To batteries, it does not need to recharge and save millions of liters of diesel

While Europe looks with sweet eyes on Hydrogen train and In Argentina they already presume their solar trainAustralia boasts of her brand new electric train. Wait, how “electric train” when that exists for decades and It is called Ave? Because the Australian train has an important nuance: it works with batteries and is not connected to the catenary. The result? An “infinite train” manufactured with racing technology.

And with a mission: save a lot of money in diesel.

The ‘Infinity Train’. Mining in Australia is a huge business And companies invest to improve their infrastructure, thus being more competitive and efficient in every way. Fortescue (how difficult it is not to write “Fortesque” as in ‘Medievil‘) is one of those companies, and just announce who have completed the pilot trip of their “intinifo train.”

Driven only by its battery system and without being connected to the current, this ‘Intinity Train’ has completed a trip of about 1,100 kilometers, and the most impressive thing is that it will have to do another 1,100 kilometers back without having to recharge. In fact, the idea is to make constant round trips without going through a plug. His trick is not called Solar panels Not anything like that: it’s called regenerative braking.

Formula braking 1 AND. In 2022, Fortescue acquired 100% of Williams Advanced Engineering, a British company founded as a split of the Williams team of Formula 1, but focused on the creation of High performance batteries for formula E. The purchase was closed for 223 million dollars and the objective was Accelerate decarbonization in the company’s mining operations.

One of the keys to Formula E, which also applies to the Formula 1 battery system, is the generation of electric power thanks to braking. It is like a dynamo that generates electricity with the engine in reverse, and in the case of ‘Infinity Train’, it is a tremendously magnified process.

A huge asterisk. Because here the trick is that the round trip from Perth to the Pilbara region makes it loaded with materials, increasing the weight of the train and maximizing regeneration in braking. But, in addition, it is a route with a slope down. The slope on the road to the mines to the port is 600 meters, so the train has more than 1,000 kilometers to, with up to 34,000 tons of iron from the mines, generating electricity that compensates for the expense it can do.

The return path makes it downloaded and ‘strip’ of that energy that has filled the batteries so as not to need an external load nor the support of the catenaries. And start again: they return to load the train, go downhill up loading their batteries and then climb the energy generated.

The matter of money. In a huge continent and with the complicated terrain to install catenaries, it is a solution that has all the way, but the limitation is more than evident: the technology of this train can only be applied in situations as specific as that of long journeys in which the phase of being loaded with materials is done downhill. In other situations, it seems more complicated.

But well, the company’s intention is to electrify its more than 50 transport trains for 2030 with the aim of reducing its emissions and, in addition, saving What Diesel costs. It is difficult to get the idea of ​​magnitude, but They speak to cut 82 million liters of fuel per year and reduce 11% of its annual CO₂ emissions if they electrify the train network.

Electrifying the mines. From the company they affirm that this technology can be exported to everyone, and in the end it is another step in the MODERNIZATION OF MINES. It is precisely in this work environment that the electrification It seems very necessary not only to reduce emissions and that companies meet their objectives, but to improve the health of workers.

In recent years we are seeing Betting for electric trucks and even automatedand the ‘infinite train’ adds to the trend, but with the great point against that it is a possible vehicle in extremely concrete situations.

Image | Fortescue

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