for the purposes of the trial, a control unit and gas delivery system were connected to feed hydrogen into the injectors in each of the engine cylinders.
Mr Skelton suggests that a corresponding 30% reduction in carbon emissions is achievable, assuming the hydrogen is produced using renewable energy sources such as wind power.
“If you take the shackles off from engine modification, there is more potential to increase the amount of hydrogen that’s being utilised as well, but we don’t know where that boundary is yet,” he added.
Network Rail’s head of strategic planning Richard
Moody described the trial as a “crucial step” in demonstrating alternative fuels, while Freightliner’s rail services managing director Blake Jones said the company was “delighted” to have been involved in demonstrating the important role that hydrogen could play in achieving net zero emissions.
Clean Air Power is in discussions with the rail industry about how the technology can be implemented on the network. In order to do that, plans need to be developed for both on board hydrogen storage and fuelling facilities as well as satisfying the necessary railway safety and certification criteria.