Exploring Hydrogen ep 15 - Shownotes
Intro:
In this episode we’re geeking out about Hydrogen trains with Troy Shorley, Technical Director and Daniel Koning, Principal Consultant and Subject Matter Expert from Deutsche Bahn.
Deutsche Bahn currently has the largest fleet of hydrogen trains in the world, so in this episode, we enjoyed welcoming two of their experts on low and zero-emission technologies to take a deeper dive. DB Engineering and Consulting is working in 84 nations worldwide, providing railway engineering, and railway consulting operations services.
Deutsche Bahn Engineering and Consulting is part of the Deutsche Bahn Group in Germany, the owner and operator of the Rail Network in Germany. Deutsche Bahn Group employs 320,000 people worldwide and DB Engineering & Consulting employs over 5,000 people.
Bios:
Troy is an Electrical Engineer with over 20 years of experience in electricity, transmission rail and engineering consultancy.
He has extensive experience in rail traction systems, low and zero-emission technologies, and examining the different technologies and their interdependence within rail traction systems. He is an expert in system design, earthing, and bonding system integration, as well as construction and commissioning supervision.
Daniel is a subject matter expert for railway systems and low and zero-emission technologies. He has 21 years of experience in the railway sector and over 10 years focused on innovative railway technologies and digitization. He has worked on major Australian and international projects across Europe, the USA, and Latin America as the Lead Subject Matter Expert, at Zero Emission Technologies.
03.10 - What is the opportunity/use-case for Hydrogen Trains?
Introducing hydrogen technology to trains would significantly contribute to decarbonising the transport sector. Hydrogen can bridge non-electrified gaps in our network where battery systems will be insufficient and where overhead continuing electrification can't be justified because the line frequency is not high enough.
05.00 – What percentage of the railway network in Germany is electric? And the decarbonisation opportunity for high-speed trains displacing short-haul flights
Currently, 65% of the network is electric and achieving 100% is not viable due to some of the lines being rural and certain areas that are not populated so the cost of electrification is too high.
Another opportunity is the decarbonisation of Australia, and one of the strategies Germany uses to reduce the overall decarbonization of transport is to replace short-haul flights with high-speed rail intercity express services.
7:00- Other options available (eg Battery /Biofuels/synfuels etc) to decarbonise the sector
The best option for highly frequented railway corridors is full electrification since the overall system efficiency is roughly 85 to 90% and you can't beat that.
When you can't justify full electrification for shorter routes currently up to a hundred kilometres that are non-electrified, then battery electric traction is a good alternative. You can recover braking energy and also have a higher system efficiency when the stretches are getting a little bit longer. Battery technology currently can't cope with that and also when the power demand is a little bit bigger, especially for freight transport. Hydrogen is a very interesting alternative, the fuel system can provide the range and combined with a battery system it can cope with a high power demand. And as an intermediate solution, we can look at renewable carbon-based fuels. They're also a way to quickly decarbonize railway traffic, and they are potentially a drop-in solution for existing diesel fleets.
9:10 - FFI is looking at ammonia for their train line supporting one of their mines in WA.
Hydrogen is interesting, but the range you can achieve is limited due to the volumetric energy, density, and ammonia is a very interesting hydrogen carrier. So by using ammonia, you can store more hydrogen than in the compressed form. FFI and Deutsche Bahn are currently testing a retrofitted diesel engine on a test lap in Germany. We mix hydrogen and ammonia to a combustive gas, inject it into the engine and try to optimize the combustion process.
10:35 - Some of the differences in how Hydrogen Trains are operated and maintained
The hydrogen fuel cell trains effectively have an electric drive system, so they're very similar to the existing electric locomotives so they're very low maintenance schedule and cost for the electric drive system. The difference comes in with the energy system. The need for battery replacements and hydrogen fuel that are replacements.
12.- Safety and Standards around the maintenance of hydrogen vehicles
There is work to be done with aligning the standards to achieve the safety required so there's no detriment to the current railway systems. It is the same transition as centuries ago coming from coal as the main source of a rail vehicle then transiting to diesel. Everything thought diesel, this combustible liquid, is very dangerous and new procedures had to be developed. So now it's transiting from diesel that people are very unfamiliar with.
