Japan sets sights on fuel cell train by 2010
T he Railway Technical Research Institute (RTRI) in Japan is pursuing the development of a fuel cell powered train, with the aim of introducing the prototype vehicle into service by about 2010, according to a report in The Daily Yomiuri.
The RTRI has unveiled plans to build an experimental fuel cell train to run on its test tracks in Kunitachi, western Tokyo, in the near future. The trial vehicle would consist of two cars, one equipped with fuel cells fueled from a hydrogen cylinder, and the other with a set of four motors, a transformer and a battery. The RTRI says the planned low-noise train would have a maximum speed of 120 km/h and travel a maximum of 300-400 km before the hydrogen cylinder needs replacing.
The RTRI's plans build on the steady progress of its fuel cell train R&D program, established in 2001 [FCB, May 2001]. A feasibility study by the institute found that railway vehicles driven by fuel cells could reduce energy consumption by at least half compared with diesel cars, while CO 2 emissions could be cut by around 30%, including the effects of idling stops and reuse of braking energy.
In 2001, the RTRI successfully ran a minitrain, carrying one person, powered by fuel cells with an output of 1 kWe. A 30 kWe fuel cell system prototype was then built and its basic characteristics studied in a stationary power generation test using pure hydrogen and air. The same fuel cell system was subsequently used as the power supply for an electric train bogie in driving tests on a vehicle test bench. The RTRI says that the bogie could be driven at up to 50 km/h with the equivalent inertia weight on the test bench set to about half that of an electric commuter train and the acceleration to about a third. The prototype bogie was successfully testdriven in February 2004.
To power a real train with two carriages would require fuel cells capable of generating 600 kW of electricity, according to Kenichi Uruga, chief of the institute's Vehicle Control Technology Department. Current models are too large to fit in RTRI's planned vehicle, says Uruga. It will therefore be necessary to boost fuel cell efficiency in order to reduce the size 'by about two-thirds'. This will depend largely on progress in fuel cell technology, Uruga adds, 'but given the remarkably rapid advances in recent years, we believe our fuel cell-powered train program is feasible'.