The Department of Energy’s (DOE) Oak Ridge and Argonne national laboratories recently installed a single-cylinder dual-fuel locomotive engine built by Pittsburgh-based Wabtec in the National Transportation Research Center.
The installation is part of the laboratories’ research into how zero-carbon hydrogen and other low-carbon fuels can be viable alternatives to diesel for the rail industry. It is a four-year research project.
The team will develop hardware and control strategies for the engine that can be used to make it run on both hydrogen and diesel fuel and design engines with the same power, range, and cost-effectiveness as diesel.
Wabtec entered into cooperative research and development agreements with both laboratories. The agreement with Argonne also includes software developer Convergent Science.
“This collaboration with Argonne and Oak Ridge national laboratories with DOE support will advance the development of hydrogen technology within Wabtec’s existing industry-leading platforms for medium-speed engines,” James Gamble, Wabtec vice president of engine and power solutions technology, said. “Railroads will be able to greatly reduce carbon emissions while maintaining commonality within their current fleet of trains.”
The North American rail fleet emits approximately 87.6 billion pounds of carbon dioxide annually.
Hydrogen can be produced from clean energy sources such as solar and wind power.