14.48 - Where Germany is up to and what's the plan from here
A few smaller fleets have been tested in commercial operation. The first commercial operation with a larger fleet just started in December. The trains are operated by DB and there are another few public tender processes in place currently to procure additional fleets for different rural networks.
The main reason for that is that the German government is really pushing hard for the decarbonization of the transport sector so there's a net zero target of 2040 for DB. 27 units currently being put into commercial operation near Frankfurt.
17.45 - Other projects DB are working on around the world
- Australia - DB is providing an introductory level of support by providing up-to-date information to organizations looking to implement the technologies so we can either guide or validate some of the strategy technology decisions that they are considering. The follow-on steps for that is also, to understand the Australian standards and how they view the introduction of hydrogen technologies into the rail environment.
- Brazil - Another solution done from Australia has been a feasibility study for Vale in Brazil. So looking at their Iron Ore operations are the route of 900 kilometres. Initially, they were looking for an electrification solution, so DB put together a combined battery and overhead electrification solution. They are now looking at Hydrogen options such as ammonia.
- United States - Support the team here from Australia to look at options for the Californian network to deploy hydrogen trains for their passenger services.
- Germany - A project Ecosystem that is currently ongoing, is a collaboration together with Siemens Group to develop a hydrogen ecosystem consisting of a novel hydrogen passenger train and high-performance refuelling infrastructure.
21:35 - Comparison at the moment in terms of Capex initially and then the total cost of ownership.
If you look at hydrogen trains currently for passenger operation, the Capex is significantly higher, roughly two to three times that of a diesel train, which makes it very challenging for implementation.
The second challenge definitely is currently the cost of fuel. So green hydrogen produced in Germany is very expensive because we have limited renewable energy to produce that hydrogen. So in my opinion, Australia is in a fantastic position. It's very fortunate regarding renewable Energy Australia can play in the future.
There's a trade agreement in place between Germany and Australia about hydrogen technology and the supply of green hydrogen, which is very exciting.
Last but not least, the last challenge is that hydrogen trains still have a limited range when compared to diesel trains which we are working through innovative solutions for.
24.14 - What about the recyclability and what happens with the existing fleet?
When we look at these new components that go into a propulsion system, batteries and fuel cells. In every rolling stock today it has a lead acid battery system as part of the train energy system for these batteries. There is a whole recycling chain in place today, and I think if we transit to lithium-ion batteries and also to fuel cells, the same recycle chain has to be developed for these new battery cell chemistries and also for the fuel cells.
26.54 - Commentary around, the regulations and the government policies for hydrogen in Australia, and have there been kind of any sticking points to move things forward over here
The process is starting but still, a lot to get done for the rail industry, there's certainly greater involvement needed from regulatory bodies. Would also then need some pilot projects so that they can actually see how these standards can be applied and showcase that this is something that's very viable already.
28:30 - Other messages for the audience
- It'd be fantastic to see here in Australia the railway sector transiting towards zero emission.
- We need here also in Australia would be more government support for these new technologies.
- Australia's very much focused on the production of hydrogen and export of hydrogen, but not very much on local applications.
- We need to move quickly. The legislation that came out of the US for the Inflation Reduction Act and quickly followed by what's happening in Europe and Canada, Australia needs to move quickly to take advantage of the abundance of green or renewable energy.
- If Australia doesn't act quickly, those long-term contracts could be tied up with contracts from organizations out of the US and out of Europe, out of Canada, that was able to supply that hydrogen much more cheaply than Australia.
- Australia has the big advantage of being stable politically and very reliable.
33.00 - Where do you see the sector five years from now and then 10 years from now, and perhaps if you focus on the rail sector in Australia
At least at the trial implementation stage of introducing the hydrogen technologies in the rail sector. So whether that be as a fuel cell or ammonia combustion, there are certainly opportunities in the freight sector, in the mining sector who seem to be more motivated to be involved in these projects.
35 - The best way for our listeners to potentially learn more, reach out, and find out what you guys are up to.
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