Vehicle manufacturers and engineering companies are not passive - they are working on prototype solutions. One of such projects materialized in September 2021 - the first Polish hydrogen-powered shunting locomotive built by PESA in cooperation with ABB.
- Polish railways are facing radical changes resulting from the "Green Deal" program implemented by the European Commission, the aim of which is to reduce CO2 emissions in transport by 30% by 2030, and ultimately to achieve climate neutrality by 2050. This is a big challenge for infrastructure operators , carriers and rolling stock producers. Achieving this goal without the implementation of hydrogen technology for rail transport is practically impossible - Krzysztof Zdziarski, President of the Management Board of PESA Bydgoszcz SA, leaves no doubt.
Construction of a prototype
PESA was not a forerunner in Europe, as the implementation of hydrogen-based technologies in rail transport began in Germany. But the Bydgoszcz-based company set itself two goals - to prepare a new Pesa Regio160 passenger multiple unit platform, based on electric drives powered by hydrogen cells, and to build a prototype of a hydrogen-powered shunting locomotive.
In the first case, the market is already waiting for new solutions, because the rolling stock plans of Polish local governments submitted to the National Reconstruction Program include 37 passenger multiple units with hydrogen cells. Krzysztof Zdziarski reveals that the purchase of this type of vehicles is also included in PKP Intercity and Polregio in their rolling stock strategies.
On the other hand, the main emphasis of the entire research and development team of the company is currently focused on the project of a shunting locomotive with a hydrogen drive, prepared in cooperation with PKN Orlen and Orlen Koltrans. The construction of the prototype was completed and the finished vehicle was presented in September 2021 at the TRAKO Railway Fair. In 2022, the locomotive starts approval tests.
ABB became one of the technology partners
- It is the first rail vehicle in Poland with a hydrogen drive, and there are only a few in the world, most of them at the prototype stage, so it can be said that we are one of the forerunners of hydrogen drives in the railway industry in the world - says Maciej Duczyński, manager of the local ABB traction business in Poland, who participated in the project for many months, cooperating with PESA constructors.
ABB is one of the technological partners of the rolling stock manufacturer from Bydgoszcz. He is responsible for preparing the locomotive's energy system, and more figuratively speaking - for receiving energy from the hydro-cell and directing it to the battery, and then to the electric motors.
- From the very beginning, we were aware that the project was innovative, so we must rely on reliable partners with extensive experience in their fields. When it comes to ABB, we know the company's products well, because we previously used ABB traction motors for trams for Gorzów Wielkopolski - explains Jacek Konop, vice-president for technical affairs at PESA.
Hydrogen is not burned in the engine
The whole structure is a 4-axis locomotive with 4 x 180 kW traction motors. Equipped with two liquid-cooled traction converters. The operation of the system is supported by an energy storage made in LTO technology with a capacity of 167.7 kWh, from which the current will flow through ABB traction inverters with an auxiliary converter 3 x 400 V. Each converter powers one trolley, i.e. two traction motors. The vehicle uses hydrogen tanks - 175 kg and cells with a capacity of 2 x 85 kW.
- It is worth telling here how such a system works, because many people are convinced that in such a solution hydrogen is burnt as fuel in the engine, and it is not so - notes Maciej Duczyński. - Hydrogen is converted in hydrogen cells into electricity, which charges the batteries, and batteries powers the electric motors that move the vehicle. So it is a classic electric vehicle, except that the electricity is not provided by traction, but by hydrogen cells.
Classic energy solution
- The scope of our work includes a traction battery and traction inverters, which are not only used to power the motors, but also control the current flowing from the hydrogen cells to the system, and the batteries. They also serve as an auxiliary converter, supervising the energy flowing to all receivers - explains Maciej Duczyński. - These types of converters are manufactured in the ABB Drives Factory in Aleksandrów Łódzki, so we have extensive experience in designing and building them for the needs of various traction vehicles. For these specific projects, we used CC750 traction converters known on the market.
- As it was a modernized, already existing vehicle design, we had to adapt to the existing structure and its dimensions - says Maciej Duczyński. - And because this locomotive is relatively small and the water tanks take up a lot of space, there is little space left for us to develop. And although our system is very compact, we had a real challenge to ensure that everything was well designed.
The PESA SM42Dn locomotive is the first locomotive with a hydrogen propulsion prepared especially for the Polish market, because the applied design solutions take into account the specific conditions of the Polish railway infrastructure. Therefore, the Bydgoszcz-based company is blazing the trail, and by selecting the right technological partners, it builds its potential.
text: Sławomir Dolecki, photos: ABB
